A doctor’s perspective on bird flu that helps patients and farmers

A wheat field outside of Eaton, Aug. 12, 2019. (Preston Keres/USDA/ Public domain )

As a Colorado primary care physician board-certified in both family practice and lifestyle medicine, I follow closely the news about bird flu outbreaks and was not surprised to learn that Gov. Jared Polis recently extended the state of emergency declaration that releases more resources to control the bird flu (H5N1) on chicken and dairy farms.

I was very concerned when I read that six workers contracted H5N1 while killing thousands of birds at a poultry factory. Particularly troubling is the spread of bird flu to 48 dairy herds in Colorado — more than any other state.

I commend state veterinarian Dr. Maggie Baldwin for issuing an order requiring Colorado dairies to test milk weekly for bird flu. Officials are doing a good job of dealing with 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 ramification of both.

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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. Published research has shown that intensive animal agriculture has been implicated in influenza viruses jumping from animals to people, and some believe this bird flu could be the source of our next pandemic.

Consumers and farmers who want to be part of a more healthful future may wonder about alternatives to intensive animal farming and the diet it literally feeds. If you’re a poultry farmer and bird flu has wiped out your flock , you may be considering a change. In addition to bird flu flare-ups, farmers face other hardships , and some are repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops. In North Carolina, former chicken farmers Paula and Dale Boles converted their poultry barns to greenhouses to grow organic vegetables.

Dairy farmers also encounter significant challenges , and many are choosing to exit the business . Dairy farms are a significant drain on the Colorado River , and though some farmers are experimenting with crops that require less water, this problem is not going away anytime soon. 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. In fact, this trend is already underway.

A recent study with 22 pairs of identical twins found that a plant-based diet improves heart health in as little as eight weeks.

A former dairy farmer in Iowa, Denise O’Brien, sold the cows when milk prices were low and transitioned to growing crops including strawberries, asparagus and apple trees. But these transitions involve costs and Colorado should support farmers who choose to do so. We should also help dairy farmers who transition to growing oats for oat milk, like Toats in Denver , or almond or soy milk sold by Silk, of Boulder — or any other crop they find profitable.

Shifting away from animal agriculture helps our environment 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 Colorado 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, and the scientific literature tells the same story. A recent study with 22 pairs of identical twins found that a plant-based diet improves heart health in as little as eight weeks. The twins following a plant-based diet experienced lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and they lost more weight than the omnivore twins.

I support our state veterinarian and governor in their efforts to control our current bird flu crisis and look forward to working with others in our state to help them transition to a way of eating and growing food that is safer and more nutritious.

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