Moby claims pandemics wouldn’t happen in a ‘vegan world’ – and health professionals aren’t impressed

Moby has been taken to task for claiming there would be no pandemics in a vegan world.

The Billboard-topping musician, 55, is also a passionate animal rights activist. He is so committed he even has “vegan for life” tattooed on his neck and “animal rights” down his arm.

However, his latest tweet about veganism, in which he sought to blame all pandemics on animal product consumption, has been widely condemned.

“A reminder: in a vegan world there would be no pandemics,” the songwriter – real name Richard Melville Halle – wrote.

“100% of pandemics are zoonotic in origin. #veganforlife.”

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Alongside the inflammatory post the 55-year-old added a photo of himself, pointing at the camera and showing off a ‘v’ tattoo on his index finger.

The tweet has since been shared more than 4,000 times, with scores of health experts debunking his suggestion, while other users defended his intentions.

Whilst many pandemics and epidemics are caused by the transfer of disease from animals to humans, this is by no means always the result of animal consumption.

Malaria and yellow fever, for example, are transferred through mosquito bites, while cholera – which kills up to 143,000 people a year, according to the World Health Organisation – is transmitted via contaminated food and water.

Dr W. Meier-Augenstein, FRSC, pointed this out in a reply to Moby’s tweet.

“Not eating meat of any animal does not guarantee protection from getting infected by animals.  One can get infected by bite (rabies), wet aerosols / saliva (MERS-CoV) or dust aerosols / droppings (Ebola) to name but three examples,” he wrote.

Another health expert, Dr Jonathan Kolby, commented: ‘When land is converted for agriculture, animals are flushed out of their natural habitats and come into contact with people living and working in these areas more often.

“In a #veganforlife world you still have pandemics. They can also come from pets.”

Other users mocked the hitmaker for the post, with one asking: “Do you think that the Black Death was caused by people *eating* fleas?”

Meanwhile, others attempted to defend the 55-year-old by suggesting he was on the right track.

One responded: “He’s not talking about ‘a diet’ eliminating viruses directly, but about the grossly unsanitary conditions of mass animal agriculture - required to maintain meat diets - causing viruses in the first place. Covid would not have the opportunity to emerge & jump to humans otherwise.”

Another followed a similar train of thought, writing: “[Pandemics] would be much less likely and frequent. Far less interactions between people and farm animals (bc they wouldnt exist),  and far less conditions where animals are packed into extremely close quarters.”

Naturalist Chris Packham is among the high profile figures to have urged people to adopt a vegan diet to help combat climate change and reduce the risk of another possible pandemic.

He told The Observer last year: “This virus leapt from animals into us as Sars, Ebola and HIV did – all because we were abusing the natural environment and the animals that live there,” he told the Observer.

“So nature has taught us a very harsh and cold lesson. If we don’t start understanding that we are all connected implicitly to nature, and that what we eat impacts on nature, we’re in deep trouble.

“That’s why the environmental aspect of veganism or vegetarianism – or anyone changing their diet – has come to the forefront.”

More: My concerns at the beginning of 2020 morphed into fear of two pandemics: Covid-19 and racism