Since January 2022, there have been more than 1,600 outbreaks reported on farms and backyard flocks, occurring in every state. More than 166 million birds have been affected by what is known as H5N1. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, said instead of killing birds with H5n1, farmers “should consider may be the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,” Mr. Kennedy said recently on Fox News But Mr. Kennedy does not have control over farms with support from
Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, also has voiced support for the notion.
“There are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity. But that idea has faced a lot of criticism from the scientific community a researcher Named Dr. Gail Hansen on H5N1 said it would be inhumane and dangerous, and a really terrible idea, for any one of a number of reasons,” Every infection is another opportunity for the virus, called H5N1, to evolve into a more virulent form. On top of that, if H5N1 were to be allowed to run through a flock of five million birds, “that’s literally five million chances for that virus to replicate or to mutate,” “So now you’re setting yourself up for bad things to happen,” Dr. Hansen said. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Dr. Hansen also said that farmed poultry have weak immune systems and are under enormous environmental stress, often packed together in wire cages or poorly ventilated barns. Within a day, H5N1 can sicken as much as a third of a flock.
Infected birds can develop severe respiratory symptoms, diarrhea, tremors, and twisting of their necks, and produce misshapen or fragile eggs. Many die gasping for breath. (Some birds die suddenly without showing any symptoms at all) which can lead to bird flu having nearly a 100 percent death rate and painful deaths for the chickens. ” but also Letting the virus spread unchecked would also likely lead to trade embargoes against poultry from the United States, “There’s a huge economic loss immediately.”
Where i got my information from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/health/kennedy-bird-flu.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-unveils-disturbing-plan-155958001.html