Can Avian Flu Spread to Other Animals?

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A lot of farmers are killing millions of birds using an approach called ventilation shutdown, which allows it to heat up. Animal rights activists have pushed back on this method pretty strong. And then there are a range of other prevention methods. So we actually have a fair number of tools to try to prevent this from spreading.

Poultry farmers are in flock-down. The bird flu known as H5N1 is being called “the largest foreign animal disease outbreak in US history.” Vox’s Benji Jones and Johns Hopkins University researcher Tom Philpott say the virus underscores the poultry industry’s shortcomings.

This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

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