Industrial poultry production, in which thousands of birds are packed into a shed, gives a virus a constant supply of new hosts – it can move very quickly among the birds, perhaps mutating as it does so.

In this situation, highly virulent strains are likely to emerge. The disease then passes to wild birds and creates a vicious circle between farms and wildlife, spreading quickly throughout the world.

Preventing future pandemics

Philip Lymbery, our Global CEO, who wrote about this issue in yesterday’s The Scotsman newspaper, said: “This worrying situation is fast spiraling out of control and poses a serious threat to global human health.

“We are now just a few mutations away from it spreading from person to person. To stand a chance of curbing this crisis we have to learn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. We must act before it’s too late and that means urgently reforming the poultry sector worldwide – moving away from intensive systems that provide a hothouse breeding ground for the emergence of new and more deadly strains of virus.”

“First, poultry need to be vaccinated to help stem the flow of transmission between wild birds and mammals, but the FAO must act now to devise a strategy for a future poultry sector that has smaller flocks, lower stocking densities and fewer farms in the same areas, giving the birds more space to reduce the risk of highly pathogenic disease spreading.

“Giving birds more space will entail reduced production of meat and eggs so we can all play a part by reducing our overconsumption of animal-sourced foods. This will bring several other benefits including increased feasibility of meeting the Paris climate targets and a reduction in the use of soy and cereals, such as wheat and maize, as animal feed.”

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Urgent poultry reforms needed to prevent pandemics