Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
US farmers call for vaccine option to fight bird flu as wildfowl migration begins
By Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek
September 27, 20244:06 AM CSTUpdated 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Sept 27 (Reuters) -
...
Rose Acre Farms, the second-biggest U.S. egg producer, wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow vaccinations, CEO Marcus Rust told Reuters. The company lost millions of hens in outbreaks and is relocating an Indiana facility for breeding chickens because it sits across a highway from a wildlife refuge that attracts migratory ducks, he said.
"We're farmers. We want our animals to live," Rust said.
...
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 animal vaccinations.
However, Vilsack said in a previously unreported March letter to members of Congress that a vaccine campaign would face challenges including potential barriers to exports. Many countries ban imports of vaccinated poultry because of concerns that the vaccine could mask the presence of the virus.
"Widespread vaccination of commercial poultry is not possible in the short term," Vilsack wrote in the letter, which the animal welfare group Farm Forward obtained through a public records request and shared with Reuters.
...
https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ird-flu-wildfowl-migration-begins-2024-09-27/
By Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek
September 27, 20244:06 AM CSTUpdated 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Sept 27 (Reuters) -
...
Rose Acre Farms, the second-biggest U.S. egg producer, wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow vaccinations, CEO Marcus Rust told Reuters. The company lost millions of hens in outbreaks and is relocating an Indiana facility for breeding chickens because it sits across a highway from a wildlife refuge that attracts migratory ducks, he said.
"We're farmers. We want our animals to live," Rust said.
...
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 animal vaccinations.
However, Vilsack said in a previously unreported March letter to members of Congress that a vaccine campaign would face challenges including potential barriers to exports. Many countries ban imports of vaccinated poultry because of concerns that the vaccine could mask the presence of the virus.
"Widespread vaccination of commercial poultry is not possible in the short term," Vilsack wrote in the letter, which the animal welfare group Farm Forward obtained through a public records request and shared with Reuters.
...
https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ird-flu-wildfowl-migration-begins-2024-09-27/