Another avian flu outbreak in Japan has sparked a record-breaking slaughter of 10 million animals in the country as officials attempt to control the spread.

Source: Oneindia News/Youtube

The agriculture ministry announced that 9.98 million birds have been culled this season which passes the previous record from 20202.

Source: WION/Youtube

The outbreak was confirmed to have spread at an egg farm in Miyazaki that was home to around 100,000 hens. The agriculture ministry said that the disease has been found in at least 23 of the country’s 47 prefectures just this season.

The increasing infection amongst birds is troubling because it increases the possibility of the virus mutating in a way that would infect humans. The influenza virus has historically been behind human pandemics.

The government could be spending that money to prevent future outbreaks by changing factory farming practices and making the bird population more diverse. The real issue is the way that commercial factory farms are run. The industry relies on genetically identical animals confined in inhumanly small spaces. It is now estimated that all nine billion chickens raised and slaughtered in the U.S. each year can trace their lineage back to a handful of breeds.

These chickens have been manipulated over generations to grow at incredibly unnatural speeds and become larger than they ever have. According to The Humane League, chickens today are more than four times the size they were just 60 years ago. The lack of genetic diversity poses a massive threat to the industry and makes the animals more susceptible to outbreaks. It is a threat to public health.

Sign this petition to help stop abuse in the poultry industry.

Related Content:

• Over 700 Vultures Die in Sanctuary After Avian Flu Outbreak
• First Person in UK Contracts Bird flu
• No Free-Range Eggs in UK Supermarkets Amid Biggest Avian Flu Outbreak
• Cockfighting Puts People at High Risk for Avian Flu
• 41 Bald Eagles in 15 States Have Died From Avian Influenza Since Late February

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