Letters question whether the federal bird flu response is sufficient

Two letters signed by representatives of several communities express dissatisfaction with the Biden-Harris administration’s progress in the fight against bird flu and offer suggestions for improvement.

One of the letters is from Hannah Connor, Deputy Director of Environmental Health, of the Center for Biological Diversity, and also written on behalf of CleanAIRE NC, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch, Mercy for Animals, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP ), Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Waterkeeper Alliance and the Winyah Rivers Alliance.

Connor wrote to Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “I am writing to implore the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take a stronger response to the bird flu outbreak. This response should include increased public transparency, on-site epidemiological investigations and other measures to understand and manage the risk of the recent outbreak of the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy herds and on at least three farms. workers – two in Texas and one in Michigan – were linked to the most recent spread of HPAI in dairy cows and one was linked to poultry depopulation activities in Colorado. The agency must take bold action to determine the true extent of this outbreak and stop it before the threat to people, wildlife and farm animals becomes impossible to control.

The second letter went to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and comes from key representatives of the US dairy, turkey and egg industries. It requires that USDA and its federal partners continue to develop safe and effective H5Nx vaccinations for dairy cows, turkeys and egg-laying chickens to help reduce the circulation of H5Nx in dairy herds and reduce the risk of spillover of very serious diseases. pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial turkey flocks and egg-laying farms.

These concerns about the federal response come as the HPAI virus has taken 101 million birds from U.S. commercial flocks. Since March, bird flu has infected at least 192 dairy farms, with 14 human cases also reported.

“As this H5Nx outbreak continues to evolve, it is clear that a new approach is needed. This includes the availability of animal vaccines effective against current and future H5Nx strains necessary for a sustainable food supply and for human and animal health,” said representatives of the United Egg Producers, International Dairy Foods Association, National Milk Producers Federation and National The Turkish Federation wrote in their letter to Vilsack.

Connor writes, “The substantial threat that avian flu poses to public health, wildlife, and food safety has been exacerbated by the recent spread of the virus to dairy herds and humans, and the CDC must respond to this outbreak with strong, proactive measures.”

Connor added: “CDC must respond to this outbreak with robust and proactive measures. CDC should continue to scale up an ambitious response effort in coordination with other authorities, including on-site epidemiological investigations sufficient to document the potential spread of HPAI. An effective response should include a significant increase in countermeasures against transmission, including testing of individuals involved in dairy activities; proactive testing of individuals involved in other livestock sectors; proactive testing of livestock, milk, raw beef products, agricultural waste and wastewater, and sufficient data transparency for scientists and public health officials to conduct their work without further endangering workers.

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