VIDEO - Biden is Now Considering Vaccinations for Millions of Chickens
New reports indicate the White House may soon consider launching a mass bird flu vaccine campaign to protect America's chickens from the H5N1 virus outbreak. Reports estimate that approximately 60 million birds in the US and 200 million globally have already been culled to prevent the spread of the virus.
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Price of chicken and eggs has skyrocketed
This has caused a sharp rise in the prices of chicken and eggs since early 2022. Nonetheless, there is a concern that this virus could spread to humans if it acquires dangerous mutations.
Infection rates remain high, and the H5N1 virus has already been found in other mammals like minks, sea lions, and foxes.
White House officials have told the New York Times that President Joe Biden is open to implementing a national avian flu vaccine rollout to curb the virus spread.
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New reports indicate the White House may soon consider launching a mass bird flu vaccine campaign to protect America's chickens from the H5N1 virus outbreak.
However, it remains to be seen how many birds would be targeted, given that around 10 billion chickens are raised yearly in America solely for meat production.
Last month, an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia passed away due to the virus, while her father also tested positive. Both cases had an older clade of the H5N1 virus not linked to the current global outbreak.
Both father and daughter were believed to have been infected by a bird. These cases highlight the risk of zoonotic spillover -- when viruses spread from animals to humans.
Experts caution that vaccination of the US's tens of millions of domesticated poultry could take years and raise several other issues. The rollout of a vaccine could severely disrupt trade and make it more difficult to determine which birds have contracted an infection.
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Researchers continue working on a vaccine
At the Pirbright Institute in the UK, scientists are developing an improved shot that involves labeling flu virus proteins with a marker to make them easier for antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to capture.
This produces faster and stronger immune responses against bird flu strains compared to inactivated virus vaccines which are currently the standard practice.
Meanwhile, University of Wisconsin's School of Veterinary Medicine researchers are working on an avian flu vaccine using particles even smaller than human hair-thickness that send pathogen-like signals to cells for protection.
USDA approval could be granted if an updated shot proves effective, followed by a comprehensive vaccination campaign to reach the affected poultry industry.
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