More diseases will be caught from animals

THE outbreak of a strain of bird flu in Melton is one of many (“Control zone for bird flu in place around theme park”, November 24).

It has also been reported that various strains of bird flu have been identified across farms in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

A H5N8 strain has been found in broiler chicken breeding units in Cheshire and Herefordshire. This is the same strain as reported in Melton.

Defra has reportedly raised the UK risk of bird flu from medium to high.

With 70 billion terrestrial animals bred annually around the world for food, the emergence of new zoonotic diseases (originating in animals) is said to be inevitable.

The current and previous pandemics stem from human consumption and contact with animals and their products.

Sars, Mers, Ebola, bird flu, swine flu and Covid-19 are all caught from eating or being near to infected animals.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there are more than 200 zoonotic diseases globally that infect 2.5 billion humans and cause 30 million deaths annually.

There is also great concern that the overuse of antibiotics to compensate for poor conditions on farms is causing antibiotic resistance in humans.

Up to 80 per cent of antibiotics globally are given to animals.

The WHO predicts that by 2050 there will be 10 million human deaths annually throughout the world as a result of antibiotic resistance.

We should also remember that growing soya for animal feed is not only using valuable land but is the main driving force for rainforest destruction, which in turn is a cause of climate change.

Many scientists are saying that the next pandemic will be a flu virus and that zoonotic diseases are a threat to all life on Earth. Arguments for a shift to plant-based diets get stronger every day.

Elizabeth Allison, Aylestone