The executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation suggests the U.S. should follow the lead of countries that vaccinate flocks for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Gretta Irwin tells Brownfield domestic growers want to be able to do more to protect birds against HPAI.
“Recently I did have the opportunity to go to France and see how they are vaccinating their ducks for high-path AI. So we’re seeing other countries adapting that technology to protect those farmers (and) protect that production domestically.”
She says England has begun adopting a vaccine for turkeys and she hopes that carries over to the U.S.
“This is a safe technology, there are safe protocols that we can measure this. And in our industry, we’re really asking for the migration seasons. We don’t need to vaccinate all year long, but when that risk is present when birds are migrating, give us that tool to vaccinate just so we do not have these losses.”
Irwin says the primary reason the U.S. can’t vaccinate for avian flu is because of international trade restrictions that could ban American poultry exports.
