This has seriously impacted the poultry industry in Europe and the United States, and in turn triggered the "egg crisis". Although this is a big problem, what is worse is that avian influenza may only be one mutation short of avian flu.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a terrible experience to mankind, and now, another disaster has come to birds. European and American countries have had the largest avian influenza epidemic on record. The epidemic will continue to spread unless strong measures are taken. This has seriously impacted the poultry industry in Europe and the United States, and in turn triggered the "egg crisis". Although this is a big problem, what is worse is that avian influenza may only be one mutation short of avian flu.

Avian influenza hit the poultry industry in Europe and the United States, triggering the "egg crisis"

In the past year, avian influenza has seriously impacted the poultry industry in Europe and the United States. In Europe, about 48 million birds have been culled. In the UK alone, about 160 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were found in poultry and captive birds, resulting in 3.2 million birds being culled.

The situation in the United States is also not optimistic. Among the avian influenza outbreaks this year, more than 47 million birds died from infection and culling in the United States, close to a record level in 2015. At that time, 50.5 million birds died from avian influenza, the most serious animal health incident in the United States so far.

With the widespread outbreak of avian influenza in Europe and the United States, the number of cases on commercial farms has increased rapidly, affecting the supply of eggs and also raising concerns about the shortage of turkey and chickens on the Christmas table.

In some supermarkets, there has been a shortage of eggs. Even though some supermarkets are still supplying eggs, temporary restrictions are imposed on the quantity customers can purchase to ensure that everyone can buy them. At the same time, egg prices began to soar.

For example, in the United States, egg prices soared 10% in October, the largest monthly increase of in all groceries, while in October, the average of a dozen A-grade eggs was $3.42, up from $1.82 a year ago, an increase of 87.91%.

In the UK, egg prices rose 22.3% in October and food inflation reached 16.2%, the fastest increase in 45 years. In other European countries, there are similar experiences to the United States and the United Kingdom. As energy and fuel costs rise sharply, the soaring cost of living is squeezing household budgets, putting many people in difficulties.

Avian influenza is only one mutation away from human transmission

If the "egg crisis" is a big problem, it is definitely not the biggest problem. The bigger problem is that avian influenza is only one mutation away from human transmission.

Avian influenza is one of the most contagious animal diseases . When we discuss the spread rate of new crown , we often use the R value to measure it, while the R value of avian influenza can be as high as 100, which means that one bird can infect up to 100 other birds.

The outbreak of avian influenza is currently limited to birds because the virus is not easily spread between people. But there is no doubt that this is a time bomb. Because it is possible to cause this virus to produce mutations that spread between people, this will greatly increase the risks faced by humans. The greater the chance of the virus entering the human body and mutating, the more likely it is to have a dangerous strain, which will trigger the next pandemic similar to the new crown.

Fortunately, although there are precedents of human infection, it is usually limited to workers in poultry farms and people who have close contact with infected birds, and it is very rare, but by no means none. On November 3, two Spanish farm workers tested positive, the second known human infection incident since 2003.

The saliva, blood, mucus and feces of infected birds contain influenza viruses. If this virus accidentally enters the eyes, nose or mouth of humans, or inhales droplets at close range, it will be infected. However, eating fully cooked poultry or eggs will not cause avian flu. Moreover, this virus is not mild and has a high mortality rate for humans. According to World Health Organization estimates, the mortality rate of avian influenza is about 60%. There is currently no vaccine for humans ; seasonal influenza vaccines cannot prevent avian influenza. The core of the

problem is how we raise and treat animals, and how they interact with humans. Poultry is often kept under difficult conditions, they are crowded in tight spaces, and diseases can easily spread through them.Some experts believe that the more contagious strain developed in a factory-based breeding environment where animals are locked up in close proximity and the virus has the opportunity to spread and mutate. Not just avian influenza problems, but the same is true for other infectious diseases.

In short, as we know, as long as one person carries a new type of infectious disease, it will soon become a problem for the rest of the world. The main threats to infectious diseases faced by humans often come from animals: think about the new coronavirus, SAS virus, Ebola ... There are countless examples of this.

In the animal kingdom, there are more than one million viruses spreading, and trying to stop this transmission is futile. But we can limit their chances of entering humans and limit their spread among domestic animals. This requires taking the relationship between humans and animals seriously, and know that although it seems like an "egg crisis" now, it is only a mutation that is worse than the situation.