cattle

Locals say that beyond the cattle and tourism, Hokkaido has long lacked other industries.

Illegal cattle ranching has already destroyed millions of acres.

For instance, the H5N1 virus circulating in dairy cattle in North America is one mutation away from being able to spread easily between people.

The Lexington, Neb., plant employs roughly 3,000 people and can slaughter almost 5,000 cattle a day, according to industry estimates.

One is a long-term decline in the size of the U.S. cattle herd, which has fallen to about 87.2 million head of cattle and calves, its lowest level since 1951.