I covered Gov. Walz’s pheasant hunt and got an unexpected lesson in misinformation

Hunting for the truth in a southern Minnesota field? Stay off social media.


By Christopher Vondracek

The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 16, 2024 

Flanked by his Secret Service detail, Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz looks for birds during the annual Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener on Saturday near Sleepy Eye. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)


The dogs were tired. The small army of press stalking him needed to put down cameras. And Gov. Tim Walz was fiddling with removing shells from his gun.


Nothing could’ve prepared us for the political bombshell that came next.


As the governor fussed with the firearm on this idyllic October morning southwest of Sleepy Eye, two dozen blaze orange-vested reporters watching, our own Minnesota Star Tribune photojournalist Anthony Soufflé asked Walz if he owned the gun.


“This is mine,” the 60-year-old responded.


And then Walz, who in his first year in Congress de-throned former Rep. Collin Peterson as Democrats’ top shot in the Congressional Shootout of clay pigeons, dispensed a dad joke that would’ve landed well on the gingham tablecloths of the farmhouses he represented for a dozen years in Washington, D.C.


“Borrowing a gun is like borrowing underwear,” Walz said, to chuckles from the press.


And, then ... well, actually that was it.

Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Chris Vondracek, left, joined the press corps shadowing Gov. Tim Walz, center, at the Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener near Sleepy Eye on Saturday. (Christopher Vondracek/The Minnesota Star Tribune)


Walz talked about his semiautomatic shotgun, a Beretta A-400, mentioned he liked the more forgiving recoil on his shoulders, and then — flipping up the shotgun, shells removed — walked along the tall grass back to the farmsite where he sat on a pick-up, ate venison sticks and talked hunting dogs.

Little did any of us know, however, at that moment, buzzing over the internet around the world, the biggest news event of the day, perhaps an October Surprise, for this vice presidential candidate was, at least in the eyes of the internet, already hatched.

Walz didn’t know how to use his gun.

A CBS reporter next to me had managed to dispatch to X a roughly 30-second clip of Walz un-jamming a gun, and within seconds, the rapacious reviews came pouring in, accusing “Tampon Timmy” of rural play-acting, like being caught redhanded lip-synching at the Super Bowl halftime show.

I, standing in the field, didn’t know any of this at the time. But when I returned to Minneapolis that night, while my wife and sister-in-law made dinner and peppered me with questions, I opened up my phone to check on reactions to my story and, instead, saw a piece from the Daily Mail in London.

“Tim Walz roasted over pheasant hunting stunt,” read the headline.


Huh? I scanned the story.


Was it the underwear joke? Nope.


The fact that he’d hadn’t shot a bird? No, according to trolls on the internet, Walz inelegantly un-loaded his shotgun shells.

Flanked by his Secret Service detail, Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz watches a dog work at the annual Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener on Saturday near Sleepy Eye. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

But there were other “hot takes” on the day’s big event.

A Trump campaign page had shared what it called “another angle of Tim Walz fumbling around for his gun” and noted, “Tampon has absolutely no idea what he’s doing.”

Even Rep. Brad Finstad, the southern Minnesota congressman who represents not only Walz’s old district but also hunted in the same county as the governor Saturday morning, put out on X a photo of himself with two pheasants he shot, saying, “Great day for pheasant hunting in Brown County where we typically hunt with our shotguns.”

Was the insinuation that the governor hadn’t even brought his gun?

Sure enough, yes. All across the internet, people had interpreted a still photograph of the governor arriving in the motorcade and walking up to the DNR officer to get his license checked as evidence that Walz had never even picked up a shotgun, just done a blaze orange cosplay.

Look, I’m the paper’s agriculture reporter. Corn, soybeans, occasionally cultivated wild rice. It’s a good gig. Sometimes, due to scheduling conflicts on our politics team, I get to fill in on the other commodity: power. I’ve seen turkeys (not) pardoned in a gilded room at the Capitol. I’ve interviewed senators about flooding in southern Minnesota. Last August, I sat on a rainy stage for 30 minutes chatting with Royce White, the GOP Senate candidate, outside the Star Tribune booth at the State Fair. (I lost a beloved vintage blazer!)

And in some ways, lamenting the social juggernaut of misinformation is a little passé. To borrow an agricultural film metaphor, we are not in Kansas anymore.

But the internet is complicating our democracy. Two weekends ago, I sat on a patio overlooking the Root River in lovely Lanesboro when I overheard a patron insist to a table next to us that the government had orchestrated the tragic hurricane in the U.S. to take out conservative voters.

Even back in August, I had two dear friends insist to me that, actually, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance did alight onto a monologue about romantic relationships with couches in his memoir (he didn’t).

These are smart people. Well-intentioned people. We’ve just been overwhelmed by the medium. I’m not a hunter. I went to graduate school for literature. We are in need of rhetorical flotation devices to keep us afloat in the floods.


Gov. Tim Walz compares Pheasants Forever hats with Matt Kucharski before they set out for the annual Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener on Saturday near Sleepy Eye. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)


So here’s what actually happened last Saturday morning.


First-off, there might not be a Casey’s or Kwik Trip between the Twin Cities and New Ulm that carries a blaze orange stocking cap. That’s a missed opportunity. Because I searched nearly every single one on my pre-dawn ride down from Minneapolis on Saturday morning to the appointed meeting-place on a gravel road to get wanded by Secret Service.


Second, hunting is the most “Downton Abbey” thing we do in American politics. It’s not all foxes and hounds and horses and bugle calls. But it is a little silly. How can you shoot a bird with 20 reporters, 15 staffers, and five social media influencers in tow?


Still, I get it. There is a romantic showmanship to the day. The prairie presents well. And you got to dress warmly, which my East Coast colleagues — in hoodies and sneakers — didn’t. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity until, right before 9 a.m., Walz’s motorcade arrived, and the governor got his pheasant-hunting credentials checked by the DNR officer.


Then, yes, we did do a bit of “fake news.” One of the photographers requested views of faces of the hunting party — consisting of Walz, the president and CEO of Pheasants Forever, a local landowner, and a Nobles County hunter. So, for a performative few minutes, without taking any shots, the group walked toward the mobile media row, holding guns.


Then, finally, around 9:09 a.m. or so, according to the time-stamp on my phone, the actual hunting started.


Quickly enough, as we walked toward some increasingly tall grass, a fluttering ball of might — a male pheasant — flew out of the grass.


“Rooster! Rooster!”


Bam. The bird fell.


Walz called out, “Nice shot.”


The Nobles County hunter, Scott Rall, had downed the bird. But Rall’s intrepid dogs couldn’t actually find the pheasant in the cover. We searched for a while and kept moving.


Over the next 60 minutes or so, with my phone increasingly teetering toward battery doom, we climbed through thickets, tripped over buried logs. The hunters communicated with each other wonderfully in a ridiculous situation. When a hen flew out, they’d call out “Hen! Hen!”, a hunter’s version of “stand down.” When the dogs excitedly dove up and down in the grass, Walz prepped everyone to get ready for a bird.


