Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, joined Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Fetterman (D-PA) and 13 other Senators to press the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is one of the largest animal health outbreaks U.S. poultry producers and dairy farmers have ever faced.
In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, the Senators write: “The United States is now entering the fourth year of an outbreak of HPAI that has devastated farms, required the depopulation of more than 136 million birds on commercial poultry operations, and infected a small but growing number of farm workers. A new urgency is required from the USDA to address the evolving situation.”
The Senators are pushing USDA to take action to address the outbreak, specifically:
- An aggressive, forward-looking strategy for vaccination in affected laying hens and turkeys, including the acquisition of vaccine stockpiles, field trials of vaccines, the development of more practical methods of vaccine administration, and outreach to trading partners to ensure trade is not significantly impacted and that they understand the need for vaccines and abide by international standards for maintaining trade;
- An HPAI Strategic Initiative to engage experts within industry, universities, and government to expand knowledge and develop novel methods of prevention, detection, and response; and
- Movement controls that apply to all animals that present risks and support for states moving quickly through the first four stages of USDA’s National Milk Testing Strategy.
Also signing the letter were Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tina Smith (D-MN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mark Warner (D-VA), Ted Budd (R-NC), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Todd Young (R-IN), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Roger Marshall (R-KS), David McCormick (R-PA), Jerry Moran (R-KS). Representative Randy Feenstra (R-IA) led a companion letter in the House.
Full text of the letter is available here.
Press release from Sen. Klobuchar, Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member
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