CDC Plans $10 Million Spend to Curb Human Bird Flu Infections

By Ryan Hanrahan

Reuters’ Leah Douglas and Julie Steenhuysen reported Tuesday that “the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it plans to spend $10 million to curb farm worker bird flu infections, including $5 million for seasonal flu vaccines, as part of its efforts to avoid further spread and mutation of the virus.”

“The Atlanta-based agency will allocate $5 million to organizations including the National Center for Farmworker Health to educate and train workers on protecting themselves from bird flu, and another $5 million to providing seasonal flu shots to farm workers, (CDC’s principal director Nirav) Shah said,” Douglas and Steenhuysen reported. “Though the seasonal flu vaccine does not provide protection from bird flu, the vaccine push could reduce the risk that workers become infected with the seasonal flu and bird flu at the same time, which could lead to flu virus mutations, Shah added.”

“‘Preventing seasonal influenza for these workers, many of whom are also exposed to bird flu, may reduce risks of new strains of influenza emerging,’ Shah said,” Douglas and Steenhuysen reported. “The CDC is hoping to vaccinate all of the nation’s approximately 200,000 livestock workers during this year’s flu shot season and is working with states to develop plans to reach the workers, Shah added.”

“The USDA believes it can stop the spread of bird flu among dairy cows and eventually eradicate the disease, Eric Deeble, an agency undersecretary, said,” Douglas and Steenhuysen reported.

Current State of the Outbreak

Douglas and Steenhuysen reported that “the ongoing outbreak of bird flu has infected poultry flocks in nearly every U.S. state since 2022 and more than 170 dairy herds in 13 states since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

In addition, Successful Farming’s Chuck Abbott reported that “nine farmworkers at two egg farms in Colorado have contracted mild cases of bird flu since mid-July while killing and disposing of millions of infected chickens, said public health officials on Thursday.”

“The Colorado Department of Public Health said that approximately 118 people have been tested for the avian flu virus and 10 cases have been confirmed — nine on poultry farms since July 12 and one on a dairy farm in May,” Abbott reported. “The national total (of human cases), which includes three workers on dairy farms in Michigan and Texas, is 13 since April.”

Human Vaccines Remain In Development

FERN’s Ag Insider reported that “drugmaker Sinergium Biotech, based in Argentina, will lead a project to accelerate the development of a human vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus, said the World Health Organization and the Medicines Patent Pool on Monday. The project is aimed at pharmaceutical companies in low- and middle-income nations and intended to bolster pandemic preparedness worldwide.”

“Sinergium Biotech has developed H5N1 candidate vaccines, said the WHO. Once the company has established proof-of-concept, the technology, materials, and expertise will be transferred to manufacturing partners,” FERN’s reported. “In early July, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded a $176 million contract to Moderna for the development of an mRNA-based vaccine against bird flu. The CDC says the risk to the general public from the disease is low.”

Lawmakers Look to Codify Milk Loss Compensation

Farm News Media’s Dennis Rudat reported Monday that “U.S. Reps. Elissa Slotkin and David Valadao (R-CA) have introduced legislation addressing detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cattle that would codify recent USDA rulemaking that allows for dairy producers to be compensated for loss of milk production due to avian influenza infection.”

“Introduced as the Avian Influenza Research and Response Act, the legislation would also prioritize HPAI research under USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Dairy Biosecurity Education and Training program,” Rudat reported. “…Noting food security is a national security, Slotkin said it’s critical to protect the dairy industry and ensure the integrity of the nation’s milk supply.”