Yes, he didn’t take a shot. Would that have played better or worse with undecideds in Pennsylvania? I don’t know. There may’ve been chances. Mostly hens flew out. In one moment, a rooster emerged, but the bird was quite young. Maybe other hunters would’ve pulled the trigger. A journalist from an outdoors magazine next to me told another reporter: “I would’ve blasted it.”


Regardless, about an hour into the hunt, I was quite relieved the governor didn’t fire his shotgun. A rooster sprung up in the opposite direction, clear over the heads of the pursuing press corps. Everyone, with cameras, ducked. Everyone, that is, except me. I tried following the bird with my cellphone camera. When I turned, Walz — who’d called out “don’t shoot” — was clutching his gun upright. Then he broke the nervous laughter.


“Every vice president joke there ever was was about to be made right there,” Walz said.


The joke was probably his best shot of the day.


Then we kept hunting. And hunting. Which for the reporters meant walking. And walking. I was reminded of the apocryphal Mark Twain quote: “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” Then, my phone died. Fortunately, I had a laptop in my backpack; I recharged my phone so that, about an hour later, I was able to record the governor just as he was removing his shotgun shells ... and apparently ending his political career.


Then, we walked back to the farmsite. The social media influencers awaited. The Diet Mountain Dew needed to be swigged. One influencer asked the governor his favorite food. Another talked about restoring the country to “sanity.” I mostly just wanted to get on the road to internet and some beef jerky. But we had to wait for a security phalanx rolling a half-dozen cars deep.


Bringing gun-toting hunters around a vice presidential candidate in this political environment certainly could be scary. But the most dangerous place, apparently, was the misinformation superhighway the internet has become.

Why cats meow at humans more than each other

The Conversation
July 11, 2024

Cat (Youtube)

This is a story that goes back thousands of years.

Originally, cats were solitary creatures. This means they preferred to live and hunt alone, rather than in groups. Most of their social behaviour was restricted to mother-kitten interactions. Outside of this relationship, cats rarely meow at each other.

However, as cats began to live alongside humans, these vocalizations took on new meanings. In many ways, when a cat meows at us, it’s as if they see us as their caregivers, much like their feline mothers.

Cats probably first encountered humans roughly 10,000 years ago, when people began establishing permanent settlements. These settlements attracted rodents, which in turn drew cats looking for prey. The less fearful and more adaptable cats thrived, benefiting from a consistent food supply. Over time, these cats developed closer bonds with humans.

Unlike dogs, which were bred by humans for specific traits, cats essentially domesticated themselves. Those that could tolerate and communicate with humans had a survival advantage, leading to a population well-suited to living alongside people.

To understand this process, we can look at Russian farmed fox experiments. Beginning in the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dmitry Belyaev and his team selectively bred silver foxes, mating those that were less fearful and aggressive toward humans.

Over generations, these foxes became more docile and friendly, developing physical traits similar to domesticated dogs, such as floppy ears and curly tails. Their vocalizations changed too, shifting from aggressive “coughs” and “snorts” to more friendly “cackles” and “pants”, reminiscent of human laughter.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for FOXES INTO DOGS 

These experiments demonstrated that selective breeding for tameness could lead to a range of behavioral and physical changes in animals, achieving in a few decades what would usually take thousands of years. Though less obvious than the differences between dogs and the ancestral wolf, cats have also changed since their days as African wildcats. They now have smaller brains and more varied coat colors, traits common among many domestic species.

Cats’ vocal adaptations

Like the silver foxes, cats have adapted their vocalizations, albeit over a much longer period of time. Human babies are altricial at birth, meaning they are entirely dependent on their parents. This dependency has made us particularly attuned to distress calls – ignoring them would be costly for human survival.


This owner looks like he would struggle to ignore his cat’s distress call. Magui RF/Shutterstock


Cats have altered their vocalizations to tap into this sensitivity. A 2009 study by animal behavior researcher Karen McComb and her team gives evidence of this adaptation. Participants in the study listened to two types of purrs. One type was recorded when cats were seeking food (solicitation purr) and another recorded when they were not (non-solicitation purr). Both cat owners and non-cat owners rated the solicitation purrs as more urgent and less pleasant.

An acoustic analysis revealed a high-pitch component in these solicitation purrs, resembling a cry. This hidden cry taps into our innate sensitivity to distress sounds, making it nearly impossible for us to ignore.

But it’s not just cats that have adapted their vocalizations: we have too. When we talk to babies, we use “motherese”, more commonly known as “baby talk”, characterized by a higher pitch, exaggerated tones and simplified language. This form of speech helps engage infants, playing a role in their language development.

We’ve extended this style of communication to our interactions with pets, known as pet-directed speech. Recent research suggests that cats respond to this form of communication. A 2022 study by animal behavior researcher Charlotte de Mouzon and colleagues found that cats could distinguish between speech addressed to them and speech addressed to adult humans. This pattern of discrimination was particularly strong when the speech came from the cats’ owners.

Our adoption of pet-directed speech reinforces a bond that mirrors mother-kitten interactions.

Changes in vocalizations are not only seen in cat-human relationships. Compared to the ancestral wolf, dogs have expanded their barking behaviour to communicate more effectively with humans and, just as with cats, we use pet-directed speech when interacting with dogs.

Over time, cats have evolved to use vocal signals that resonate with our nurturing instincts. Paired with our use of pet-directed speech, this two-way communication highlights the unique relationship we’ve developed with our feline friends. It seems cats might be the winners in this relationship, adapting to solicit care and attention from us. Still, a lot of cat owners wouldn’t have it any other way.

Grace Carroll, Lecturer in Animal Behavior and Welfare, School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Rewilding the American Serengeti

A tribal college internship aims to train the next generation of stewards for a recovering prairie ecosystem—its land, animals, and people.

By Sarah Mosquera

June 22, 2024

Source: Yes Magazine


A female buffalo runs into a corral on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Scientifically called bison, many Plains Tribes refer to the animals as buffalo or use the two names interchangeably. Photo: Saraj Mosquera

On a blustery morning in mid-November, 31-year-old Dawn Thomas approaches a male bison. His eyes are wide with fear, his body held in place by a restraint machine. As Thomas slowly reaches her hands toward the bull’s head, he thrashes it wildly in warning, causing her to retreat. A full-grown bull can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, and as prey animals, bison are always on alert for predators. Shielding their eyes helps to calm them, so Thomas gently cups the outer edges of the bison’s large eyes with her hands and the animal’s body immediately relaxes.

Once the bison settles, Thomas approaches again with caution and determination. She closes her eyes and dips her chin, her lips slowly moving as she whispers an Aaniiih prayer over the bison—the animal with a deep cultural connection to her roots as an Indigenous woman. A tear slowly rolls down her cheek before the machine operator nods that the bull is ready to be released.

