The pig lies in its own waste, pressed against the metal grating of an industrial gestation crate in Duplin County, North Carolina. It’s March 2025, and she’s running a fever. Her lungs burn with two different viral infections—H1N1, the seasonal swine flu that routinely sweeps through factory farms, and a version of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, which arrived via wild birds roosting in the ventilation system. The combination is killing her and, while it does, it’s mutating. ...
