Since the 2019 COVID pandemic, I wanted to know what causes pandemics and what, if anything, can be done to prevent the next one. Luckily, there are things you and I can do, which may seem as too radical to some.
What I learned is that animals are the sources of past pandemics: bats contain coronaviruses and chickens contain influenza, which get transmitted to other animals and humans. That awful flu you get every year, that’s from birds.
In China, it was discovered that the COVID-19 virus came from infected bats that infected raccoon dogs, and those raccoon dogs were sold in wet markets as food.
The 1918 flu pandemic killed over 500 million people, that virus came from birds. Scientists believe the next pandemic will come from birds and will kill many more people that have died from COVID in the last 4 years.
It’s currently the year 2025, and the bird flu has evolved again, the current variation is called H5n1. The price of eggs at the grocery store nearest me is $14 because of low inventory due to over 1 million birds being killed, per month, after confirming they were infected with this highly transmissible virus (5, 6).
What’s more, it’s infecting cattle, especially cows. Cow’s milk has been found to contain this virus and people have already been infected from drinking raw cow’s milk. Small numbers of infected people, as we know, can turn into millions in just a year.
Bovine TB from inadequately pasteurized cow’s milk still occurs today. Over 800,000 deaths in Great Britain between 1850-1950 was caused by drinking cow’s milk (4, pg 81).
Per the CDC, “As of January 6, 2025, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024,” and one person has already died (1).
In an article published by Johns Hopkins with the title,
Bird Flu Is Raising Red Flags Among Health Officials
States that, “H5N1 is a dynamic virus that poses an increasing threat in terms of spillover and pandemic potential.” (7)
Just being in contact with birds can transmit H5n1, so it makes sense not to eat birds.
Bird flu is infecting cows, and raw cow’s milk is infecting and sickening people, that means the birds are sick and the cows are sick, so shouldn’t we avoid eating birds and stop eating cow meat too?
That’s a start, but farmed animals create a lot of chicken poop, and to get rid of it, farmers mix some of the chicken feces in the feed to cattle, and spray it on crops. That means millions of farmed animals may be infected by H5n1.
The American Veterinary Medical Association, states, “since the U.S. outbreak of avian influenza A (H5N1) in dairy cattle began in March 2024, dozens of cats are known to have contracted the virus, including barn and feral cats, indoor cats, and big cats in zoos and in the wild…” which includes mountain lions, tigers, leopards, and bobcats. The source of H5N1 in these animals is exposure to birds, eating undercooked poultry, unpasteurized dairy, and being around people who works on farms (2).
In a December 2024 published article by NPR, Bird flu has killed 20 big cats including cougars at a U.S. wildlife sanctuary (3).
I remember reading, back in 2020, how large cats in zoos were getting sickened with COVID-19, then small house cats in shelters became ill with COVID-19.
I also recall neighbors walking their masked dogs to protect their beloved pets.
Millions of people and animals die from viruses and bacteria. No one knows how their body will react, or if they will survive it, so let’s be proactive and start preventative measures now, instead of just hoping it doesn’t happen.
All birds carry bacteria and viruses. Hong Kong killed over a million birds that contained a deadly virus, which could have caused a pandemic, if they hadn’t done so.
A European Food Safety Authority advisory panel cautioned that down and feathers may be infected with feces. (4, pg 54)
Animals fed infected birds died. “The European Science Publication ‘New Scientist’ ran an editorial titled, “Bird Flu Outbreak Could Kill 1.5 billion People.” (4, Pg 57).
Even in the absence of H5N1, campylobacter and salmonella, disease-causing bacteria is found in poultry. If you eat chicken, you might want to reconsider eating it. Up to 15% of people who contract salmonella develop joint inflammation, arthritis from infected food. Guillain-Barre is from Campylobacter. This bacteria contaminated one quarter of the chicken in the US (pg 108). Do you have stomach pains or IBS? Campylobacter bacteria may trigger cancer and is suspected of causing 25% of IBS.
“…from goats, sheep, camels, poultry, all fish, just amount any animal you can name-they [each] have probably 30-40 major diseases” per the WHO expert who led the fight against SARS. (4, Pg 79).
Many diseases-from anthrax to tuberculosis, cholera to streptococcus, ringworm to various poxes-are passed back and forth between humans and livestock. (4, pg 73).
University of Minnesota Medical researchers at multiple markets found 69% of pork and beef and 92% of poultry were contaminated from e-coli. E-coli is from animal poop (4, pg. 47). When you eat animal protein, you are also eating some animal poop.
The reason there is poop in chicken & poultry is the machines use a hook to remove the intestines, which gets ripped open and the contents go everywhere.
Birds are drowned in tanks and defecate in these kill tanks (4, pg. 47).
The way animals are treated and killed for meat is cruel, dangerous, disgusting, filthy and harmful to the environment and humans; the only thing the meat and dairy industries care about is making as much money as possible. That’s why they create and manipulate studies to con people into thinking that animal protein is necessary, when it actually contributes to chronic diseases like Type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
Many diseases-from anthrax to tuberculosis, cholera to streptococcus, ringworm to various poxes-are passed back and forth between humans and livestock.
Per the CDC, about 48 million Americans get food poisoning every year.
