Chicken Curry in the Time of COVID-19: The Industry of Bugs and Drugs

The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have had its beginnings in China, spreading globally to devastating effect. It subsequently laid bare the underlying vulnerabilities of many previously prosperous and technologically advanced economies and societies. The pandemic has also begun to reveal the curious ways in which microbes and their evolving activities are intrinsically tied to our way of life: from individual consumer habits and damaging environmental practices to the unstable global supply chain and the pathogens prevalent in the food and drug production industry. Microbes, it is evident, do not work alone; they rely on multiple others in a vast network of humans and animals in order to thrive. India’s emerging livestock industry, and especially its booming factory farming sector, is at risk of further compounding the spread of these pathogens and future outbreaks. In this paper, we will discuss key concerns around the relationship between the current pandemic (and potential future ones) and the drug and livestock industry in India and beyond.