KDSN RADIO News
Governor calls for boost in funding for development of bird flu, foreign animal disease vaccines
Governor Kim Reynolds has recommended an additional half a million dollars in state spending to support the development of vaccines for bird flu and other foreign animal diseases.
The current outbreak of avian influenza began three years ago and the first human case of bird flu in the United States was identified in April of last year. In December, state officials reported the first human case in Iowa, in a person who worked in a commercial poultry operation.
In a recent Radio Iowa interview, Reynolds said figuring out how to best mitigate transmission of the virus is key. “Think about it going from birds to hogs,” Reynolds said.”I mean just this past year it went to dairy. It’s scary the impact it could have not only on the food supply chain but just to people as well.”
Governor Reynolds credited the National Veterinary Service Lab in Ames for playing a critical role in confirming cases quickly, so current mitigation strategies can begin. When bird flu is confirmed in poultry, the birds are euthanized. “It’s been devasting what it’s done to our producers here in the state,” Reynolds said.
A decade ago, over 30 million birds in Iowa poultry operations were euthanized during the previous outbreak of bird flu. Since March of last year, the virus has been detected in 12 commercial flocks in Iowa. The latest affected flock, state and federal officials announced Sunday, is in a commercial operation with about 240,000 laying hens in O’Brien County. “I don’t want to see another epidemic like we dealt with before,” Reynolds told Radio Iowa.
In 2024, state and federal officials confirmed cases of bird flu in 13 Iowa dairy herds. Dairy cattle with signs of bird flu are segregated from the rest of the herd and the majority recover from the virus.
