‘If you look at the swine flu, the bird flu, all these pandemics, three out of four, I believe it is, because of animals, whether that’s wild animals or whether that’s farm animals’

In a recent interview with Men’s Health, James Wilks, co-producer of the vegan documentary The Game Changers explained how eating meat led to the pandemic Covid-19 outbreak.

According to the former mixed martial artist, animals are the root cause of three out of the last four pandemics and his claim is backed by data from  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If you look at the swine flu, the bird flu, all these pandemics, three out of four, I believe it is, start because of animals, whether that’s wild animals or whether that’s farm animals,” Wilks told Men’s Health.

He continued: “The funny thing is people say we don’t want to spread disease so we should separate and have this social distancing, well what are we doing to animals that are in factory farms?

“What conditions are they in? It’s no wonder that disease is spreading among those animals and then it transfers over to humans.”

Wilks added that apart from the personal health perks and environmental benefits of consuming a plant-based diet, risks to ‘public health’ were another reason people should consider going vegan.

‘Ticking time bomb’

His comments follow numerous doctors and health care professionals speaking out about the risks of factory farming on human and animal health.

Dr. Gemma Newman popularly known as the Plant Powered Doctor described factory farms as a ‘ticking timebomb’.

Last month joining the No Meat May Campaign she stressed: “All of the recent major disease outbreaks have been caused by tampering with animals.

“Zoonotic diseases like these infect 2.5 billion people each year.”

She added: “The inconvenient truth is that factory farms put a strain on animal health, which means we treat them with antibiotics and small doses end up in your meal.

“Our industrial scale poultry farms are like a ticking time bomb.”

Dr Newman added: “I don’t know when this pandemic will end, or how many lives will be lost. But one thing I do know. I can guarantee that lentils will not spark a viral pandemic anytime soon.

“Many of us are sitting at home wondering what we can do to help this situation. Taking some time to reflect on what we eat, limiting the meat we put in our supermarket trolley and shifting to a more plant-based diet will help us shift towards a safer future.”

‘Inaction not an option’

Dr Shireen Kassam, MD, co-founder of Plant Based Health Professionals UK echoed Dr Newman’s concerns.

On world environment day 2020 she wrote: “Humans have destroyed habitats, polluted the land, sea and air, and continue to cause immense suffering to human and non-human animals. If we continue, further pandemics are inevitable, more people will suffer from hunger and poverty, more species will be lost from this earth forever.

“We had all hoped that the pandemic would make us consider our choices, values and actions. We were hopeful that we would find a more harmonious way of living on this earth as the lock down is eased. But this is not the case. We appear to be restarting ‘business as usual’ without considering a better way.

“On World Environment Day, lets take time to consider the state of our planet and all its inhabitants. We must act and change.

“Eat plant-based, consume less and recycle, travel less, do not support companies and industries that are destroying our planet, support those who are championing a better way, grow food if you can, lobby the government and those in power. Inaction is no longer an option, be the change you wish to see.”

“More than 90 percent of the meat we consume is produced in industrial scale factory farms, which provide the perfect conditions for the generation of novel infections with epidemic and pandemic potential.”

• Read: Vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian to release comic book on animal rights

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