Dawn Thomas, 31, crouches as bison move through the chutes to prevent the animals from seeing her as they pass. (Photo: Sarah Mosquera)

“Working with the buffalo really pulls at my heartstrings,” Thomas says. “It is such a healing experience, especially for people living here on the reservation. It just makes me feel reconnected.”

Thomas is an intern visiting the American prairie in north central Montana, from the Aaniiih Nakoda College on the nearby Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. This bull is one of the more than 200 bison from the surrounding prairie getting hair and blood samples collected and tags put in their ears.

This internship is associated with the newly created Buffalo Center at the Tribal college, which offers students the opportunity to work alongside visiting and local scientists to learn the skills necessary to manage the land and wildlife on their reservation. The hope is to train the next generation of stewards for this recovering ecosystem—its land, animals, and people.

“Before colonialism, buffalo were our life source. They’re powerful and they gave us food and shelter,” Thomas says. “They were taken away from us and we are still trying to heal from that.”

“The buffalo have that trauma too. The buffalo almost went extinct, like us.” But now, she says, people and bison are recovering together. “We’re thriving. We’re emerging out of that difficult time.”

The Necessity of Landscape Connectivity

Fort Belknap is located along Montana’s Northern Hi-Line, which runs parallel to and about 50 miles south of the Canadian border. The militant rows of wheat and dusty cattle lots are evidence of the agricultural revolution that enabled humans to move away from hunting and gathering, toward farming and ranching practices. But it does not reveal the holistic ecosystem-wide food management that Indigenous peoples practiced in the region for tens of thousands of years.

With the Dawes Act of 1887, the federal government subdivided Tribal lands and tried to force Indigenous people to assimilate into an increasingly industrial United States economy. With this came the destruction of the prairie ecosystem, creating inhospitable environments for the species that once called the landscape home. Government-sanctioned poisoning campaigns decimated prairie dog colonies, subsequently driving the black-footed ferret to near extinction.

As more prairie was plowed for agriculture, the wild landscape fractured, and ecosystems became more and more fragmented. The grizzly bear, who once wandered the Northern Great Plains, retreated into the mountains, adapting to an entirely new way of life. The far-ranging swift fox, who relied on landscape connectivity to thrive, disappeared from Montana entirely.

And, most notably, the bison vanished. There were once an estimated 20 to 60 million bison roaming across what is now the contiguous U.S., and Plains Indians lived in harmony with the animals. They relied on the bison for every aspect of their lives, including food, shelter, and tools.

During settler colonialists’ Westward expansion, between 1820 and 1880, millions of bison were massacred. “It was a military strategy to eliminate the buffalo,” explains Mike Fox, director of fish and wildlife for the Fort Belknap Tribes. “[General Phillip] Sheridan famously said if they take away the buffalo, then they can starve the Indians into submission. They saw it as a solution for dealing with the Tribes.”

Beyond viewing the animals as “pests,” the U.S. military recognized the profound connection that Plains Indians held with the bison, and that by significantly reducing the animals’ population, the Tribes would be severely weakened. The U.S military sanctioned bison slaughter as part of the war effort against the Tribes. This, along with the introduction of European disease and competition from cattle, caused bison numbers to plummet to fewer than 1,000.

“It was devastating to the tribes for many reasons. We used to follow the buffalo and relied on them as our primary food source,” Fox says. “Then we had to transition to a sedentary lifestyle full of fat and beef. It’s had long-term health effects, and that’s why we’re trying to get them back.”

Today, thanks to tribal reintroductions and efforts from organizations like American Prairie, there are approximately 20,000 Plains Bison in conservation herds, managed as wildlife. Another 400,000 bison live in commercial herds across the country, managed as cattle. According to the guidelines set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, only the bison in conservation herds function as wildlife and are considered ecologically restored.

“We are morally responsible to bring back such an important part of the landscape,” Fox says. “To let something as important as buffalo go extinct is unthinkable. And to bring them back to their homelands, it’s something that we have to do. And for Tribal members it’s something that has to be a part of our daily lives.”

Students As Future Stewards

In 2021, the Aaniiih Nakoda College received a $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create the ʔíítaanɔ́ɔ́nʔí/Tatag ́a (“buffalo” in Aaniiih and Nakoda) Research and Education Center. The goal was to offer students the opportunity to study the relationship between the Fort Belknap Indian Community, the Tribal bison herd, and the prairie ecosystem. By providing opportunities for ecological research on the bison herd, paired with academic training to increase community knowledge of sustainable land management practices, the center’s goal is to create a sense of connection for students.

The Buffalo Center not only provides unique educational opportunities to local students but also paid internships to work alongside employees in the field. Partnerships with World Wildlife Fund, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and Little Dog Wildlife LLC offer students the opportunity to learn from working scientists.

World Wildlife Fund biologist Kristy Bly says 12 years ago, before the inception of the Buffalo Center, her team was unsuccessful in recruiting individuals to assist with fieldwork. “Now more students want to help than there are spotlights and GPS units,” she says.

In 2013, after years of fighting against anti-bison legislation in Montana, the Fort Belknap Tribes welcomed 31 genetically pure Yellowstone bison to their land. These animals were at risk of slaughter if they wandered beyond the national park’s boundaries. Despite opposition from nearby ranchers concerned about disease transmission and anti-bison bills in Montana seeking to prevent the transportation of the animals, the Tribes ultimately succeeded. The 31 bison became the foundation of a genetically pure herd on Aaniiih and Nakoda land. The herd has since thrived, growing and roaming freely across 3,500 acres of prairie grasslands.

They are one of two separate herds the Tribes now manage. Bison were originally returned to the reservation in the 1970s, but the animals were not descendants of the original bison that used to roam the Great Plains, meaning they are not genetically pure. The Snake Butte herd contains genes from European cattle and therefore are kept in a separate pasture to prevent genetic crossover with the Yellowstone bison.

In addition to successfully reintroducing bison twice, the tribes are also reintroducing other prairie species to their land in hopes of re-creating an intact prairie ecosystem. Fort Belknap is now the only place in Montana where bison, critically endangered black-footed ferrets, and swift foxes have all been successfully restored. The Buffalo Center is working to ensure that the younger generation receives the opportunity to learn from these partnerships in order to foster a sense of passion and responsibility for the prairie, as future stewards of their land.

“I think the biggest enjoyment for me is seeing the students on the prairie, making a difference,” says Teri Harper, buffalo research coordinator at the college. “They are able to tell fellow Tribal members about what they are doing. They’re the ambassadors of the prairie for our Tribes.”

Wildlife biologist Jessica Alexander releases a black-footed ferret onto the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Now that the creatures have been successfully reintroduced, about 40 of the critically endangered ferrets live in the area—only about 400 remain in the wild. (Photo: Sarah Mosquera)

Saving Prairies From Habitat Destruction

In the northeast corner of the reservation, Snake Butte stands proud within a sea of golden prairie grasses. The 22,000 acres of the sacred site are now home to more than 1,800 buffalo introduced in the 1970s and at least 40 black-footed ferrets. The site offers an example of what can be achieved with community support and determination: a nearly intact prairie ecosystem in the land of conventional agriculture.

