Beyond the Bird Flu Blame Game: A Dog Nutritionist’s Guide to Navigating Food Safety for Both Species

The Population-Food-Disease Triangle

The demand for affordable protein drives intensive farming practices. While Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) often receive the bulk of criticism, the reality is more nuanced. Small farms, free-range operations, and even backyard flocks have proven vulnerable to avian influenza.

This suggests the challenge isn’t simply about farm size or methods, but about broader ecological interactions.

As of December 24, 2024, the USDA has confirmed 16.4 million cases since the start of 2022 in the United States.

Livestock have also been affected and you can find those updates HERE and HERE.

What Is Avian Influenza?

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is a viral infection that primarily affects birds but can also infect humans and other animals. It is caused by influenza A viruses, which are highly adaptable and can lead to new viral variants with zoonotic potential.

They are categorized into two main subsets based on their pathogenicity: low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) and high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI). HPAI is primarily associated with H5 and H7 subtypes and has shown significant spread and impact on both avian and mammalian species, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance and control measures.

The Efficiency Paradox

Our current system is simultaneously highly efficient (in terms of production per square foot) and remarkably wasteful:

• We produce enormous quantities of low-cost protein
• Yet approximately 30-40% of food produced never gets consumed
• The poultry industry regularly faces mass cullings due to disease outbreaks
• The drive for efficiency has created systems that can amplify disease spread

Bird flu is not new. Agriculture has been addressing it for many years. You might think that shifting to free-range farming might mitigate the risk, but studies have shown it has not. In Australia, shifting 25% of Australian chicken farms to free-range farming increases the risk of HPAI outbreaks, but biosecurity practices can reduce this risk by 25-28%.

Why is this the case? The risk comes from migratory birds, and commercial chicken farms where the chickens are inside enclosed quarters have less risk than those birds out in the open. Additionally, commercial farms have higher biosecurity practices than those with open backyard flocks.

Individual Impact and Action

As consumers, we can play a part and contribute to mitigation through several approaches:

1. Smart Buying:
   • Purchase what we realistically will consume
   • Plan meals in advance
   • Understand storage requirements for different foods
   • Use freezing effectively to extend shelf life
2. Waste Reduction:
   • Learn to use all parts of products
   • Properly store leftovers
   • Share excess with neighbors or food banks
   • Compost unusable portions
3. Safe Food Handling
   • Handle raw food safely
   • Cook food to reach 165 degrees in temperature
   • If you want to continue to feed raw food, contact your raw food supplier to ask what steps they are taking to mitigate growing safety concerns

Mitigation Strategies for the Future

We must accept several truths:

• Viruses will always be part of our world
• No single solution will solve everything
• Trade-offs exist between cost, safety, and scale
• We need our policymakers to implement both immediate actions and long-term systemic changes
• We need to support farms that have our safety as a top priority

The Reality Check

The avian bird flu has been around since 1996. While the rest of the world has been exposed to this virus, it has only been a more prominent concern because it has affected us in the United States with the report of a cat dying from exposure to the subset strain H5N1.

The cat was an indoor cat fed a raw food diet from Northwest Naturals.

Under normal circumstances, the transmission pathways are through direct contact with infected birds or their secretions. This includes bird poop.

So the question remains, how did this cat die from exposure to the H5N1 virus? Was the cat sick? Did it go outside? Was the food contaminated? What does the company have to say?

Northwest Naturals uses High Pressure Cold Processing which on their website is when they “… employ pressures to inactivate many food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, with no change in organoleptic properties or nutritional value.” 

Yet they issued a voluntary recall.

Does this pose a risk to the raw feeding community?

It depends on what you believe.

Raw feeding companies are coming out in full force proclaiming that their sourcing is pristine, superior and/or safe due to their relationships to their suppliers, and kill steps to address bacteria.

We’re even assured that the highly acidic environment of the dog’s gut will kill any pathogens or viruses.

As much as I would like to be able to pull out a study that shows that dogs’ shorter digestive tract makes them immune to bacteria and viruses, a claim we in the raw feeding community like to state, there is yet a study to be found that verifies that.

The truth is that while most raw-fed dogs are at a very low risk, there is still no guarantee that your dog will be fine if they happen to be exposed to this virus in their food.

And even though the raw pet food community is on high alert, this virus poses very low risk to humans.

Also, while the concern is with poultry we need to be aware of how it impacts other proteins.

“While the US public health authorities have reassured the public that the safety risk to cattle, meat, and pasteurized milk is very low, concerns about potential impacts on prices and the livelihoods of farmers have however arisen. Nevertheless, the CDC has issued recommendations to avoid consumption of raw or undercooked food or related uncooked food products, such as unpasteurized (raw) milk or raw cheese, from animals with suspected or confirmed infection with HPAI A(H5N1) virus.”

So Why Are We Watching This Virus So Closely?

As previously noted, this virus is not new.

