Rooster will roam the farm on January 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
As bird flu records levels to record egg prices and poses more and more risks to humans, the White House moves to reduce spending and limit communications will hinder public health officials’ response It’s there. Reduces the spread of the virus.
State and local public health officials have been going for weeks without regular updates on avian flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after President Donald Trump freezes almost all external communications from the agency. It wasn’t until this week that some of these communications began to resume, the person said.
The widespread government-wide funding cuts and new restrictions on funding for National Institutes of Health grants have also created uncertainty between infectious disease researchers and local health authorities. Meanwhile, due to cuts from the US International Development Agency, surveillance of the virus is limited overseas.
“Adding that uncertainty will take effect on what the health department can do when the entire funding situation is at risk,” said the government and public relations officer for the National Association of County and City Health Authorities. Chief Adrian Casarlotti said. “When you don’t think you have the resources and you don’t think they might be pulled out from under you, it makes it even more difficult.”
At the same time, the Trump administration’s key position, which is at the heart of responding to the threat of the pandemic, is not filled. And while the bird flu was one of the first items on Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins’ agenda after her confirmation, the secretary who runs the health and welfare and agricultural and agricultural sectors was not confirmed until this week. .
Confusion comes at a potentially dangerous time. The virus deciming poultry herds, more than double the price of eggs. This month, it shows signs that it could evolve to thrive more easily in a variety of species, including new strains detected among dairy cows. The virus can infect the virus between humans, but at least 68 people in the United States have signed up for avian flu, one person has died and one has died, according to the CDC. Researchers worry that the more virus replicates, the more opportunities there will be to develop mutations that allow it to spread easily from humans to humans.
“This is becoming increasingly dangerous and urgent, and the scientific community is creating alarm flares,” said Stephen Morrison, who directs the Center for Global Health Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Research. “But are they translated into a faster-paced government, or are they translated with a different resolve? No. Instead, we have a disruption to the functioning of government and the usual way of getting something new. It’s in a period of chaotic transitions that have been exacerbated by slowness. Team In.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on its strategies to deal with avian flu and what additional steps will be taken to address the spreading of the virus.
Rollins, who was confirmed in the Senate on Thursday, told reporters that he would be briefing at the oval office on Thursday night and would announce more plans for the department to address egg prices “in the coming days.”
“We look at all possible scenarios and make sure we do everything we can in a safe and secure way, but we ensure that Americans have the food they need. “I’ll do that,” Rollins said when asked about the price of the egg. “And as a mother of four teenagers, I actually fully understand and feel the pain of these eggs’ costs.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday that the Trump administration has a confirmed strategy for Rollins.
“At the end, President Biden’s team didn’t have a bird flu strategy, so as soon as Brooke Rollins is in the Agriculture Department, they’re trying to do it now,” Hassett said.
In a statement on egg prices earlier this week, the White House refocused on the institutions that Rollins is tasked with stopping spreading the virus between animals, and its core mission: protecting health By doing so, he said he would take “bold and decisive action to deal with the crisis.” Reduce costs simultaneously for US plants, animals and natural resources. ”
But so far, public health officials say the White House has created more confusion than clarity.
In West Virginia, director of the Huntington Health Department Michael Kilkenny said he has not received regular updates from the CDC in the past few weeks.
“We don’t know what’s going on right now. If we don’t get that communication from the CDC, we don’t know if this is expanding into our area,” Kilkenny said. “More rural areas cannot inform high-risk farmers, poultry farmers, or high-risk farmers who rely on high-risk farmers without the information they need to come from the CDC. There is a small health department. Local health department for information or services.”
The prospects for potential federal funding cuts have also sparked him and other health departments he and he are working together to launch emergency plans and put employment and new projects on hold.
“We hold employment and while we plan, we either spend time on work or make sure there is clear evidence that things will be funded before submitting to the project. I’m waiting for that,” Kilkenny said. “That’s how this confuses us.”
In addition to limiting CDC communications with local health authorities, the World Health Organization has received limited information on the spread of avian flu in the United States since Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the World Health Organization. It’s there. He said at a press conference on February 12th.