The World Wildlife Fund’s annual Plowprint Report found that 32 million acres of grasslands have been plowed for agriculture since 2012, and 1.6 million acres were plowed in 2021 alone. Prairie destruction is happening at a rate faster than deforestation, the effects of which will include increased carbon in the atmosphere, increased pollution, flooding, and loss of wildlife habitat.

Intact North American prairie is often referred to as the “American Serengeti” because of the abundance of biodiversity found on the landscape. As a keystone species, bison are integral to creating habitat for other prairie animals. Bison’s saliva, feces, and urine all contain important nutrients necessary for grassland health. Their hooves evolved with the landscape, so rather than trampling the prairie grasses their footprints help break up the soil, creating a healthy environment for new plants to grow.

Driving through the Snake Butte pasture, the barks of prairie dogs and sparrow songs fill the air. Antelope prance on the horizon while bison stand stoically along the butte’s ridge. The area buzzes with activity even after the sun goes down. As the prairie dogs retreat into their burrows, badgers, coyotes, and black-footed ferrets emerge to hunt in the moonlight.

In late October, long after sunset, six students from Aaniiih Nakoda College gather in the Snake Butte pasture as they await their instructor. Teri Harper’s headlights illuminate their outlines as she pulls up in a white truck. She hops out of the driver’s seat with her toy-sized blue heeler, Kingston, in tow, and points to some of the students: “You three are coming with me,” Harper says.

Dawn Thomas climbs into the back of Harper’s truck with her fellow students Colten Werk and KateLyne Goes Ahead. Thomas reluctantly rolls down her window, letting in the cold air in order to get a view of the nighttime prairie. As Harper drives along the bumpy dirt road, the students shine spotlights out their respective windows, scanning for emerald green eyes shining in the darkness.

They are hoping to see a black-footed ferret, an unfortunately rare opportunity given the animals’ status as extremely endangered.

Then Werk hollers, “I see one!” Harper quickly stops the truck and everyone cranes their necks to see the shape in question. “It’s not a rock!” Werk asserts. “It’s a ferret! It’s moving!” Goes Ahead and Thomas giggle in the back seat as Harper slowly drives toward what indeed turns out to be a rock.

Over the course of the night, Harper and the students do correctly identify four black-footed ferrets, an exciting feat considering the rarity of the animal. This is a unique experience available to students at Aaniiih Nakoda College through the Buffalo Center. And one that the students do not take for granted.

“The black-footed ferrets and the swift fox, they are so important to us,” Thomas says. “It’s a slow process, I know, but they are slowly growing. We are all slowly growing and reconnecting.”

Bird flu is highly lethal to some animals, but not to others. Scientists want to know why

Mike Stobbe
Fri, June 14, 2024 


NEW YORK (AP) — In the last two years, bird flu has been blamed for the deaths of millions of wild and domestic birds worldwide. It's killed legions of seals and sea lions, wiped out mink farms, and dispatched cats, dogs, skunks, foxes and even a polar bear.

But it seems to have hardly touched people.

That's "a little bit of a head scratcher,” although there are some likely explanations, said Richard Webby, a flu researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. It could have to do with how infection occurs or because species have differences in the microscopic docking points that flu viruses need to take root and multiply in cells, experts say.

But what keeps scientists awake at night is whether that situation will change.

“There's a lot we don't understand,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director who currently heads Resolve to Save Lives, a not-for-profit that works to prevent epidemics. “I think we have to get over the 'hope for the best and bury our head in the sand' approach. Because it could be really bad."

Some researchers theorize that flu viruses that originated in birds were the precursors to terrible scourges in humans, including pandemics in 1918 and 1957. Those viruses became deadly human contagions and spread in animals and people.

A number of experts think it’s unlikely this virus will become a deadly global contagion, based on current evidence. But that's not a sure bet.

Just in case, U.S. health officials are readying vaccines and making other preparations. But they are holding off on bolder steps because the virus isn't causing severe disease in people and they have no strong evidence it’s spreading from person to person.

The flu that's currently spreading — known as H5N1 — was first identified in birds in 1959. It didn’t really begin to worry health officials until a Hong Kong outbreak in 1997 that involved severe human illnesses and deaths.

It has caused hundreds of deaths around the world, the vast majority of them involving direct contact between people and infected birds. When there was apparent spread between people, it involved very close and extended contact within households.

Like other viruses, however, the H5N1 virus has mutated over time. In the last few years, one particular strain has spread alarmingly quickly and widely.

In the United States, animal outbreaks have been reported at dozens of dairy cow farms and more than 1,000 poultry flocks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Four human infections have been reported among the hundreds of thousands of people who work at U.S. poultry and dairy farms, though that may be an undercount.

Worldwide, doctors have detected 15 human infections caused by the widely circulating bird flu strain. The count includes one death — a 38-year-old woman in southern China in 2022 — but most people had either no symptoms or only mild ones, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There's no way to know how many animals have been infected, but certain creatures seem to be getting more severe illnesses.

Take cats, for example. Flu is commonly thought of as a disease of the lungs, but the virus can attack and multiply in other parts of the body too. In cats, scientists have found the virus attacking the brain, damaging and clotting blood vessels and causing seizures and death.

Similarly gruesome deaths have been reported in other animals, including foxes that ate dead, infected birds.

The flu strain's ability to lodge in the brain and nervous system is one possible reason for "higher mortality rate in some species,” said Amy Baker, an Iowa-based U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist who studies bird flu in animals. But scientists "just don’t know what the properties of the virus or the properties of the host are that are leading to these differences,” Baker said.

Unlike cats, cows have been largely spared. Illnesses have been reported in less than 10% of the cows in affected dairy herds, according to the USDA. Those that did develop symptoms experienced fever, lethargy, decreased appetite and increased respiratory secretions.

Cow infections largely have been concentrated in the udders of lactating animals. Researchers investigating cat deaths at dairy farms with infected cows concluded the felines caught the virus from drinking raw milk.

Researchers are still sorting out how the virus has been spreading from cow to cow, but studies suggest the main route of exposure is not the kind of airborne droplets associated with coughing and sneezing. Instead it's thought to be direct contact, perhaps through shared milking equipment or spread by the workers who milk them.

Then there's the issue of susceptibility. Flu virus need to be able to latch onto cells before they can invade them.

“If it doesn't get into a cell, nothing happens. ... The virus just swims around,” explained Juergen Richt, a researcher at Kansas State University.

But those docking spots — sialic acid receptors — aren't found uniformly throughout the body, and differ among species. One recent study documented the presence of bird flu-friendly receptors in dairy cattle mammary glands.

Eye redness has been a common symptom among people infected by the current bird flu strain. People who milk cows are eye level with the udders, and splashes are common. Some scientists also note that the human eye has receptors that the virus can bind to.

