The General Social Survey has been asking Americans since 1972 whether, all things considered, they're very happy, pretty happy or not too happy. The percentage who said very happy outran the percentage who said not too happy in every poll taken before the pandemic.

Today, 24% indicated they were not too happy, compared with 19% who said they were very happy. The former is a record high, while the latter is a record low. The rest, as Christopher Ingraham noted, are in the "pretty happy" camp, which hasn't changed much since 2018.

Bird Flu Outbreaks On German Farms Lead To Mass Culling

The highly contagious H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected on three poultry farms in Germany, according to local authorities, leading to the culling of tens of thousands of animals.

At the most severely affected location, a turkey farm, it was the second bird flu outbreak this year. The first outbreak led to the culling of 17,000 animals in March, while 25,000 have been culled in the current outbreak.

"It is to be feared that the situation will continue to gather pace as the cold season approaches," said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister of Agriculture, Till Backhaus, urging farmers to slaughter their animals early to "avert the threat of financial losses.

The same practice has been reported with other livestock, and it temporarily leads to an oversupply in the market, and, oftentimes, a slight decrease in prices. However, once the glut has subsided, shortages then cause prices to spike, and there's a good chance that an increasing number of suppliers will leave the market, or at least reduce their flocks, rather than take the risk next year.

Like the H3N8 virus, which is known as the equine influenza virus, H5N1 has already been detected in humans. However, according to current research, transmission between humans is not yet possible.

Last year, Europe was hit by the worst bird flu season on record. According to the responsible authorities of the European Union, a total of 50 million birds were culled due to the virus between October 2021 and September 2022.

Bird flu: Outbreak at Donnington commercial poultry site confirmed

Bird flu has been found in commercial poultry at a site in Lincolnshire.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the H5N1 virus was found at a property in Donnington. It is the first case confirmed in England since 1 October.

So less than 2 months ago.

A 3km (1.86 miles) Protection Zone and 10km (6.21 miles) Surveillance Zone was put in place around the property.

The restrictions mean that all movement of birds and eggs in the protection zone must be monitored.

The UK Health Security Agency advise that bird flu was primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public's health is very low.

Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds that has been around for a century.

And yet, it seems that it's only now that these outbreaks and mass culls are in effect.

It usually flares up in autumn before fading away in spring and summer.

It can spread through entire flocks of domestic birds within a matter of days, through birds' droppings and saliva, or through contaminated feed and water.

And, increasingly, it's only factory farming, that raise animals in appalling conditions, that can afford to remain in business - and even then it's not always because they're more profitable, it's often because of their connections with corrupt government officials and institutions.

More than 350 UK farms have seen infections between 2020 and 2023, according to Defra.

In Lincolnshire, which is home to many poultry farmers, it was estimated in excess of a million birds had to be culled in the two months following December 2021 after more than a dozen outbreaks were identified.

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