On Jan. 6, 2025, the United States reported the first human death caused by the H5N1 bird flu. It occurred in Louisiana, and according to the state’s Department of Health, the person had been in close contact with sick birds in a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.

The incident is a reminder that not only is raising backyard chickens or other birds bad for the doomed animals, it could be deadly for humans too. Yet another reason to be vegan.

Since 2003, there have been roughly 900 human bird flu infections reported globally, and about half of those people have died, according to the World Health Organization. Experts say H5N1is the deadliest form of the virus.

The Covid-19 pandemic boosted amateur chicken-keeping. While factory farms have come under public scrutiny, for some reason these backyard farm operations, like the one in Louisiana, have gotten a pass, quietly evading the analysis and critical observation they deserve. They enjoy the luxury of being misconstrued as an environmentally sustainable way of raising food to eat, an “escape” from commercial factory farming.

Tell that to the chickens, ducks, etc. who still end up slaughtered. Make no mistake, backyard coops, “gentleman” farms and small family farms thought to be superior to factory farms are anything but. The only antidote to the horrors of animal farming—including now catching the bird flu—is a plant-based lifestyle.

Humans most often catch the bird flu virus from close, long-term contact with live, domesticated birds, typically on farms or in backyard chicken coops. The virus’s potential to mutate is a cause for alarm. Mutation could allow for human-to-human transmission, which experts believe would lead to another pandemic. Dr. Robert Redfield, the virologist who led the CDC during the Covid-19 pandemic, has cautioned that “it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic.”

Humans can alsobecome infected by consuming undercooked bird or cow flesh, or raw cow’s milk. Despite the risk of human exposure to this potentially deadly virus, the morally apathetic meat and dairy industry continues to operate and kill innocent animals while jeopardizing national health.

Cage free. Grass fed. Free range.

There’s no right way to do the wrong thing.