US farmworkers to have flu vaccination to curb avian influenza

Farmworkers in the US are being offered free seasonal flu jabs to help curb mutations of the avian influenza (AI) virus, but the chairman of the body representing UK egg producers says a similar approach is unlikely to be needed here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is spending $10 million on a package of measures, with half that budget earmarked for vaccinating 200,000 farm workers, after several people developed bird flu.

However it says the risk to the general public from the disease is low.

See also: Royal Welsh sees return of poultry after bird flu ban

In another worrying development, the virus has also jumped to dairy cows with more than 170 herds in 13 states testing positive since March.

The CDC believes that preventing seasonal flu in workers, many of whom are also exposed to bird flu, could reduce the risk of new strains emerging.

In the UK, James Baxter, chairman of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), said he was confident that Defra was continually monitoring the AI situation and doesn’t anticipate flu vaccinations being offered.

“There are significant operational differences between the US and the UK in both the dairy and poultry industries, practices are quite different,’’ said Mr Baxter.

What flu vaccination doesn’t do is give people protection from bird flu.

But the CDC says it does reduce the likelihood of workers becoming infected with the seasonal flu and bird flu at the same time, which it suggests could lead to virus mutations.

Spread to dairy

The US has a dedicated National Center for Farmworker Health and some of the money will be allocated to help it educate and train workers to protect themselves from AI.

The ultimate aim is to stop the spread of bird flu among dairy cows and eventually eradicate it.

Legislation is currently being drafted to allow dairy farmers to be compensated for any milk losses associated with AI infection.

Poultry flocks in nearly every US state have been infected since the virus first emerged in 2022.

The pharmaceutical industry is researching the development of a human vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus.

It is understood that Argentina-based Sinergium Biotech has developed H5N1 candidate vaccines.