Falls County Texas Game Wardens investigating suspect seen hunting on private property
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So you think you’ve got bird flu – a guide
Opinion: California bird flu outbreak warrants a broader look at the risky ways we produce food
by Seema PolicepatilNovember 30, 2024
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- https://mendovoice.com/2024/11/opinion-california-bird-flu-outbreak-warrants-a-broader-look-at-the-risky-ways-we-produce-food/
This is an opinion piece. We value the diverse opinions of our readers and we welcome robust, wide-ranging thoughts and ideas on subjects relevant to Mendocino County. The following opinion is not representative of The Mendocino Voice, its publisher, editor or staff. Opinion letters can be sent to info@mendovoice.com.
As a physician, I am closely following a bird flu outbreak that is hitting our Central Valley dairy farms hard, especially since the California Department of Health reports at least 21 human cases. This number seems to increase each week in our state, which has more dairy cows than any other. Bird flu has spread to at least 291 dairy herds in California.
As a board-certified doctor in internal and lifestyle medicines, I support the health department’s efforts to monitor and test for bird flu, I appreciate those calling for additional protections for California’s dairy workers, and I commend our public health officials for doing a good job of confronting the immediate crisis.
But it is also time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick cows and birds, the standard American diet that demands it, and the health ramifications of both.
Facilities with large numbers of animals in a small space are a threat to public health because they provide ideal conditions for viruses to spread, evolve and possibly acquire the ability to infect people. Research shows that intensive animal agriculture has been implicated in influenza viruses jumping from animals to people, and some believe this bird flu could even become the source of our next pandemic.
Recently officials announced the disturbing news that bird flu has infected a pig in Oregon, a troubling development that health experts say could mean a more transmissible and virulent virus.
Consumers and farmers who want to be part of a more healthful future may wonder about alternatives to intensive animal farming. If you’re a poultry farmer and bird flu has wiped out your flock, you may be considering a change. In fact, some are repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops.
California dairy farmers also encounter significant challenges, and many already were choosing to exit the business. Now the bird flu outbreak among dairy cows is presenting yet another problem.
Some of these farmers are likely thinking about phasing out the cow’s milk operation and transitioning to plant-based milk production, or growing crops or orchards. Actually, this trend is already underway. Just a few years ago, the Giacomazzi family of Hanford, owners of California’s oldest dairy farm in operation of more than 125 years, switched from cow’s milk to almond milk.
This transition couldn’t come at a better time. The plant-based milk industry, a $2.9 billion business, is booming. Almond milk is the most popular plant-based milk. California produces 80% of the world’s almonds and the most almond milk in the United States.
But these transitions involve costs, and California should support farmers who choose to make these changes. We should also help dairy farmers who transition to growing oats for oat milk, like Califia Farms in Bakersfield, for example, or almond or soy for milk sold by San Diego Soy Dairy — or any other crop they find profitable.
Shifting away from animal agriculture helps our environment and our economy and improves worker safety. I have found for myself and my patients that it also improves health. A plant-based diet focused on fruits, veggies, beans and greens grown in California can help maintain healthy weight, lower blood pressure and improve heart health.
I know this from my own personal experience and from treating patients with diet-related diseases. While our public health officials try to control our current crisis, I am hopeful California will transition to a way of eating and growing food that is both safer and more nutritious.
State begins testing milk to prevent avian flu outbreak
Car Accidents Are Killing Florida Panthers At An Alarming Pace
·November 30, 2024
Jason Francis
The Florida panther population continues to dwindle, and there’s one predator that’s mostly to blame.
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Florida’s famous big cat is categorized in the “critically endangered” level, meaning that the species’ population decline is greater than 80 to 90 percent. With their total numbers dwindling, Florida panthers are being seen less and less out in the wild.
They mainly live along the Gulf Coast of Florida now, and when occasional videos of the rare, elusive creatures are captured, they’re a big deal. They typically surface online, like this panther that was captured roaming around Naples, Florida back in July:
It’s sad to think that we could soon live in a world where these videos will only exist in the past.
The National Wildlife Federation explained why there’s so much concern about Florida panthers going extinct in the wild in the conservation portion of their Florida panther information page:
“The Florida panther is the only subspecies of mountain lion that remains in the eastern United States. Hunting decimated the population badly, and it was one of the first species added to the U.S. endangered species list in 1973. The Florida panther’s current status is listed as endangered.
During the 1970s, only about 20-30 Florida panthers remained in the wild. Today, there are just over 200 left in the wild. They are found in southern Florida in swamplands such as Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. The subspecies is so critically endangered that it is vulnerable to just about every major threat.”
The only positive is that the Florida panther population is comparatively higher than it was over 50 years ago. And speaking of major threats… you are probably asking yourself, “When is this guy going to reveal the most concerning predator that Florida panthers face?”
Well here we go… it’s us! Though humans aren’t intentionally hunting the Florida panthers anymore, we’re still responsible for decreasing the endangered population – through vehicular incidents. Five Florida panthers have died in the past month with injuries sustained from being struck by cars, and a total of 30 have passed away in 2024.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it’s the highest death toll for the critically endangered species since 2018.
The concerning thing about the vehicular collisions is that it’s not an anomaly – it’s a pattern. It’s estimated that 239 panthers have reportedly been killed by cars in the past decade, and if there was ever a time to ring the alarm about automobile-related Florida panther deaths, it would be now.
But how can those numbers be cut down? Florida residents have already been warned to slow down in areas that panthers might reside in, and what else can you really do? And unfortunately, habitats that Florida panthers live in continue to be decimated, which only draws Florida’s big cat population into areas with more roadways, thus causing more vehicular collisions.
With the remaining number of panthers in the wild believed to be between 130 and 230 big cats, the state of Florida and the NWF will ironically need to figure out some sort of plan of attack to defend the endangered big cat species that calls the “Sunshine State” home.