The reason this virus is getting so much attention is due to how fast its impacting our poultry population.

Based on current studies, a farmer will only begin to detect the introduction of the virus into their flock after a week. During that time, each infected bird would have infected 6.8 other birds each day. When one member of the flock is sick, the entire flock is culled which is having devastating effects on the poultry industry.

Currently, this is more a farming issue than a food safety issue.

Can Dogs Get Infected?

Currently, there are no cases of dogs infected from raw food that have the H5N1 virus.

In the history of avian influenza outbreaks, there has been only one documented case of fatal canine infection: a dog in Thailand that died in 2004 after consuming an infected duck.

In addition, there is another case where a dog in Poland had a respiratory infection in 2023 due to the H5N1 virus.

It is my personal opinion that healthy dogs with strong immune systems can continue to eat raw and the risk appears to be relatively low. But if you are one to err on the side of caution, you can cook your dog’s food.

The True Cost of Food Security: Why Consumer Education Matters

Let’s talk about something we all deal with: food prices and safety. With bird flu and other animal diseases becoming more common, we need to think differently about how we buy our food.

Most of our chicken comes from huge industrial farms, and they do feed much of the world. When bird flu spreads, people often blame wild birds and backyard chickens. Yes, these birds do spread the disease, but they aren’t the source of the problem.

The real issue lies in how we raise chickens in industrial farms. Modern meat chickens are nearly identical genetically – almost like clones. When you pack thousands of these similar birds together, you create perfect conditions for viruses to spread and change into new, dangerous forms.

Chickens are already one of the most genetically engineered animals on Earth. Scientists work in special laboratories to modify chickens in ways that might help fight diseases. These modified birds are meant to stay in the labs, where they help us understand how to combat different illnesses. But this research, while valuable, doesn’t address the fundamental problems with how we raise chickens for food.

Some suggest we could switch to raising chickens in backyards instead of big industrial farms. But this alone wouldn’t solve our problems. We need so many chickens to feed everyone that even backyard flocks if numerous enough to meet demand, would still create conditions where dangerous new flu viruses could develop.

And ultimately any positive changes will impact the price of our food.

Here’s the thing – most of us don’t really know where our food comes from or what it takes to get it to our table safely. We just see the final price tag at the store. But there’s a whole story behind that price.

Think about the farmers who raise chickens. They need special ventilation systems to keep the birds healthy and have to keep wild birds away to prevent disease. All of this costs money. But when we’re at the store, we usually just reach for whatever’s cheapest.

I get it – nobody wants to pay more for food than they have to. But here’s the problem: when we always go for the cheapest option, farmers might have to cut corners on safety to keep their prices competitive. It’s like trying to build the safest car possible while only being willing to pay the price of a bike.

This hits close to home for me. As someone who buys up to fifty to sixty pounds of meat monthly just to feed my three small dogs, I’m part of this system too. And I’ve had to think hard about what that means.

What’s interesting is that while most people say they care about food safety and want better practices on farms, they often don’t want to pay more at the checkout counter. It’s a tough situation – we want safer food, but we’re not always willing or able to pay what it really costs to produce it safely.

Maybe instead of asking why some food costs so much, we should be asking why other food is so cheap. When you think about all the work that goes into raising animals safely and paying workers fairly, those super-low prices don’t really add up.

But let’s be real – not everyone can afford to pay more for food. That’s why we need both individual action and bigger changes to the system. We can start by learning more about where our food comes from and having conversations with the people who sell it to us.

The choice is pretty simple: we can keep buying the cheapest food possible and hope nothing goes wrong, or we can start thinking more carefully about what we’re buying and why.

Our food system will only be as good as what we’re willing to support.

How Does This Affect You?

Awareness will allow you to make better decisions:

To recap:

• Avian bird flu has been around since 1996
• The subset H5N1 is the strain that is of concern for not only poultry farmers but for those of us who feed raw food (and even raw milk).
• The risk to humans remains low
• You can cook your dog’s food to minimize risk if you are concerned
• Don’t let your dogs eat bird poop

Ultimately you are your dog’s (or cat’s) advocate and you need to make the decision on whether this impacts how you feed your dogs.  

Wishing you and your dog’s good health.

References:

Barnes, B., Scott, A., Hernandez-Jover, M., Toribio, J., Moloney, B., & Glass, K. (2019). Modelling high pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in the commercial poultry industry.. Theoretical population biology, 126, 59-71 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tpb.2019.02.004.

Beach, R., Kuchler, F., Leibtag, E., & Zhen, C. (2012). The Effects of Avian Influenza News on Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Case Study of Italian Consumers’ Retail Purchases. .

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Glass, K., Barnes, B., Scott, A., Toribio, J., Moloney, B., Singh, M., & Hernandez-Jover, M. (2019). Modelling the impact of biosecurity practices on the risk of high pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in Australian commercial chicken farms.. Preventive veterinary medicine, 165, 8-14 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.02.002.

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