Bird flu could be making a comeback. ProPublic did some research about the spread in Ohio.
https://www.propublica.org/article/bird-flu-airborne-usda-pandemic
But several experts said ProPublicaās analysis underscores the shortcomings of the governmentās strategy, which fails to take the wind into account at all.
āUSDA has been grossly negligent in not establishing risk factors in real time,ā said Simon Shane, a poultry veterinarian and consultant.
Other nations have taken a different approach. After a devastating outbreak in France, researchers there discovered bird flu was traveling on dust and aerosols. France began vaccinating its ducks in 2023 and saw a near-total reduction in bird flu cases.
While American chickens are routinely vaccinated against all sorts of pathogens, USDA officials havenāt authorized similar efforts for bird flu, saying they could harm trade.
The agency is echoing arguments by the chicken meat industry, which outproduces and outlobbies the egg industry and has been far less impacted by bird flu.
The meat exporters and their congressional allies have long warned that vaccinating even just egg-laying chickens could cause other countries to block all imports of American poultry, deeming the entire country a bird flu risk. Trade agreements generally require a guarantee that imported poultry is free of bird flu, and some countries including the United States fear that vaccination might not fully prevent infections, allowing the virus to quietly spread among flocks and linger in meat.