A study published this month found ferrets infected in the eyes ended up dying, as the researchers demonstrated that the virus could be as deadly entering through the eyes as through the respiratory tract.

Why didn't the same happen in the U.S. farmworkers?

Some experts wonder whether people have some level of immunity, due to past exposure to other forms of flu or to vaccinations. However, a study in which human blood samples were exposed to the virus indicated there's little to no existing immunity to this version of the virus, including among people who'd had seasonal flu shots.

A more menacing question: What happens if the virus mutates in a way that makes it more lethal to people or allows it to spread more easily?

Pigs are a concern because they are considered ideal mixing vessels for bird flu to potentially combine with other flu viruses to create something more dangerous. Baker has been studying the current strain in pigs and found it can replicate in the lungs, but the disease is very mild.

But that could all change, which is why there's a push in the scientific community to ramp up animal testing.

Frieden, of Resolve to Save Lives, noted public health experts have been worried about a deadly new flu pandemic for a long time.

“The only thing predictable about influenza is it's unpredictable,” he said.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press

Former CDC director predicts bird flu pandemic

Lauren Irwin
Sat, June 15, 2024 




Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said he predicts a bird flu pandemic will happen, it’s just a matter of when that will be.

Redfield joined NewsNation Friday to discuss the growing concern for bird flu, as the virus has been detected in dozens of cattle across the country and the World Health Organization identified the first human death in Mexico.

“I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic,” Redfield said.

He also noted that bird flu has a “significant mortality” when it enters humans compared to COVID-19. Redfield predicts the mortality is “probably somewhere between 25 and 50 percent mortality.” NewsNation noted that the death rate for COVID was 0.6 percent.

At the end of May, the CDC identified the third human case of someone diagnosed with the virus since March. None of the three cases among farmworkers were associated with one another. Symptoms have included a cough without fever and pink eye.

There is no evidence yet that the virus is spreading between humans. Redfield said he knows exactly what has to happen for the virus to get to that point because he’s done lab research on it.

Scientists have found that five amino acids must change in the key receptor in order for bird flu to gain a propensity to bind to a human receptor “and then be able to go human to human” like COVID-19 did, Redfield said.

“Once the virus gains the ability to attach to the human receptor and then go human to human, that’s when you’re going to have the pandemic,” he said. “And as I said, I think it’s just a matter of time.”

Redfield noted that he doesn’t know how long it will take for the five amino acids to change, but since it is being detected in cattle herds across the country, he is a bit concerned.

More than 40 cattle herds nationwide have confirmed cases of the virus. The CDC is tracking wastewater treatment sites to pinpoint where the virus is but the agency said the general public’s current risk of contracting the virus is low.

Since cattle live close to pigs and the virus is able to evolve from pigs to humans, there is cause for concern. Still, he argued, there is greater risk for the disease to be lab-grown.

“I know exactly what amino acids I have to change because in 2012, against my recommendation, the scientists that did these experiments actually published them,” he said. “So, the recipe for how to make bird flu highly infection for humans is already out there.”

Top CDC officials warns US needs ‘more tests’ in face of bird flu fears

Melody Schreiber
Fri, June 14, 2024 

Dr Nirav Shah in Augusta, Maine, on 28 April 2020.Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP


There is not enough testing for bird flu among people and animals in the US, says Dr Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – but he is wary of pushing the issue and damaging fragile trust among farm workers and owners.

“We would like to be doing more tests,” Shah said. “We’d like to be testing particularly not just symptomatic workers, but anyone on a farm who is exposed.”

But, Shah said, “right now we want to be in a role where we’re building trust with farms and farm workers.”

For the general public, the risk is still low, the CDC says. But the risks are elevated for agricultural workers in close contact with animals – and potentially the people around them.

The CDC is “preparing for the possibility” that the virus could evolve to spread more easily among people, according to a report published on Wednesday.

Shah encouraged the use of personal protective equipment, but stopped short at promising shots for farm workers, who are now the most at risk for getting and spreading H5N1, a highly pathogenic bird flu.

US officials announced last week that a third person tested positive – a farm worker in Michigan who worked closely with sick cows.

Unlike the previous two cases, where conjunctivitis (or “pink eye”) was the only symptom, this patient experienced respiratory symptoms typical for the flu – a cough, congestion, sore throat and watery eyes.

Related: Avian flu said to hit over 40 cattle at Minnesota farm: ‘Only a matter of time’

Shah was quick to point out these symptoms don’t mean the virus is changing. Symptoms like these have been common in the 888 people who have tested positive for H5N1 since 2003.

“This virus, like many viruses, can present in more than one way. And for that reason, we should remain alert, not alarmed,” he said.

But having respiratory symptoms means the individual has more opportunities to pass the virus on to other people, he said, making monitoring and testing even more important than before.

Yet only 44 people have been tested in 2024, according to the CDC.

While officials believe there are probably cases flying under the radar due to the lack of testing, they are closely analyzing data from influenza monitoring systems, and no red flags have been observed yet. “We have not detected any differences in markers, like emergency room visits, in areas with affected herds compared to areas without affected herds,” Shah said.

“Our influenza infrastructure is strong, and it’s notable to discuss the ways in which it differs from our Covid infrastructure,” he said. There are tests available throughout the country, there is a good vaccine candidate for this strain currently being manufactured and the virus monitoring system is already well established.

“That said, we’d love to be doing more,” he continued.

Some states are now testing the blood of dairy farm workers to see how many people have antibodies against H5N1, which would give scientists a better idea of how much the virus is circulating. “We’ve done these studies in poultry [workers] over the years. We’d like to replicate them now in dairy farm workers,” Shah said.

Officials have also expanded the ways people can be tested for H5N1, including eye swabs in test kits to check for conjunctivitis. These eye swabs may now be tested at local labs instead of being sent to the CDC.

“Now we don’t wait until these tests are confirmed [by the CDC] before public health action is taken,” Shah said.

H5N1 continues spreading among farms, including poultry operations, with 4.2 million egg-laying chickens killed on a farm in Iowa after the virus was detected.

In Idaho, alpacas tested positive on 16 May after an outbreak among poultry on the same farm – a sign that the highly pathogenic flu may be spreading from cows to poultry to other livestock, potentially accumulating mutations.

The second person to test positive in the US bird flu outbreak this year showed a mutation that may make the virus spread more among mammals, genetic sequencing revealed.

No genomic analysis of the third case has been announced yet.

While the US Department of Agriculture announced another $824m in funding to protect livestock last week, health officials have not announced additional funds for this outbreak beyond the $101m for the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (USDA) announced in May.

Part of the USDA funding has included up to $2,000 a month to farms for providing personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as N95 respirators, face shields and goggles.

The CDC has asked states to distribute personal protective equipment to farm workers from their existing supplies as well as from the strategic national stockpile.

“Thankfully, there’s quite a lot of PPE available out there. Now the task is just connecting those who have PPE with those who need it,” Shah said.

