PETA India Animal Times Monsoon 2020

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How to Prevent a Pandemic: Go Vegan!

Experts say it’s only a matter of time before we face another pandemic. The novel coronavirus reportedly first infected humans at a live-animal market in China. Before that, we had MERS, SARS, avian flu (H5N1), and swine flu (H1N1), all resulting from how we treat animals used for food. H5N1 is so deadly that it kills about 60% of humans who catch it. Its first recorded cases in humans, in 1997, coincided with outbreaks among birds on poultry farms and in meat markets in Hong Kong. And health authorities estimate that as many as 575,400 humans worldwide died from H1N1 swine flu during its first year circulating among our species. Of course, China isn’t the only source of pathogens. In India, we have live-animal markets full of sick chickens, goats, and other animals. Investigators have also found markets here that sell the charred remains of deer, wild boar, monkeys, and porcupines and butcher dogs whose blood, guts, and waste are then carried out to other locations on the shoes of customers and sellers. More than 70% of the world’s animals raised for food are now factory-farmed, and chicken farms in India are notoriously filthy. Dangerous bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens flourish in such conditions. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 75% of new or emerging infectious diseases affecting humans originated in animals.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO Help prevent future pandemics, save animals’ lives, and protect your health by going vegan. Order PETA India’s free vegetarian/ vegan starter kit at PETAIndia.com/VSK .

Milk has been linked to bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis infections in humans.

Monsoon 2020 • PETA India’s Animal Times ® 3