‘Chicken Little’ syndrome restricts bird flu discussion

By: David Martosko
Newspaper: Washington Examiner

Re: “Bird flu mutates during race against time to find vaccine,” July 21

Dr. Michael Greger has very unconventional views about the billion-to-one chance that bird flu will become a serious human health threat. And there’s a very good reason for his panic-inducing position.

Greger is a lifelong animal rights activist and a strict vegan. Judging from his advocacy work, his mission in life is to persuade as many people as possible that eating meat, poultry and dairy foods is dangerous and inadvisable.

It’s irresponsible to scream that the sky is falling when every public health authority on Earth is reassuring us that our food supply is safe, and when there has been no actual evidence that H5N1 bird flu poses a real pandemic threat. But irresponsible fearmongering is just another day at the office for the animal rights movement.

David Martosko Research Director Center for Consumer Freedom Washington