“We’ve been working hard to get into the world,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health.
In almost a month, Trump has yet to name himself as an employee leading the White House office created by Congress in 2022 to coordinate the response to the pandemic by Congress. During the campaign, Trump said he would likely remove the office and criticised President Joe Biden’s efforts to prepare for another pandemic.
“He wants to spend a lot of money on things that he doesn’t know if it’s 100, 50 or 25 years,” Trump said of Biden in a July interview with Time Magazine. “And that’s just a way to hand out pork.”
“That doesn’t mean we don’t always pay attention to it,” Trump said. “But there are so many variations in these pandemics that it’s very difficult to predict what’s coming.”
The key Trump cabinet officials who oversee the federal response have given little insight into their strategy.
Rollins said at a Senate confirmation hearing last month that one of her top four priorities is to place teams that will prevent the spread of avian flu, although she didn’t say changes the agriculture sector would like to see. He said.
“There’s a lot to learn about this. If confirmed, this will be one of the most important priorities, as I said in my opening statement.” “We’ve now got the team to go It’s hyper-focused on finding. I’m sure they’re already working. I clearly respect the process and aren’t too involved. The current team and the future team will work on We know we are in our hands to do everything we can with animal disease.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., director of Health and Human Services, confirmed in the Senate on Thursday, said at his confirmation hearing he would focus more on addressing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. When asked about giving resources at a bird flu confirmation hearing, Kennedy said, “I intend to give away the right resources to prevent the pandemic, which is essential to my job.”
Previously, Kennedy said that vaccines currently available due to the avian flu stockpile in the US may be dangerous and ineffective. Researchers are working on developing a new generation of avian flu vaccines based on the same mRNA technology used to develop the covid vaccine, which Kennedy calls “the deadliest vaccine he has ever made.” However, research has shown to be safe.
Kennedy is also advocate for drinking raw milk and may be at risk for food-borne diseases, including avian flu. The CDC warned that it may be possible to have bird flu from drinking raw milk, urging Americans to drink only pasteurized milk.
Agricultural industry officials and infectious disease researchers are calling on the federal government to significantly expand testing, provide a greater amount of funding for research to better understand the virus and develop new treatments. cattle.
United Egg Producer, an egg industry advocacy group, has dedicated more resources to the federal government and Congress to study how the virus is spreading and evolving, and to help animals with more effective and broader vaccinations. is urging them to develop. Industry groups are also seeking more rules and enforcement regarding animal testing and mobility, as well as additional funding for local labs to provide quick and accurate test results.
“Our industry needs more from state and federal animal health partners. We need it faster,” the United egg producer said in a statement. Ta.
The organization says the industry has lost more than 100 million egg-selling chickens since 2022. When a flock of birds infected with a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, the virus spreads quickly and becomes fatal in the majority of birds. If a herd is infected, farmers and veterinarians are to notify the USDA, killing the entire herd and decontaminating the facility. The federal government will refund farmers for live birds culled in the process.
Public health researchers said the Biden administration was first detected in herds in March and then it didn’t respond quickly enough to stop the spread of the virus between dairy cows. It wasn’t until December that the agriculture sector launched its domestic milk testing program, and the three states that produce the country’s top milk are not part of its federal oversight efforts.
The Trump administration will have to work with state officials who haven’t tested their milk regularly to try and get them on board, Morrison said. Texas Agricultural Commissioner SID Miller told NBC News that no surveillance milk testing was necessary in Texas, as there were no active cases of avian flu cases in commercial cattle and poultry in the state.
“From April until the end of the Biden administration, the response was slow and slow,” Morrison said. “We haven’t tested animals or humans at the required level yet. We don’t have a system of coherent strategies and accountability yet. We don’t have a type of compensation mechanism needed for these dairy farmers yet. Swarm infections People suffer losses due to illness.”
Researchers fear that the US is running out of time to bolster its response.
“If we don’t act now, we’re just giving the opportunity to continue adapting to the virus and evolve into something more dangerous in our population.” “Now is the time to act.”
