Leah Douglas
Appearances
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Well, for poultry farmers, it's really a significant issue. We've actually seen some of the biggest flocks and some significant outbreaks just in the last few months. And so for poultry farmers, it's a major concern. And also for dairy farmers who are seeing the virus spread and dairy herds as well.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
So the primary threat to humans right now is in the farm worker population that's working with the sick animals. So the CDC has reported 70 cases of bird flu among humans in the past year. And the vast majority of those cases were among poultry farm workers or people working on dairy farms, perhaps milking the cows.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Beyond that, the CDC hasn't yet reported any cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus. That would be more concerning about its potential for human spread, but they're monitoring that very closely.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Yes, one person in Louisiana did die from bird flu last year.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Bird flu is definitely a major factor why egg prices are high. I was at a conference this week where the Department of Agriculture's chief economist was presenting on this issue. He said that the laying flock, that's the chickens that lay our eggs, is down about 10% from where the country would want it to be to keep up with demand. So there is a real supply constraint.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
There have also been questions about whether egg companies are maybe taking advantage of this moment. of constrained supply to hike prices higher than they really need to be. And some lawmakers have asked for an inquiry into that as well.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Well, newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Wednesday announced a plan. And a big chunk of it goes to helping farmers, particularly poultry farmers, increase what's called biosecurity on their farms. So basically the efforts they can take to keep wild birds that might be sick off their property.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
to make sure that technicians and workers and other folks coming onto the farm aren't bringing the virus. So the agency is putting about $500 million towards those efforts of prevention, really.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
And then there's also some effort that the agency is taking to look into vaccination of birds, which is something that was also happening under the previous Biden administration, looking into vaccines for chickens and cows as well as another sort of preventative approach.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
That's right. The USDA hasn't yet said that we should be vaccinating either poultry or cows against bird flu. And some of that is because there's still ongoing research. The agency is still collecting information. The poultry industry is divided over whether to use vaccines.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
So the farmers who grow laying hens, they do support vaccines because, as we've talked about, that's primarily the chickens that are being affected by the spread of the virus. They really want that to stop. The growers who produce chickens for meat have been less impacted, and there's also potential trade implications from vaccinating those animals.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
And so there's a divide in the industry that the agriculture secretary has said she's still thinking about whether to move forward with a vaccine strategy.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Experts are really telling me that this situation is unprecedented. That was a word used by the USDA's chief veterinarian in a presentation this week. There's a lot of support for a vaccine strategy as a way of really trying to prevent this from continuing to spread further. Farmers are already implementing biosecurity measures. And so there's already a lot of efforts underway.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
And I think there is increased attention to, do we need to move to a vaccine? Because the efforts that we've been doing for the last few years clearly have not controlled the outbreak.