But officials are mindful of the inherent difficulties of wearing, for instance, an N95 mask while working on a farm – from the wet nature of dairy farming to summer heat.

“We want our workers to be maximally protected, while at the same time not compromising their health and safety because they’re overheating,” Shah said.

US officials have ordered 4.8m doses of an H5N1 vaccine they say seems well matched to this strain. It takes several months to create flu vaccines, and new formulations like this then go through regulatory processes for authorization or approval.

Officials have shied away from saying who might be prioritized for the vaccines.

“There is not right now a recommendation to vaccinate farm workers,” Shah said. “Of course, it’s under discussion. As scientists, as scientific organizations, we are always discussing what might be coming next and evaluating the pros and cons of that.”

Shah highlighted the importance of community trust in public health, especially since H5N1 is an emerging disease in livestock. Poultry producers, for example, have built up relationships with officials and regulators over decades of bird flu outbreaks.

Trust is “the most important tool that you have in your toolbox in an outbreak setting”, Shah said.

“When H5 became a phenomenon in the poultry industry, it was not overnight that poultry farm owners, operators, as well as workers were ready to work with public health entities – that relationship took time to develop,” Shah said. “The same thing is under way here.”

That means being clear about what testing does and doesn’t entail, and assuring the privacy of workers, he said.

“It’s not something that happens overnight, but we have made progress with farms and farm owners. We want to continue that, rather than trying to overplay our hand and shatter the trust that we’ve created so far.”


From chickens to foxes, here's how bird flu is spreading across the US

Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY
Sat, June 15, 2024 

A bird flu outbreak that has infiltrated six continents and is wreaking havoc in U.S. farms is among a group of avian influenza flu viruses first described in Italy in 1878 as a "fowl plague."

This outbreak, from a strain that emerged among poultry flocks and wild birds in Europe in the fall of 2020, has been the most pervasive in the U.S. and Europe. Once the highly contagious strain – H5N1 – was identified, it quickly began spreading across Europe and into Africa, the Middle East and Asia. By October 2022, it had been declared the largest avian flu epidemic ever in Europe.

As it spread around the world, it forced the deaths of tens of millions of chickens and turkeys and has killed or sickened thousands of birds, as well as land-based mammals and marine mammals. For now, the risk to people remains low, but the longer it lingers, researchers say, the risk increases that it could evolve into a virus that has greater impact on human health.

Here are some of the key events in the transmission and spread of the virus.
May – July 2021

Wild fox kits at a rehabilitation center in the Netherlands test positive for the virus during an outbreak in wild birds.


Virus found in great skuas – a type of seabird – on Fair Isle, Scotland.
November – December 2021

H5N1 first detected in North America, in poultry and in a great black-backed gull in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.


Four ducks harvested by hunters North and South Carolina test positive for the virus, the first bird flu infection among wild birds in the U.S. since 2016.
January – February 2022

An avian flu infection is reported in an 80-year-old man in England, with no symptoms who raised ducks that became sick in late December.


On Feb. 9, 2022, an outbreak was reported among turkeys at a U.S. commercial poultry facility.


Poultry outbreaks occurring worldwide.


Sea lions dying in Peru test positive for the virus


Virus detections begin occurring at other commercial poultry facilities in the U.S.

Diseases of chickens and other poultry are the focus of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia.
April – September 2022

U.S. reports first human case, possibly the result of contamination of the nasal passages rather than actual infection in a worker culling chickens on a Colorado farm.


Bald eagle die-off underway in the U.S.


Egg prices jump as thousands of chickens euthanized after they are infected with bird flu.


Virus found in at least 88 mammals in the U.S. , including harbor seals, red foxes, skunks and a bottlenose dolphin. Similar detections occurring in Europe and Japan.


Infected cormorants wash up on Martha's Vineyard beaches


Zoos begin moving birds indoors.
Fall 2022

Virus reported in more than two dozen mammals, including a black bear and Kodiak bear in Alaska, and in grizzly bears in Montana and Nebraska, and in a mountain lion.


Two poultry workers in Spain diagnosed with the virus.
2023

Bird flu spillover into mammals continues. Several human cases reported internationally.

By February, more than 50 million chickens have been affected in the U.S., in what has become one of the largest bird flu outbreaks in recorded history.


Study finds bird flu killing many bald eagles.


In April, wildlife officials report California condors die at alarming rate.


A dog died after chewing on a wild goose in Canada.


In December, the first detections are reported in both polar regions. A dead polar bear in Alaska tests positive for the virus, a first for polar bears and for the Arctic. Virus also found in elephant and fur seals in the Antarctic.

Endangered California condors are among the species that contracted the H5N1 bird flu. More than a dozen died before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversaw development of a vaccine that was successfully used to treat them.
March – April 2024

Viral infections occur for the first time in juvenile goats on a Minnesota farm where a poultry flock tested positive.


Virus found for the first time in dairy cows, at farms in Kansas and Texas. Later research suggests it was circulating since December, likely after introduction by a wild bird to a Texas cattle farm.


Testing of food products ramps up.


Virus found in unpasteurized clinical samples of milk at two Kansas dairy farms and one in Texas.


Fragments of the virus found in pasteurized milk, but aren't considered dangerous.


A farm worker in Texas tests positive for the virus, with conjunctivitis but not a respiratory infection, after coming into close contact with infected cows. It's the second human case in the U.S. and the first reported cow-to-human spread of H5N1 bird flu.
May 2024

Michigan dairy farm worker tests positive for the virus, with conjunctivitis symptoms.


Infection reported in another farm worker in the U.S., and this time the patient has respiratory symptoms, which healthcare researchers find more concerning. It's the fourth reported human case, the third by exposure to dairy cows.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bird flu in the US: A full timeline

Understanding Zoonotic Diseases: How Humans Get Sick from Nonhuman Animals

BY VICKY BOND

 MAY 13, 2024
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Photo by Mihail Macri

Human and animal health are closely linked, with many diseases shared between them. As our world becomes more developed and interconnected, the proximity between wild animals and humans is shrinking, increasing the risk of disease transmission. At the same time, humans are growing increasingly dependent on animals as a source of food.

The emergence of new diseases is an unfortunate byproduct of these trends. According to the World Health Organization, most of the newly discovered diseases in humans—about 75 percent—have originated in animals in the last three decades. Scientists call these kinds of diseases “zoonotic.”

As humans navigate the growing risk of zoonotic diseases, it is essential to understand how reversing our dependence on meat, dairy, and other animal products can help have a positive impact on our health and that of the planet, while ensuring a better life for the animals.

What Is a Zoonotic Disease?

A zoonotic disease is a disease that transfers from an animal population to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, zoonotic diseases are caused by germs such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Many different types of zoonotic diseases cause human illnesses that range from mild to life-threatening in severity.

It is estimated that six out of ten known infectious diseases that have been reported globally have spread between animals and humans, according to the World Health Organization—and zoonoses are only becoming more frequent.

What Causes Zoonoses?

