COVID-19 is dominating the headlines, but let’s talk about H5N1.

Never heard of it? H5N1 has a 60 percent human death rate — far higher than the Coronavirus — and is circulating chicken farms around the world, right now. Epidemiological experts say it’s only a matter of time before another pathogen takes off, potentially deadlier than we can imagine.

The way we produce and eat animal-based foods around the world has far greater, wide-ranging and devastating outcomes on human health than pandemics. Eating animals is a public health disaster, here’s why:

The meat industry = increase in superbugs. It’s common practice for factory farms to unnecessarily administer antibiotics to their mostly non-sick animals. It’s a cheap way for them to ward off infections (i.e. prevent economic losses later), instead of using them responsibly — treating bacterial illness when they happen. This is laying the groundwork for a post-antibiotic future in which bacteria adapt to and become resistant to medications we develop to fight them. Here’s a frightening figure: A recent United Nations report warned that drug-resistant infections, exacerbated by antibiotic overuse, could reach 10 million deaths annually by 2050.

Humans are getting sick and dying from eating animals. Meat consumption is partially to blame for the continued rise in the most common and deadly human diseases. It’s why many physicians now recommend a plant-based diet, asserting it’s a powerful way to achieve good health and prevent diseases including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.