Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Administration Health Officials Brief Lawmakers On 'Low' Bird Flu Risk
Politico: Health Agencies Brief Congress On Avian Flu
Senior Biden health officials on Tuesday briefed congressional committees and leadership, telling them that the risk to the general public from the avian flu remains low. ... Officials from the FDA, CDC, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and U.S. Department of Agriculture largely repeated publicly available information, according to one of the congressional aides who relayed details of the briefing. (Lim, 4/2)
Politico: Marks Confident In Bird Flu Vaccine Stockpile
Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, said Monday he’s confident the U.S. stockpile of avian flu-specific vaccines would work well if deployed. ... “We believe that, if we needed to, they would be reasonably good matches,” Marks said at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, responding to Lauren’s question about whether the stockpiled vaccines would be effective against the avian flu strain. Whether the federal government would activate new vaccine production depends on how the situation unfolds, Marks indicated. (Lim and Gardner, 4/2)
The Washington Post: How Prepared The U.S. Is For A Bird Flu Pandemic
Federal officials are preparing for the possibility of additional human cases of bird flu, testing components to create a vaccine after a Texas dairy worker was infected with the highly virulent virus, even as they stress the United States remains far from needing to activate a full-blown emergency response. Two candidate vaccine viruses — essentially the building blocks manufacturers use to produce a vaccine — appear well matched to protect against the H5N1 strain circulating among dairy cattle and birds, according to federal health officials. (Roubein and Sun, 4/2)
In bird flu news from across the country —
CIDRAP: Tests Confirm Avian Flu On New Mexico Dairy Farm; Probe Finds Cats Positive
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday announced that tests have now confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a New Mexico dairy herd. ... And in another development, Texas officials yesterday said that cats showing illness signs in the dairy farm settings were also positive for the virus. So far, the virus has now been confirmed on seven Texas farms, along with two in Kansas, and one each from New Mexico and Michigan. (Schnirring, 4/2)
AP: Largest Fresh Egg Producer In The US Has Found Bird Flu At Texas, Michigan Plants
The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan. Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at a facility in Parmer County, Texas. (Miller, 4/3)
The Hill: Major Poultry Farm To Cull Nearly 2 Million Chickens After Positive Bird Flu Test
“This is absolutely devastating news for Cal-Maine and the entire Panhandle region which has already suffered so much already,” Commissioner Sid Miller said, referring to devastating wildfires in recent months. “Given this latest development, all producers must practice heightened biosecurity measures,” he continued. “The rapid spread of this virus means we must act quickly.” (Robertson, 4/2)
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