*Birds that have been put down because of avian influenza.*
*(Photo by* *Roee Shpernik*)

Poultry around the world has been affected by the current strains of avian flu:

World’s poultry supply threatened as bird flu spreads, report
Poultry stocks plummeting have impacted countries including the United States, Britain, France and Japan.
The world’s poultry supply may be threatened as the bird flu continues to spread. …
South American countries reporting cases of bird flu include Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, according to the Epoch Times. 02/17/23 https://justthenews.com/events/poultry-supplies-may-be-threatened-around-world-due-bird-flu
The Bird Flu Outbreak Has Taken an Ominous Turn
This week, Argentina and Uruguay declared national health emergencies following outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, the fast-moving virus that destroys poultry flocks and wild birds, and for decades has been feared as a possible spark for a pandemic among people. That makes 10 South American countries that have recently marked their first-ever encounter with the virus, including Peru—where more than 50,000 wild birds died last fall, and more than 600 sea lions in January. Combine the sea lion infections with the revelation that H5N1 flu invaded a mink farm in Spain in October, and health authorities must now confront the possibility that the unpredictable virus may have adapted to threaten other species. …
According to the World Organization for Animal Health, at least 60 countries have recently experienced outbreaks of H5N1, which is named for two proteins found on the virus’s surface. That includes the US, where 43 million laying hens were either killed by avian flu last year or slaughtered to prevent the disease from spreading. Those losses took out almost a third of the national flock of laying hens; according to the US Department of Agriculture, they cut into egg supplies so much that prices at the end of the year were 210 percent higher than at the end of 2021. Overall, the USDA estimates just under 58 million birds—mostly layers, turkeys, and backyard poultry—died or were killed in 2022, and another half-million so far this year.
The poultry industry is enormous. Just the US portion comprises more than 9 billion meat chickens and 216 million turkeys grown each year, plus 325 million laying hens; chicken is the most-consumed meat worldwide. That scale makes it difficult to put the losses from bird flu into context. But the ongoing epidemic has become the worst animal-disease outbreak in US history, as well as the largest poultry outbreak ever recorded in the UK, Europe, and Japan. And though surveillance is difficult, wildlife biologists say the damage to wild birds has been disastrous.
There may be little that can be done to protect wild birds; avian flu is spread by seasonally migrating waterfowl, which carry the virus without being harmed by it. 02/16/23 https://www.wired.com/story/the-bird-flu-outbreak-has-taken-an-ominous-turn/
Will bird flu spark the next pandemic?
A dramatic series of outbreaks is leading to concerns that a mutation could eventually hit humans and make COVID-19 seem mild.
Avian flu has killed 15 million domestic birds and led to the culling of an unprecedented 193 million more since October 2021. The rampant virus has jumped from Europe and Asia to North America — spreading shortly afterwards to bird populations in South and Central America.
And it is no longer restricted to birds. In the United States, the list of wild mammals either killed by or culled over avian influenza outbreaks is growing: grizzly bears in Nebraska and Montana, a red fox in Montana, six skunks and raccoons in Oregon, a Kodiak bear in Alaska and more. …
There have only been five human bird flu cases in the last year. But past human cases of H5N1 avian influenza have had a 53 percent mortality, according to the WHO.
With the virus driving poultry shortages, killing droves of wild birds, and increasingly spilling over to mammals, the situation begs an overarching question: Could avian influenza evolve from an ecological disaster to a full-blown pandemic? https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/2/16/will-bird-flu-spark-the-next-pandemic

Well, biblically we know a worse pandemic than COVID-19 is coming. The avian flu currently is contributing to food price inflation. In addition to the price of poultry, the price of eggs has been rising–and quite a lot.

Jesus warned:

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

The bird flu looks to be consistent with Jesus’ words.

Notice that the ride of third horseman of the Apocalypse results in scarcity, inflation, and famine. Revelation 6:5-6 indicates that there will be food, but that it will be quite expensive (food-price inflation).

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

Some will thus die as they will not be able to afford enough food, while others will survive but struggle.

