USDA developing bird flu vaccine

In light of bird flu outbreaks in eight states, including Arkansas and Washington state, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started work on the development of a new vaccine to protect poultry.

Scientists at the USDA research lab will carry out trials of the vaccine on chickens to check its effectiveness.

Various important international buyers have imposed bans on products from affected states, where flu strains of H5N8 and H5N2 were discovered.

Some of the biggest US poultry producers, including Tyson Foods Inc and Sanderson Farms, have increased biosecurity at their farms as a preventative measure.

While the government is not considering distributing the vaccine yet, it will continue culling infected birds to prevent further transmission.

Reuters quoted deputy director of surveillance, preparedness, and response services for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service TJ Myers as saying that the virus had been found in wild birds, which made it difficult to predict where the next case would be.

He also said that vaccinating all poultry across the nation was not being considered as a feasible or necessary option.

Meanwhile, the US officials also detected the virus in wild birds in western United States, and also in a pair in Sweden.

According to report submitted by the USDA to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on 20 March, surveillance of wild birds led to the identification of the flu in a Canada goose and an American wigeon in south-western Oregon’s Klamath County.

Apart from Washington and Arkansas, the virus has been found in California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.

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Image: The US has detected traces of the virus on close to eight states, prompting the USDA to start developing a vaccine. Photo: courtesy of Simon Howden/freedigitalphotos.net.