Approx 3,000 Americans die from food poisoning caused by a virus or bacteria (pg 46). Animal products are contaminated with viruses and bacteria. Antibiotics only work against bacteria.” (4, Pg 60)
Anthrax from wild sheep, tularemia from wild rabbits (4, pg 80), TB from goats. TB kills over 100m people a year, currently. (4 pg 81).
Measles may have originated from sheep and goats, smallpox from camels. We got whopping cough from pigs and typhoid fever from chickens. (4, pg 81), leprosy from water buffalo. Hep E from pigs (4, pg 82). Between 1-2% of blood donors in the US have been exposed to hep E (4, pg 82). Salmonella, found in feces, causes numerous outbreaks today.
Civet cats are eaten and cause SARS. Herpes is from eating monkeys. Ebola is from eating apes. Monkey pox was from eating a monkey infected from a tick. HIV appears to be from chimps. (4, Pg 88). Monkey pox from prairie dogs bitten by monkey pox-infected giant rats. (4, pg 95). A 3-year-old Wisconsin girl got Monkey Pox from her prairie dog (4, pg 96).
“A leading theory on the origin of mad cow disease is that cows got it from eating diseased sheep.” (4, Pg 110). Animals are fed other animals, blood, feces, feathers, dirt, bone meal. Cooking, irradiation, antibiotics…cannot destroy all these bacteria and viruses.
Eggs infect over 79,000 Americans yearly. (4, P 116).
Children have died from E-coli from petting zoos. (4, Pg 117).
Over 90% of antibiotics given to chickens are to promote weight gain (4, pg. 118)., which causes superbugs. In 1988, a young pregnant woman died 18 days after visiting a county fair (4, pg. 131) from swine flu.
Chopping down and clearing trees from forests breeds viruses and leads to pandemics. Mosquitos, bats and rats leave those sites, infecting other animals and humans.
In 1997, bats’ urine and saliva infected pigs which led cats, dogs, horses, cattle and people to die. The virus was stamped out by killing over 1 million pigs in Malaysia. That virus, Nipah, killed 40% of those infected (4, pg 96-97). We need to stop deforestation and eating animals to prevent future pandemics.
Strep and meningitis is from pigs. (4, Pg 98).
You can find E. coli in burgers, salmonella in eggs, listeria in hot dogs, campylobacter in your Thanksgiving turkey. (4, pg 104).
Farmed fish swim in their own poop. (4, Pg 105).
Thousands die in the US yearly from food poisoning. (4, Pg 107).
Much of this information is from Dr. Greger’s book titled, “How to Survive a Pandemic” but it should have been titled, “Foods that Cause Sudden Death and Chronic Disease: a Guide to Prevent the Next Pandemic.”
This book discusses what goes on in slaughter houses and explains that there is no such thing as clean or healthy meat, chicken, eggs, fish, or pork because they all contain bacteria, viruses, hormones and endotoxins, which cannot be cooked off.
Every bite matters. We don’t want to eat viruses or bad bacteria. To prevent future pandemics, we need to stop eating, transporting, and handling animals, to avoid total destruction of our planet and the human species.
How we can prevent another pandemic is also how we can prevent diseases. It boils down to what we choose to eat, serve to others, and how we interact with animals.
Dr. Anthony Fauci and many other doctors, made some serious mistakes and omissions during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreaks. We were initially told not to wear masks, because of worries of a mask shortages for nurses and doctors. If everyone wore masks at the beginning, it may not have spread, and may even have died out. We were told to wash our hands and practice social distancing, that’s it? That’s not nearly enough to keep anyone healthy.
The people most at risk of serious illness from COVID and the flu are those with heart disease, diabetes, have any disease, and are overweight, yet health officials didn’t tell us to lose extra weight, exercise, eat fruit and vegetables, avoid alcohol, and to limit fats to 10% of total calories.
We weren’t told that it’s important to get adequate sleep since that’s the time when most of the healing is done.
No one told us to swap turkey for tofu, beef for beans, chicken for chickpeas, lamb for lentils, or pork for peas. Who are they trying to protect? All of these simple steps would have boosted immunity, lowered cholesterol, reduced bacteria, and allowed our bodies to protect us. If you want people to survive a viral outbreak, you want to encourage healthy habits. A healthy body can easily and quickly fight bacteria and viruses.
The more people understand the connection between what we eat, bacteria, viruses, and the risks of handling animals, can literally be the difference between life and death.
At a minimum, we can all cut back on alcohol, exercise, and stop eating & killing animals for clothing and food. What’s on your plate matters. Every bite you take affects you.
Let’s do our part in trying to prevent the next pandemic and get healthier to build up our resilience.
Sources:
- https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/m0106-h5-birdflu-death.html#:~:text=As%20of%20January%206%2C%202025,result%20of%20an%20H5%20infection.
- https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-health/avian-influenza/avian-influenza-h5n1-cats#:~:text=Since%20the%20U.S.%20outbreak%20of,%2C%20leopards%2C%20and%20bobcats).
- https://www.npr.org/2024/12/26/nx-s1-5239841/bird-flu-kills-20-cats-washington-sanctuary
- Dr. Michael Greger’s, “How to Survive a Pandemic“
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/01/28/heres-why-egg-prices-are-so-high-and-may-get-worse-as-bird-flu-persists/
- https://apnews.com/article/egg-prices-bird-flu-poultry-inflation-9ea9934e20e3fe393abb1bb85aa31c30
- https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/bird-flu-is-raising-red-flags-among-health-officials
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