08-27-2020, 04:18 PM
We are all very aware of Covid 19. Some of us even remember SARS. These are two of many diseases that we have introduced into the human population by our treatment of animals. Some diseases are the product of factory farming practices and some some come from our consumption of wildlife.
This list has 10 major diseases, but there are others. The Spanish Flu probably came from birds that we consumed.
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsan...g-animals/
If we don't want to continue to have pandemics then we are going to need to change our behavior towards animals.
Right now there is a disease called Chronic Wasting Disease. It is effecting deer and elk in the USA and parts of Canada. It is spreading and it is fatal. It is caused by a prion in the same way that Mad Cow is caused by a prion. Humans were infected when they ate the meat of infected cows. Right now hunters are killing deer and elk in infected areas. They are eating the meat. Can they catch CWD? So far CWD has not been shown to transmit to humans. So Far! We are not sure if there is a danger, but hunters continue to hunt and eat the meat of infected animals. By the time we know for sure, a significant number of people would be infected.
We continue to have wet markets and the consumption of endangered wildlife. We continue factory farming practices that are unsafe for health reasons.
The Spanish Flu was 100 years ago. Since then we have encountered a lot of zoonotic diseases. We seem to be encountering them more frequently. We certainly can spread them further and faster than ever before. If we don't change we are going to be living under pandemic conditions permanently. We are going to be having Mad Cow type scares regularly. We are struggling with AIDs. Who knows what other viruses are out there that we haven't encountered yet.
If we don't reconsider our treatment of animals, wild and domestic, we will pay for our actions. We might find that Covid 19 is not the worst thing to ever happen.
This list has 10 major diseases, but there are others. The Spanish Flu probably came from birds that we consumed.
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsan...g-animals/
If we don't want to continue to have pandemics then we are going to need to change our behavior towards animals.
Right now there is a disease called Chronic Wasting Disease. It is effecting deer and elk in the USA and parts of Canada. It is spreading and it is fatal. It is caused by a prion in the same way that Mad Cow is caused by a prion. Humans were infected when they ate the meat of infected cows. Right now hunters are killing deer and elk in infected areas. They are eating the meat. Can they catch CWD? So far CWD has not been shown to transmit to humans. So Far! We are not sure if there is a danger, but hunters continue to hunt and eat the meat of infected animals. By the time we know for sure, a significant number of people would be infected.
We continue to have wet markets and the consumption of endangered wildlife. We continue factory farming practices that are unsafe for health reasons.
The Spanish Flu was 100 years ago. Since then we have encountered a lot of zoonotic diseases. We seem to be encountering them more frequently. We certainly can spread them further and faster than ever before. If we don't change we are going to be living under pandemic conditions permanently. We are going to be having Mad Cow type scares regularly. We are struggling with AIDs. Who knows what other viruses are out there that we haven't encountered yet.
If we don't reconsider our treatment of animals, wild and domestic, we will pay for our actions. We might find that Covid 19 is not the worst thing to ever happen.
![[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rtQnRVnpHuw/Upv4HXYM20I/AAAAAAAAAqo/K5MmSTvkZdA/w296-h229-p-no/IMG_9091.JPG)
Catherine
