Activists from Animal Rebellion have been stickering egg boxes in supermarkets across Bristol yesterday (March 16).
They say they are calling out the government on "failing to act to prevent a bird flu pandemic" as the virus continues to spread throughout the country.
The stickers, that have been put on egg boxes in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Coop and Waitrose shops in Clifton and other parts of the city have a QR code which links to a video "explaining the reality" of factory farming chickens and hens, the solution to which they state is a "plant-based food system".
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Activists from the animal and environment movement, who are in alliance with Extinction Rebellion, have also targeted shops in Exeter, Cheshire and Manchester.
Lucy Harrison, aged 36 and a nurse, said: "We are sleepwalking towards another pandemic. Factory farmed birds are kept in the ideal conditions to incubate and pass on the virus.
"The key solution we have is a transition to a plant-based food system and a complete move away from animal farming. This would also go a long way in solving the climate crisis and allow us to create a kinder world in which other sentient beings are free from harm and exploitation."
The group also states that Europe has been "gripped by its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu" since the end of 2021, adding that a wild bird hospital in Mousehole, Cornwall, has not been able to reopen until August as a result of an outbreak of Avian flu last year.
Another spokesperson for the group, Hester, 43, said: "The government says it's safe to consume eggs but also that the virus may be carried on eggshells and bedding. How does that make sense?
"Eggs come out of the bodies of birds who are crammed together in conditions which are literally breeding grounds for infection. They may be sick with internal parasites, Salmonella and other diseases, let alone bird flu.
"Given the performance of the government with the last pandemic, how can we put our trust in them to do the right thing this time? Maybe eggs should be labelled ‘biohazard’."
The activists are calling to end factory farming and transition to a plant-based food system in order to respond effectively to what they say is "climate and ecological collapse".
Last month they staged a sit-in in the egg aisle of a Clifton Sainsbury's, where activists were seen holding signs that read "eggs = bird flu" and "caged and confused" amongst other slogans.
The group is also calling for the government to release "proper information" about the virus, so that the public are able to make informed decisions around the topic of buying and consuming eggs.
But ministers argue they are doing all they can to protect birds from the illness. People in Great Britain who keep chickens in their back garden will have to register them with the government under proposed new rules to crack down on bird flu.
Under the proposed new rules, being consulted on by government, bird owners would also be required to update their information on an annual basis. They would have to provide information including their contact details, the location of where the birds are kept and details of the species, number and their use.
The current bird flu epidemic is being caused by the H5N1 strain of virus, which experts say originated in intensive poultry farms in Asia and has since spread around the world. Here in Britain, the disease has had an increasing impact on wild birds over the past two years, with 65 species affected.
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