Related mainly to food price and shortage issues, we put together the following related video:

14:44
3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food
There are reports about food price inflation around the world. While it is worsening in many areas, some believe it will improve in 2023. Instead, could prices continue to rise in 2023 and get much worse in 2024 and thereafter? What are the causes of food price inflation? Is there any connection between weather, government policies, fertilizer prices, energy costs, economic sanctions and food price inflation? What are we seeing in reports from the United Kingdom, Hungary, and South Africa? What about impacts from Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine? Could EU and/or USA policies be effecting any of this? Is the ‘black horse’ the one associated with famine, food shortages, and food price inflation in the Book of Revelation? Are there any physical lessons we can learn from ants according to the Book of Proverbs? What are some spiritual steps we should take according to Jesus? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these matters and more.

Here is a link to our video: 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food.

Now, there are a couple of other points to consider.

The suppliers of lab grown meats might find the current poultry shortages to be profitable. But, here is something from an article I saw today:

Lab-grown meat, touted as the “cruelty-free” food of the future by everyone from the World Economic Forum to Hollywood mega-celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio, may have a fatal problem …
The problem is that the materials used to make the product – “immortalized cell lines” – replicate forever, just like cancer. Which means, in effect, that they are cancer. Although these cell lines are widely used in scientific research, they’ve never been used to produce food before.
“Immortalized cells are a staple of medical research, but they are, technically speaking, precancerous and can be, in some cases, fully cancerous… [but d]on’t worry: Prominent cancer researchers tell Bloomberg Businessweek that because the cells aren’t human, it’s essentially impossible for people who eat them to get cancer from them, or for the precancerous or cancerous cells to replicate inside people at all.”
– Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Industry types are “confident” that eating such products poses no risk – although there isn’t any hard data – but it’s not difficult to see, even if the products are “proven” safe, how people might be put off by the thought they’re eating a glorified tumor. https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/02/17/we-could-eat-malignant-chicken-tumors-by-the-bucket-load-lab-grown-meats-impending-cancer-problem/

Related mainly to lab grown poultry, we put together the following related video:

15:06
Lab grown chicken?
In November 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its initial approval (with two almost automatic approvals to come) for the sale and consumption of what is called ‘lab-grown chicken.’ The FDA said that this material was safe and part of what it termed a ” food revolution.” Is what was approved actually a chicken? Is this consistent with those who are “inventors of evil things” (Romans 1:30)? Have lab-grown meat and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) been proven to be safe in all ways and for sufficient lengths of time? Should human-animal chimeras be encouraged? Are there scriptures in the Bible that warn about love of money and that point to not eating something just because it may appear good to eat? Does the Bible mention that living organisms were to reproduce after their own kind? Does the Bible say to eat that which is good in Isaiah? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Lab grown chicken?

Saw another report today that the “solution” for meat and food shortages is to eat bugs. Here are some excerpts:

Will We Eat Bugs? A French Biotech Firm Thinks So
February 19, 2023
The edible insect industry is booming. And although the thought of eating bugs may be unappealing, insect protein is already being used for aquaculture, livestock feed, pet foods, and many products intended for human consumption. Insects are also being hailed as a possible solution to world hunger as increasing populations, and limited resources become a growing concern, and food industries are compelled to find viable alternatives.
The French biotech firm Ÿnsect has just announced plans to construct a global network of insect farms, significantly ramping up production. Ÿnsect will soon boast the world’s largest vertical insect farm in Amiens, France. The company says the vertical farm model allows the production of more protein using less space and fewer resources. The automated facility is the second in France and claims it will manufacture 20,000 tons of insect-based foods annually.
In December 2022, the company announced it was expanding into the U.S. and Mexico to build insect ingredient production facilities, pushing into two substantial new markets. …
The most popular insects in the edible market intended for humans are black soldier flies, grasshoppers, mealworms, silkworms, and crickets.
Ÿnsect uses two types of mealworms which are the beetle larvae of the Molitor mealworm (also known as Tenebrio molitor) and the Buffalo mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus). https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/will-we-eat-bugs-french-biotech-firm-thinks-so

While the Bible seems to allow for the consumption of crickets and grasshoppers, black soldier flies, mealworms, and silkworms are biblically unclean–thus should not be consumed by Christians.

That said, the New Testament warns of a time of food shortages, food price inflation, and and increased deaths from diseases (Revelation 6:5-8) and we continue to see events consistent with that.

But the good news is, that later, God’s Kingdom will come.

Related Items:

Christians and Unclean Meats

Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?

COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat

GMO Risks and the Bible

GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation Safe or Dangerous

Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line?

Half human, half pig: What's the difference?

Human-Monkey Embryos and Death

Physical preparedness for Christians

Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse