Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro convened farmers, academic leaders, biosecurity experts and lawmakers on Tuesday to address the state\u2019s latest avian influenza outbreak \u2014 one that accounts for more than half of the country’s total cases.<\/p>\n
Officials said more than 7.6 million birds in Pennsylvania have contracted the virus, putting at risk the state\u2019s multi-billion-dollar poultry industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re obviously in crisis mode when it comes to [highly pathogenic] avian influenza,\u201d Shapiro said in Lancaster County, where most of the 26 impacted flocks are located. Over the last three weeks, he added, \u201cPennsylvania is really sadly at the epicenter of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts on the roundtable said migrating water birds commonly pass the disease on to commercial or residential poultry flocks, such as chickens and turkeys. Without a cure for the virus, farmers must cull their flocks \u2014 sometimes by the hundreds of thousands \u2014 to stop the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
As a result of the outbreak, Shapiro said he asked U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for two dozen bird flu specialists, who are now working on the ground in Pennsylvania. The state has also asked the feds for \u201cregulatory relief,\u201d Shapiro said, a request which allows more veterinarians to work alongside state veterinarian Alex Hamberg to diagnose local flocks. And lastly, Shapiro says the Trump administration could expedite the development of an avian flu vaccine.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aWe also understand that a vaccine could be complementary to other efforts, but Secretary Rollins was also very direct with us that this is not a tomorrow thing \u2014 that this would take months and months and months to deploy, if at all, and it would likely be in the form of a pilot.\u201d Shapiro said during the roundtable. Shapiro said he spoke with Rollins at a White House event<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Although bird flu has been detected in Allegheny County in the past, there were no current cases as of Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the county Health Department. Still, it\u2019s important for even backyard chicken coop owners to register with the state<\/a> so they can be aware of nearby infections, said Pittsburgh-area state Rep. Emily Kinkead.<\/p>\n \u201cThey’ll get a flock number\u2026 [which] allows the Department of Agriculture to alert them if there are cases around them, if they’re in a quarantine area,\u201d said Kinkead, the Democratic vice chair of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee. \u201c[The state] can’t help people, they can’t address issues if they don’t actually know that your flock exists.\u201d<\/p>\n