Yes, I did mean sleight. Thanks for the correction there.
My claim was more simple than either option you gave. My claim is that the virus didn't kill 6 million. Those deaths would be attributed to the proximal cause of whomever decided they needed to be culled. I'd also argue there's a longer timeline culpability for anyone who decided to raise flocks of birds in such terrible conditions as is found in industrial bird operations.
Though yes, I would be surprised if every bird in those facilities died from the flu had they not been culled. We don't know nearly enough about how the virus spreads, especially in the context of large scale industrial operations, to predict how many birds in the region would have died without the culling.
My claim was more simple than either option you gave. My claim is that the virus didn't kill 6 million. Those deaths would be attributed to the proximal cause of whomever decided they needed to be culled. I'd also argue there's a longer timeline culpability for anyone who decided to raise flocks of birds in such terrible conditions as is found in industrial bird operations.
Though yes, I would be surprised if every bird in those facilities died from the flu had they not been culled. We don't know nearly enough about how the virus spreads, especially in the context of large scale industrial operations, to predict how many birds in the region would have died without the culling.