The concerns of experts regarding the bird flu outbreak of 2022 continue to increase, and for good reasons. Chickens affected by the disease had been found for the most part of the current year, and the drastic measure of culling millions of them was imposed.
According to Daily Mail, a total of about 48 million birds were slaughtered across Europe in an attempt to stop the spread of avian flu. Chickens, as well as other poultry, were included – ducks and turkeys, too, for instance.
An unprecedented situation
The current bird flu outbreak is considered unprecedented and for compelling reasons. The number of birds slaughtered was huge, and the virus has been dominating for a far too long time. Usually, there aren’t too many cases of infections with avian influenza during the summer, but 2022 was an exception. Government advisers also consider the situation to be unprecedented.
Dr. Christine Middlemiss, who is the chief veterinary officer of the UK, spoke about the wild birds and stated, as Daily Mail quotes:
Unfortunately we expect the number of cases to continue to rise over the coming months as migratory birds return to the UK, bringing with them further risk of disease that can spread into our kept flocks.
If things are bad enough in Europe, the situation is far from great on the other side of the ocean. 3 million chickens were culled in the American state of Ohio.
Regardless of how much you may love your chickens or ducks for providing you with food, it would be a pretty bad idea nowadays to grab them and give them a big smooch. Throughout history, there have been cases of human infections with avian influenza, and there aren’t a few experts worried that the birds could spread the disease to us and trigger a new pandemic.
