Zoonoses and farming: evidence, ethics and implications

A report of the November 2009 Business Forum meeting

As the incidence of swine flu rises, the food and farming sectors can expect renewed public debate around the relationships between farming and human disease. While animal welfare groups allege that the H1N1 virus originated in large-scale confined production systems, the industry points to only two outbreaks in pigs during the current pandemic, and they caught it from humans.

Is there evidence that farming animals has played a direct part in the current pandemic? What is the evidence and level of uncertainty over whether farming played any indirect role, for example in the emergence of H1N1? What are the pros and cons of different farming systems in controlling the emergence and spread of zoonoses in general? How much do zoonoses cost the farming and food industries? Is government doing the right things to reduce the risks of zoonotic disease?

The November meeting of the Food Ethics Council’s (FEC) Business Forum discussed such issues. We are very grateful to Prof Hugh Pennington, University of Aberdeen, and Lord Rooker, Chair of the Food Standards Agency, for speaking. The chair was Helen Browning OBE, Food and Farming Director of the Soil Association and chair of the FEC.

Click on the link below to download a report of the meeting.