Plagues of Our Own Making
How Our Treatment of Animals Fuels Pandemics (And How We Can Stop It)
When humans domesticated cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and turkeys 10,000 years ago, we didn’t just change our diets; we fundamentally altered our relationship with other animals.
Living in close proximity to them, handling their waste, and consuming their flesh and fluids, we exposed ourselves to their bacteria, viruses, and pathogens, setting the stage for zoonotic diseases—infections that jump from non-human animals to human animals.
And that was long before we created factory farms—cramming animals into overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, turning them into breeding grounds for disease. Our domestication of animals, our reliance on their bodies for consumption, and the ways they lived among us had already created countless opportunities for pathogens to spill over.
Factory farming didn’t create zoonotic diseases, but of course, it has amplified the risk on a massive scale. In these tightly confined, high-stress environments, bacteria and viruses don’t just survive—they evolve, mutate, and spread with devastating efficiency. The conditions we’ve created make it easier for pathogens to jump between the animals we farm, but what makes zoonotic diseases particularly dangerous is that they don’t stop there.
From Bubonic Plague to HIV
Because we’re animals ourselves, we share many of the same diseases as our non-human animal cousins. (Zoonosis comes from the Greek zoo, meaning “animal.”) We aren’t—after all—plants. We don’t get aphids, sooty mold, or downy mildew. But because of our contact with or consumption of non-human animals, we have in fact acquired many of our major killer pandemics.
These include various strains of influenza, Ebola, anthrax, bubonic plague, rabies, and cholera. Even HIV was first transmitted to humans through the butchering and consumption of infected chimpanzees. Other zoonotic diseases include West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Tuberculosis, Measles, Smallpox, SARS, MERS, and Coronavirus.
And now, we are facing the avian flu—H5N1 avian influenza—a virus that has already crossed the species barrier, killing tens of millions of wild birds, infecting mammals, and triggering mass cullings of farmed chickens and egg-laying hens.
The Avian Flu Crisis
The origins of H5N1 can be traced back to intensive poultry farming. The first known outbreak was detected in 1996 in farmed geese in China, and by 1997, it had spread to humans in Hong Kong, resulting in multiple deaths. To curb the outbreak, authorities slaughtered 1.5 million chickens, ducks, and other birds, temporarily halting the virus's spread—but not its evolution. Over the next two decades, H5N1 continued to mutate, infecting wild bird populations, spreading across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and occasionally jumping to humans, with a high mortality rate.
The global poultry industry—driven by consumer demand for the legs, breasts, wings, livers, and eggs of chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks (not to mention processed products like deli meats, chicken nuggets, and frozen tenders)—has, with its overcrowded, unsanitary, and high-stress conditions, become an incubator for viral mutation and transmission.
The very system we created to mass-produce cheap meat has also created a petri dish for pandemics and plagues. While it’s macabre enough that we bring these animals into existence only for the purposes of killing them for consumption, now, in our attempts to contain outbreaks caused by our own recklessness, we are gassing them, suffocating them in foam, and burying them alive by the millions.
The avian flu crisis extends beyond factory farms, devastating wild animal populations worldwide. Since October 2021, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has killed at least 280 million birds globally, causing significant declines in wild bird populations. (The Guardian)
In the United States, as of February 2025, over 2,600 cases of H5N1 have been reported in wild birds across 48 states, affecting 89 species, including mallards, Canada geese, bald eagles, and red-tailed hawks. (Cornell Wildlife Health Lab)
Avian Flu Is Now Mammal Flu
The fast-spreading and deadly “bird” flu has also been detected in several mammals across the globe.
In the United States, detections include red foxes, skunks, raccoons, bobcats, and even domestic cats. (USDA)
Notably, infections have been reported in dairy cows, with cases in Nevada and Arizona, and in farmed goats. (USDA)
In South America, the virus has affected sea lions and elephant seals in countries like Argentina, Chile, and Peru. (UC Davis)
Additionally, the United Kingdom has reported cases in seals along its coastline. (The Guardian)
It is far from contained and only worsening. This cross-species transmission and unprecedented spread highlight the virus’s evolving nature and the growing risk to both animal and public health. It also underscores the far-reaching consequences of intensive poultry farming, which has created ideal conditions for deadly pathogens to emerge and spread (CDC, Nature).
How Do We Stop This?
Of course, scientific advancements have provided us with protection against many of the above-named diseases, but while science can mitigate the risks, it doesn’t eliminate the root cause. As long as we continue breeding, confining, and consuming billions of animals, we will remain vulnerable—not just to future pandemics, but to the ongoing outbreaks and preventable diseases we are already facing.
We cannot keep using the same thinking that got us into this crisis in the first place. As Albert Einstein put it: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
We have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to change our thinking and break the cycle—not just by treating this disease but by rethinking our relationship with animals altogether, shifting from seeing them as commodities for us to do with as we please to recognizing their intrinsic value and vital roles in the world.
What We Can Do — Starting Today
At the same time, each of us has the power to be part of the solution through everyday choices. We can:
Eat more plants, eat fewer animals. Every meal is a chance to reduce demand for meat, dairy, and eggs, weakening the system that fuels pandemics. Check out my recipes and cookbooks and my 30-Day Vegan Challenge for guidance.
Support laws that ban factory farming. It's not just about regulation; we need policies that end this reckless industry and shift toward plant-forward food systems.
Support rewilding efforts. The destruction of ecosystems fuels disease outbreaks. Donate to or advocate for organizations protecting natural habitats, and create your own wildlife habitat in your own yard.
Use your voice. Share information (like this article!), start conversations, and inspire others to rethink their choices.
Put your money where your values are. Support businesses and organizations working toward a plant-based, sustainable future instead of those profiting from animal exploitation.
Every action we take, every product we buy, every dollar we spend, every meal we eat has an impact on something or someone else. We don't get to decide whether we can make a difference or not. We get to decide only if the difference we inevitably make is negative or positive. That's it. Those are our only two choices. There are no neutral actions.
May we realize the power we have to create a future where pandemics aren’t inevitable—where we make choices that reduce harm, protect public health, and break the cycle of disease at its source. For the sake of all animals — both human and non-human.
Many more ways to help in my new book, A Year of Compassion: 52 Weeks of Living Zero-Waste, Plant-Based, and Cruelty-Free.)