Title : Discovery of reintroduction source and amplification vectors of highly pathogenic avian influenza
Abstract:
The spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has recently expanded to unprecedented proportions. Its existence in livestock has been well documented with the primary animals of concern being chickens, ducks, turkeys, game birds, bovine, swine, sheep, mink, and foxes. With notable risk to wild bird populations and the added risk of pandemic potential in humans largely in part due to fever resistance, farming operations working with these animals merit a hyper cautious approach. This paper analyzes the existing evidence of disease spread in case studies and research papers and posits that fattened waterfowl operations are a particularly unnecessary farming practice that disproportionately contributes to the evolving problem. This specific practice has been linked to the spread of HPAI on numerous occasions with strong evidence indicating major outbreaks deriving from farms in France and Hungary. With the mobile nature of wild birds, implications of this are far reaching and amplify the HPAI numbers in distant regions. The vast majority of the European Union has banned artificially fattened waterfowl operations, and this paper offers that its remaining countries emulate this approach. In regions that lack these operations, pre-emptive prohibitions are recommended to assure a mitigation of spread before it can begin. Drawing from the established evidence, a global transition away from artificially fattened waterfowl farming in the interest of public health and ecological protection is recommended.
