Bird flu may have faded from the news headlines, but US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says it hasn’t disappeared from USDA’s radar. She says a vaccine is being developed, but it’s not ready for prime time just yet.
“It is so devastating to have to depopulate tens of thousands, millions of birds, and we believe the answer is a vaccine. But, we don’t have all the data, and I am not willing to put America up on the experimental block.”
Rollins says USDA is investing heavily in bird flu vaccine research.
“A hundred million dollars we’ve spent on innovation. I think 80 percent of that is going into the research behind the vaccine and potential pilot projects that we’ll be rolling out.”
However, until there’s a proven vaccine, Rollins says USDA is taking other steps to contain and stop the spread of bird flu.
“We recalibrated 500 million dollars from other programs to invest in biosecurity. And, Senator, that has made a difference. As I mentioned, we’re 60 percent down this year in cases, 46 percent down in depopulation.”
Rollins says there is still a lot that about bird flu that’s unknown, including how it’s able to transfer from birds to beef cattle and dairy cows.
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