By John Di Leonardo
The first person to have a severe case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States has died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. This is the first human death from bird flu in the United States; and as of now, it appears U.S. officials are continuing to downplay what experts – including former CDC Director Robert Redfield – call the next pandemic. However, these deaths are preventable.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans come from animals, and the majority of diseases that have caused epidemics or pandemics in recent years originated in animals before being transmitted to humans, including AIDS, swine flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. In order to prevent the next pandemic, we must stop eating meat, eggs, and dairy.
My organization Humane Long Island has been raising the alarm about rapidly evolving strains of avian influenza for years, posting five billboards across Long Island in 2022, warning passersby that “animal exploitation breeds killer diseases” and urging them to “keep animals off your plate and out of your classroom.” At the time, officials said that highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza were isolated to poultry and certain wild birds and did not pose a threat to humans or other animals. In 2024, we partnered with our friends at World Vegan Vision and Empathy Films to erect five more billboards around Mother’s Day reminding people to “choose vegan” by highlighting the fact that avian influenza had spread to dairy cows in 9 states. Authorities at that time said while cows were testing positive, they were asymptomatic and not to worry. In 2025, outbreaks have been reported in 48 states, resulting in the systematic killing of nearly 100 million factory-farmed birds, so many bovine deaths that California has declared a state of emergency, fatalities in tens of thousands of sea lions, more than a dozen tigers in zoos, more than 50,000 minks on a single fur farm, and now even feral cats.
With highly pathogenic avian influenza rapidly mutating on factory farms, it’s only a matter of time before it evolves to readily transmit from human to human – and with it appearing in densely populated areas, like New York City’s live slaughter markets, this will spell disaster. Over the past 30 years, half of around 900 people diagnosed with bird flu around the world have died. That’s a case mortality rate of 50%. For comparison, COVID-19 has a case mortality rate less than 1%.
Why is the U.S. Department of Agriculture not taking this more seriously? The answer lies in its directive to support agriculture and the fact that sentient animals have no more rights than plants in our legal system. But not all agriculture is causing this impending pandemic, and not all agriculture is worthy of our support. Slaughterhouses and factory farms are petri dishes of disease that must be shut down and replaced by safe, animal-free agriculture that can save all our lives, before it’s too late. For this week's Anuvrat – or small vow – you can help by boycotting animal agriculture and choosing vegan.
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John Di Leonardo is the founding director of Humane Long Island. He was previously the Senior Manager of Grassroots Campaigns and Animals in Entertainment Campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has a Master's degree in Anthrozoology from Canisius College. He also earned a graduate certificate in Jain Studies from the International School of Jain Studies (ISJS) in India. John can be reached at [email protected].
