On July 22, 2015,
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testified before the U.S. House
Committee on Agriculture and addressed the United States Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) latest efforts regarding Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
(HPAI).
At the hearing,
Vilsack stated that USDA was working to produce a vaccine to combat the spread
of HPAI. According to the Secretary, a
seed strain vaccination has been developed, and the vaccine has proven to be 100%
effective when tested on chickens. Though
Vilsack did not provide a timeline for the availability, he did state that the
vaccine was currently being tested on turkeys and if proven effective, would hopefully
be ready for production in the near future.
Relatedly, the
Secretary stated that USDA was working on efforts to ensure that U.S. trading
partners would not penalize future exports if a vaccine is employed. Vilsack suggested that any foreign ban on
U.S. poultry products could be limited regionally (where the vaccine is used)
and not nationally.
To view
Secretary Vilsack’s testimony, please click here.
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