How an American agricultural agency has become the key in the fight against the bird flu

Since Donald Trump took office in January, the main American public health agency withdrew preparations for a potential bird flu pandemic. But as it goes back, another government agency intensifies.

Although the United States Ministry of Health and Social Services (HHS) previously organized regular briefs on its efforts to prevent a wider epidemic of a deadly bird flu virus called H5N1 in people, it has largely stopped once Trump took office. He also canceled the financing of a vaccine that would have targeted the virus. On the other hand, the American Department of Agriculture (USDA) intensified its fight against the spread of H5N1 in poultry and dairy herds, in particular by funding the development of cattle vaccines.

This particular virus – An avian flu stump called H5N1 – represents a significant threat to humans, having killed about half of the approximately 1000 people around the world that have been tested positive since 2003. Although the pathogen spreads quickly in birds, it is poorly suited to infect humans and does not know how to transmit between people. But that could change if it acquires mutations which allow it to spread more easily in mammals – a risk that increases with each infection of mammals.

The possibility that H5N1 evolves to become more dangerous for people has developed considerably since March 2024, when the virus jumped migratory birds to dairy cows in Texas. More than 1,070 herds in 17 states have been affected since then.

H5N1 also infects poultry, placing the virus near people. Since 2022, nearly 175 million domestic birds have been killed in the United States due to H5N1, and almost every 71 people who have been tested positive for this have had direct contact with livestock.

“We have to take this seriously because when when [H5N1] Constantly spreads, it is constantly spreading into humans, ”explains Seema Lakdawala at Emory University in Georgia. The virus has already killed a person in the United States and a child in Mexico this year.

However, cases decreased under Trump. The last recorded human case took place in February, and the number of pulfs of poultry affected dropped 95% between that time and June. Epidemics in dairy herds have also stabilized.

It is not clear what is behind the drop. Lakdawala believes that it is partly due to a lull of bird migration, which reduces opportunities for the virus to spread wild birds to cattle. It can also reflect the USDA efforts to contain epidemics on farms. In February, the USDA unveiled a plan of $ 1 billion to combat H5N1, including the strengthening of farmers’ defenses against the virus, for example through free biosecurity assessments. Of the 150 installations that have undergone an evaluation, only one experienced an H5N1 epidemic.

Under Trump, the USDA also continued its national milk test strategy, which forces farms to provide raw milk samples for flu tests. If a farm is positive for H5N1, it should allow the USDA to monitor livestock and implement measures to contain the virus. The USDA launched the program in December and has since increased participation in 45 states.

“The national milk test strategy is a fantastic system,” said Erin Sorrell at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. In addition to USDA’s efforts to improve biosecurity measures on farms, milk tests are crucial to contain the epidemic, explains Sorrell.

But while the USDA has strengthened its efforts against H5N1, the HHS does not seem to have followed suit. In fact, the recent decrease in human cases can reflect a reduction in surveillance due to reductions in the workforce, explains Sorrell. In April, HHS dismissed around 10,000 employees, including 90% of the staff of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an office that helps investigate H5N1 epidemics among agricultural workers.

“There is an old saying that if you don’t test something, you can’t find it,” says Sorrell. However, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that his advice and surveillance efforts have not changed. “State and premises health services continue to monitor the disease in people exposed to sick animals,” they said New scientist. “The CDC remains determined to quickly communicate the information if necessary on H5N1.”

USDA and HHS also diverge on vaccination. While the USDA allocated $ 100 million to the development of vaccines and other solutions to prevent the spread of H5N1 in livestock, HHS has canceled $ 776 million in contracts for the development of antigrippal vaccines. The contracts – terminated on May 28 – were with the Moderna pharmaceutical company to develop vaccines targeting the flu subtypes, including H5N1, which could cause future pandemics. The news came the same day that Moderna reported that almost 98% of around 300 participants who received two doses of the H5 vaccine in a clinical trial had antibody levels that would be protective against the virus.

The United States has around five million doses of H5N1 vaccine stored, but it is manufactured using eggs and cultivated cells, which take longer to produce than mRNM vaccines like Moderns. The modern vaccine would have modernized stocks and allowed the government to quickly produce vaccines in the event of a pandemic, explains Sorrell. “It seems to be a very effective platform and would have placed the United States and others to be on a good basis if and when we needed a vaccine for our general public,” she said.

The HHS has canceled contracts due to concerns about mRNA vaccines, on which Robert F Kennedy JR – the highest official of the country’s public health – previously questioned. “The reality is that the mRNA technology remains underpinted, and we are not going to spend the dollars of taxpayers repeat the errors of the last administration,” said HHS communications director Andrew Nixon in a press release New scientist.

However, mRNA technology is not new. It has been developing for more than half a century and many clinical trials have shown that mRNA vaccines are safe. Although they include the risk of side effects – the majority of which are light – this is true for almost all medical treatments. In a press release, Moderna said it would explore alternative financing paths for the program.

“My position is that we should not try to remove anything from the table, and that includes any type of vaccine diet,” explains Lakdawala.

“Vaccines are the most effective way to counter an infectious disease,” says Sorrell. “And therefore have this in your arsenal and ready to leave you simply give more options.”