Humans worldwide live near wild and domesticated animals, largely thanks to our food system’s reliance on industrial animal agriculture. As we navigate the challenges posed by this “unsustainable agricultural intensification”—that is “[destroying] the natural buffers that protect humans from viruses circulating among wildlife,” according to the United Nations—health experts say it has become crucial to understand how zoonotic diseases can spread.

Direct Contact

Diseases can pass from animals to humans who come in direct contact with them by touching an infected animal, for example, or being bitten by one. Zoonotic diseases usually spread through direct contact with an infected animalʼs bodily fluids, such as urine, blood, saliva, feces, or mucus.

Indirect Contact

Humans can also become infected in an animalʼs habitat or living quarters. For example, zoonoses can spread to a human while cleaning out an aquarium or chicken coop or while handling a petʼs food and water dishes. On industrial chicken farms, birds live in squalid conditions with the floor drenched in urine and feces, leading to the ideal conditions for animals to get sick.

Vector-Borne

In epidemiology, a “vector” usually refers to insects, arachnids, and other small organisms that spread an infection from one host to another.

An infected tick, for instance, can attach to a human and transmit Lymes disease. This is also why mosquito bites can potentially cause severe illnesses like the Zika virus, malaria, and yellow fever.

Foodborne

Foodborne diseases, or food poisoning, can be caused by eating raw or undercooked animal products. Eggs and chicken are among the most common sources of food poisoning. Salmonella and campylobacter—from raw eggs and chicken—are common zoonotic diseases. Chickens are among the most widely farmed land animals in the U.S. and worldwide. The U.S. raised more than 9 billion chickens for meat in 2020 alone.

Waterborne

Consuming water contaminated with harmful bacteria can cause illness in humans. For example, lakes, rivers, and streams contaminated with animal waste might have elevated levels of E. coli bacteria—found in the fecal matter of warm-blooded animals.

E. coli contamination is one reason why factory farms can have devastating impactson neighboring water bodies. If ingested by humans, the contaminated water can cause anything from minor stomach discomfort to serious health problems or even death.

How Do Zoonotic Diseases Spread Between Animals and People?

There are many ways for zoonotic diseases to spread between animals and people. However, public health researchers have found a common thread through many of the primary drivers of zoonotic diseases. Namely, factory farming and the consumption of animals around the world are sharply driving up the risks that could cause the next significant outbreak.

​​​​​​Farming and Ranching

By a conservative estimate, the agricultural industry has been responsible for around half of all new zoonotic diseases since 1940, according to a November 2022 paper in Science Advances. Epidemiologists say that percentage is probably higher. Nearly every aspect of intensive animal farming contributes to conditions ideal for spreading disease—overly stressed animals, who often live in sordid conditions and are crowded into tight spaces with one another, regularly come into contact with human workers.

Intensive animal farming creates a perfect storm for spreading zoonotic disease.

Wildlife Trade

In addition to animal agriculture, both the legal and illegal wildlife trade—which refers to the global commerce of non-domesticated animals and plants—are serious drivers of zoonotic disease.

A 2021 study published in Current Biology found that more than 25 percent of the mammals in the wildlife trade host 75 percent of all known zoonotic diseases. Because the complex process of transporting these animals results in “upward of 1 billion direct and indirect contacts among wildlife, animals, and domestic animals,” the studyʼs lead author, K. Nagaraju Shivaprakash, concluded that “[W]ildlife trade… is [conceivably] a significant factor in the global spread of zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases.”

Animal Captivity

Holding animals in captivity and exploiting them for human entertainment poses many ethical and moral problems. Animals in captivity also pose public health risks. Petting zoos and other animal exhibits where humans can directly touch captive animals are particularly concerning. Between 1990 and 2000, more than 25 zoonotic outbreaks were linked to animal exhibits, according to 2007 figures provided by the CDC.

Insect Vectors

There are more than a billion insects for every human on Earth. While these tiny beings are essential to our survival, some can also carry deadly diseases.

Ticks, fleas, and female mosquitoes (male mosquitoes don’t bite) can cause various illnesses, most of which are now treatable. However, one of the worst pandemics in history, the Black Plague, has been traced back to infected fleas.

Deforestation and Habitat Destruction

Deforestation and habitat destruction—primarily driven by the agriculture industry—pose serious environmental risks. When wild animals see their habitats destroyed, they have no choice but to uproot and search for a new home. As they make these journeys, they are more likely to “bump into” other animals, increasing the chances for a once-contained disease to spill over to another population.

Climate Change

For reasons similar to habitat destruction, scientists say climate change is already increasing the chances of humans experiencing more frequent zoonotic pandemics. “Using recent estimates of the rate of increase in disease emergence from zoonotic reservoirs associated with environmental change, we estimate that the yearly probability of occurrence of extreme epidemics can increase up to threefold in the coming decades,” warns a 2021 article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Animal agriculture contributes more global greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation sector.

The resulting extreme heat at the equator caused by global warming has many species racing toward the poles for more hospitable climates. This has prompted once-remote animal species to travel great distances, likely increasing their chances of contact with humans and other animals and potentially spreading disease.

Contaminated Food and Water

Food or water that has been contaminated by a bacterium, virus, or parasite leads to tens of millions of annual food poisoning cases and more than 1,000 deaths in the United States alone, according to the CDC.

Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness-related deaths in the U.S. After that, salmonella, C. perfringens, and campylobacter are the next most fatal pathogens. “Campylobacteriosis is the most commonly reported gastrointestinal disease” in the European Union, with more than 129,000 cases reported in 2021, which is a 5.6 percent increase compared to 2020.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control found that chickens and chicken meat accounted for roughly 20 to 30 percent of these human infection cases.

How Are Zoonoses Classified?

Public health experts classify zoonoses by their root cause. In other words, the disease pathogen could be a bacterium, a virus, or something else.

Bacterial Zoonoses

Bacterial zoonoses are diseases caused by single-cell microorganisms found almost everywhere on Earth and inside the human body. Most bacteria are harmless or even helpful, and relatively few cause disease.

Viral Zoonoses

Viral zoonoses are diseases caused by viruses, which are infectious microbes made up of DNA or RNA surrounded by a “protein coat.” They can infect humans, other animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria.

Parasitic Zoonoses

Parasitic zoonoses are diseases caused by parasites that attach themselves to or are found inside a hostʼs body. Parasitic diseases can spread from animals to humans through the consumption of raw or undercooked meat or by consuming food or water contaminated by an infected animalʼs stool.

Fungal Zoonoses

Fungal zoonoses are diseases caused by fungi, spore-producing organisms such as molds, yeasts, and mushrooms. Fungi can cause topical infections on a person’s body (such as skin rashes and brittle nails) or inside the body (such as infections of the lungs or bloodstream).

Rickettsial Zoonoses

Rickettsial zoonoses are diseases caused by an unusual type of bacteria that can live only inside the cells of other organisms. Rickettsial infections are usually transmitted to humans through bites from vectors such as ticks, lice, fleas, and mites.

