All around us, a crisis is brewing. We are not referring to how the guard rails on democracy are being dismantled south of the border, but rather a less obvious crisis that may turn out to be even more significant. This is the real threat that bird flu could be the next human pandemic.
Since 2021, almost 150 million poultry in the U.S. and over 14 million in Canada have been culled, causing U.S. egg prices to skyrocket. The reason, producers have been hit by bird flu or highly pathogenic avian influenza (aka H5N1).
This influenza strain has been around for decades and flares up occasionally. For consumers already reeling from 18 months of rising food costs and for the food banks and other forms of emergency food delivery this is exacerbating food insecurity. But there are worrying signs that this crisis is about to grow scary indeed.
March 31, 2025
