US farmers want vaccine option to fight bird flu as wild bird migration begins

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Sept. 27 (Reuters) – US farmers are increasing pressure on the Biden administration to allow chickens, turkeys and cattle to be vaccinated to protect them from bird flu diseases that have ravaged flocks for three years.

This fall, flocks in the US $ 67 billion poultry industry are facing for the first time the double risk of diseases from dairy and migratory birds, which could spread the disease.

Bird flu, which is deadly to birds and reduces milk production in dairy cows, has killed more than 100 million chickens and turkeys since 2022 in the largest outbreak in the US.

Rose Acre Farms, the second-largest U.S. egg producer, is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve vaccines, CEO Marcus Rust told Reuters. The company has lost millions of chickens in an outbreak and is moving a chicken breeding facility in Indiana because it is across a highway from a wildlife refuge that attracts migrating ducks, it said. e.

“We are farmers. We want our animals to live,” Rust said.

The spread of the virus to livestock in 14 states and the infections of 13 dairy and poultry farm workers this year have scientists and federal officials concerned about the risks to humans from further spread.

The nation’s major egg, turkey and dairy groups argued in an August letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that the economic cost of the outbreak justifies the introduction of a vaccine. And federal lawmakers say the USDA needs to accelerate its vaccine research and develop new ways to help farmers avoid outbreaks.

“There is clearly no end in sight to the current outbreak,” a dozen members of Congress, led by Reps. Randy Feenstra, Republican, and Jim Costa, Democrat, said in another letter in August to Vilsack.

A USDA spokesperson said the agency has been collaborating with state and federal agencies and researchers to protect livestock, farmers and farm workers and is researching vaccines for animals.

However, Vilsack said in a previously unreported letter to members of Congress that the vaccine campaign would face challenges, including potential barriers to exports. Many countries ban the importation of vaccinated birds due to concerns that the vaccine may mask the presence of the virus.

“Widespread vaccination of commercial chickens is not possible in the near future,” Vilsack wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the animal welfare group Farm Forward through a public records request and shared by Reuters.

‘REASON FOR HOPE’

An increasing number of countries are considering one-taboo vaccines. Last year, France started vaccinating ducks against bird flu. New Zealand, which has never had a case of bird flu, is testing a vaccine on five species of wild birds.

The US approved emergency use of the bird flu vaccine to protect California condors last year.

“The only use of vaccination in the US in this particular case is because of the endangered status of that wild bird,” said Julianna Lenoch, a USDA wildlife disease specialist. The US has vaccinated 94 condors and seen bird flu deaths stop, she said in a webinar Thursday.

Bird flu killed 17 million laying hens from April to July, according to USDA data. In August, retail prices for eggs topped $3.20 per dozen and hit a 16-month high, federal data show.

The egg industry needs to increase supply to reduce prices, and the migration period creates uncertainty, said Brian Moscogiuri, vice president of Eggs Unlimited.

Wild bird migration season is underway and will last through December, with waterfowl flying south from northern states like Minnesota, experts said. Winged mallards can travel as far as South America, said Andy Ramey, a research scientist with the US Geological Survey.

Brazil, the world’s biggest chicken exporter, could see more cases in wild birds due to migration, its poultry association said.
Migratory birds can carry the virus without dying and pass it on to birds. However, it seems that fewer wild birds are infected, possibly because they are building immunity, said Ramey.

“There is reason to be optimistic,” he said.

Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington and Roberto Samora in São Paulo; Edited by Caroline Stauffer and Bill Berkrot