Chlamydial Zoonoses

Chlamydial zoonoses are diseases caused by a family of bacteria called chlamydiae, one of the most common infectious agents affecting humans. One type of the bacteria is frequently transmitted in people as a sexually transmitted infection—and is often referred to colloquially as chlamydia. Another version, however, affects domesticated birds and can spread to humans when handling their birds or cleaning out their cages.

Mycoplasma Zoonoses

Mycoplasma zoonoses are diseases caused by an atypical family of bacteria that are harder to kill through antibiotics. Mycoplasma pneumoniae can infect the human respiratory system—a mild form of pneumonia is often called “walking pneumonia”—and spreads through tiny droplets from coughs and sneezes. There have also been reported cases of this sort of bacteria spreading from animals to humans.

Protozoal Zoonoses

Protozoal zoonoses are diseases caused by protozoal parasites and often spread from companion animals to their owners. Many humans are protected from these types of diseases by strong immune systems. However, immunocompromised pet caretakers are at a much higher risk.

Acellular Non-Viral Pathogenic Zoonoses

Acellular non-viral pathogenic zoonoses refer to diseases caused by very unusual and not well-understood pathogens, such as prion, a misfolded protein. Prion is believed to be the cause of neurological disorders such as mad cow disease and similar diseases affecting the brains of humans.

Zoonotic Disease Examples

Avian Influenza

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a viral disease that primarily affects wild waterfowl and domesticated poultry. As of April 10, 2024, more than 85 million poultry have been affected by a bird flu outbreak, the majority of which were egg-laying hens raised in cramped cages. While it has infected humans in rare cases, given the ongoing, severe outbreak in both wild and domestic bird populations, public health experts are concerned about more potential spillover events in the near future.

Due to the sheer number of birds we factory farm, we are dramatically increasing this risk. Keeping birds in closed confines, filthy conditions, and continually stressed is the perfect environment for bird flu to flourish.

Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is caused by an infection from salmonella bacteria, which live in the digestive tracts of birds and other animals. Humans risk infection if they do not practice good hand-washing habits and consume raw eggs, unpasteurized dairy products, or undercooked meat.

Psittacosis

Humans can contract psittacosis from infected pet birds, such as parrots and cockatiels, or domesticated poultry, such as chickens and turkeys. The illness is usually quite mild and relatively brief in humans.

Rabies

Rabies is a viral disease that can affect any mammal but is most associated with bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and dogs. Rabies is usually transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected animal. The infection affects the central nervous system and is nearly always fatal once symptoms are present.

Cat Scratch Disease

Cat scratch disease is a bacterial infection. It can spread to humans when a cat licks an open wound or scratches a person deep enough to break the skin. The infection can cause redness around the site of the wound, swollen glands, and flu-like symptoms. While the symptoms are usually mild, in rare cases, the infection can become serious if it spreads to other organs.

Malaria

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that spreads to humans through mosquito bites. If it is left untreated, malaria can be fatal, especially in children under five. The disease is most commonly found in countries near the equator, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania.

Zika Virus

Mosquito bites are the most common cause of the Zika virus. However, it can also be passed from a pregnant mother to her child or through sexual contact. The virusʼ symptoms usually include mild rash and illness. However, it can cause serious congenital disorders in newborns.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne zoonoses in the U.S. It is caused by infected blacklegged tick bites. While relatively easily treatable, if left untreated, Lyme disease can result in prolonged pain, stiffness, and swelling, as well as memory problems and difficulty concentrating.

Bubonic Plague

Responsible for the most infamous pandemic in history—known as the Black Plague or Black Death—the bubonic plague still crops up in some cases worldwide. However, outbreaks of this bacteria-borne zoonotic disease can be controlled with antibiotics.

Swine Flu

Also known as the H1N1 flu, swine flu is caused by an influenza virus that began infecting humans in 2009, causing a pandemic in humans, pigs, and birds. Pigs with swine flu may develop symptoms ranging from fever, coughing, and sneezing to depression and a lack of appetite. Humans can get sick from being near pigs on farms or at county fairs.

COVID-19

Scientists agree the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a nonhuman animal. However, there is yet to be a definitive conclusion about the source. According to WHO, the leading theory is that the COVID-19 virus originated in bats and spread to humans via another animal.

Who Is at Risk of Zoonotic Diseases?

As the far-reaching effects of COVID-19 have taught us, no one is immune from getting a zoonotic disease. However, various risk factors can put certain people at higher risk of infection than others.

According to the CDC, children under five, adults more than 65 years old, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women are at heightened risk of serious illness from zoonotic diseases.

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself from Zoonotic Diseases?

Animals are all around us, whether they are buzzing around us outdoors, wandering through our backyards, or even living inside our homes. This means there is always a chance of a bacterium, virus, or other pathogen jumping from an infected animal to one of us.

The CDC has laid out a practical list of ways to protect ourselves from preventable zoonotic diseases:

+Wash your hands after touching animals or animal products. Soap and running water for 20 seconds is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of germs. If soap and water arenʼt available, using a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol is the next best thing.

+ Avoid tick, flea, and mosquito bites outdoors by wearing bug spray and long-sleeved clothing and paying attention to CDC health warnings in your area.

+ If you have companion animals in your home, educate yourself about what diseases typically affect them and how to keep them healthy.

+Be wary of animal exhibits and petting zoos.

However, the rise of industrial animal agriculture over the 20th century has transformed our food system into one in which thousands of animals are packed into dense, unclean living quarters—creating conditions ripe for disease. While taking individual precautions to avoid contracting zoonoses is essential, the threat remains high unless we collectively change our relationship with nonhuman animals.

Preventing Zoonotic Disease Globally

Public health experts agree that the world needs to address the primary root cause of emerging zoonotic diseases: animal consumption. A 2022 research article in the journal Science Advances explains that changing how we raise animals for meat is insufficient to stem the accelerated rise in these diseases.

Intensive agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, which drives the global spread of disease. To further increase productivity, animals are increasingly kept in more intensive systems, but this process involves confining animals—and their waste—together into tight spaces. Not only is this inhumane, but in such large numbers and under so much stress, it also greases the wheels for the spread of disease.

Research shows that slowing the spread of zoonotic diseases will require reducing global reliance on animal products as a food source while accelerating forest conservation efforts worldwide.

Ending Intensive Animal Agriculture

Much work remains to end intensive animal agriculture and make the world a safer place for humans and nonhuman animals.

We must hold corporations and elected officials accountable for how their actions affect nonhuman animals’ well-being and public health. Governments must stop subsidizing animal agriculture and instead support more sustainable farming practices.

More awareness is also required to educate people about the atrocities inflicted on animals to support intensive farming and to highlight the overall environmental and health benefits of moving toward a plant-based diet.

 

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This article was produced by Earth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

Vicky Bond is a veterinary surgeon, animal welfare scientist, and the president of The Humane League.

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