| A scientific report from the World Society
for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), 'Industrial
animal agriculture - the next global health
crisis?', highlights the real danger
that factory farming poses to human health
and animal welfare, particularly in developing
countries. The report is presented at a World
Health Organization (WHO) conference in Mexico.
Industrial animal agriculture has acted
as a 'launch pad' for zoonotic diseases
such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE),
avian flu and Nipah virus. Scientists predict
that as industrial agriculture continues
to move into tropical environments, the
risk from diseases that can jump the species
barrier is growing. According to the Food
and Agriculture Organization, the spread
of one such disease, avian flu, may have
been facilitated by the rapid scaling-up
of poultry and pig operations and the massive
geographic concentration of livestock from
industrial farms in Thailand, Vietnam and
China.
Since January 2004, avian
flu has killed 28 people in Vietnam
and Thailand. The outbreak recently spread
to Malaysia and has so far cost billions
of dollars and the loss of over 100 million
chickens in South East Asia. Factory farming
remains the fastest growing method of animal
production worldwide, with developing countries
set to be the world's leading producers
of meat by 2020. However, the crowded and
often unsanitary conditions in factory farms
can make ideal breeding grounds for disease.
Leah Garces, WSPA Campaigns Director and
co-author of the report, said, "Much
is at stake if we fail to ensure the health
and welfare of the animals that we farm.
Intensive farming practices that have become
the subject of increasing controversy and
legislation in Europe and North America
are being exported into the developing world.
This is causing widespread suffering to
farm animals, as well as often presenting
an increasing disease risk to animals and
humans. We need to stop this cruelty in
its tracks if we are to have a fighting
chance of preventing further disease outbreaks."
Intensively farmed animals are often routinely
fed antibiotics.
According to WHO, such widespread use of
these drugs in the livestock industry is
helping to breed antibiotic-resistant microbes,
and making it harder to fight diseases amongst
both animals and humans alike.
The European Commission's Scientific Steering
Committee has proposed to ban all antibiotic
growth promoters from 2006, due to concern
over antibiotic resistance. However, the
use of antibiotics continues to rise globally
and usage by poultry producers has risen
by over 300% per bird since the 1980s. In
the US alone, over 12,000 tonnes of antibiotics
are used each year. In a recent statement,
the American Public Health Association called
for a moratorium on the construction of
new industrial animal farms until more scientific
data on their risks has been collected.
WSPA urges the WHO and other public health
institutes to ensure that policy advice
does not promote or otherwise encourage
the growth of industrial animal agriculture.
WSPA is calling for industrial animal agriculture
to be phased out in favour of more humane
and sustainable farming, on public health
and animal welfare grounds. WSPA's recommendations
include:
- A halt to the expansion of factory farms
- The adoption of humane and sustainable
forms of farming
- A global ban on the use of antibiotic
growth promoters and production enhancing
hormones
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