WOAH to Governments: Plan Bird Flu Vaccination To Prevent Pandemic

The director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) recommends bird flu vaccination to avert a worldwide pandemic.
Despite trade restrictions, countries are reconsidering poultry vaccination due to the severity of the avian influenza outbreak and its commercial and emotional consequences.
WOAH highlights the need to learn from the COVID-19 disaster and detect pandemics, advocating immunization in addition to rigorous culling.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) chief advised states to vaccinate birds against bird flu to avert a new pandemic.

Numerous millions of birds have already died as a result of the avian influenza virus (HPAI), which has also infected mammals all over the globe.

The current avian influenza outbreak has caused economic and personal devastation, forcing countries to examine their disease control strategy.

WOAH Director General Monique Eloit underlined that it is important for nations to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and recognize such problems, even if certain governments, including the United States, are reluctant owing to trade limitations, according to Reuters.

Eloit suggested that bird flu vaccination as a supplement to the systematic killing of diseased birds, which has been the main method of disease management.

Health Organizations To Governments: Prepare Against Bird Flu

A WOAH poll found that just 25% of its member nations would permit the importation of goods made from chicken that had received an HPAI vaccination.

France, a member of the European Union, will begin vaccinating ducks in October. According to Eliot, there may be a stronger impact if major exporting blocs like the EU take the initiative in bird flu vaccination campaigns.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is researching avian flu vaccines as part of its broader virus-fighting strategy. The USDA is aware of the value of biosecurity protocols in limiting the virus's transmission, but it also understands the necessity to exhaust all available options in the battle against the spread of bird flu.

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The World Health Organization advises nations to prepare for any changes in the status quo, even if bird flu is unlikely to spread to humans.

Since migratory wild birds spread the bird flu virus, Eloit recommends vaccinating free-range poultry, especially ducks. Though, vaccinating broilers, which make up a large part of world chicken production, may not work.

US Vaccinates Endangered Birds

Thousands of animals have died as a result of the H5N1 strain that is to blame for the current HPAI pandemic, including cats, foxes, sea lions, and otters. Scientists are developing new vaccines for the current type of the avian flu virus, which might cause a pandemic, according to NBC News.

As the worldwide community monitors HPAI risk, people should avoid having direct contact with ill or dead birds and follow authorities' recommendations and reporting protocols.

To protect critically endangered California condors from the extremely infectious bird flu, federal authorities have approved a vaccination after 21 California condors died in southern Utah and northern Arizona, the USDA decided on Tuesday.

Since late March, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has recorded bird flu incidents. Authorities said 13 of the reported dead birds tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu in lab testing, per the Smithsonian Magazine.

Two California condors at a rescue center have tested positive for the bird flu virus, and four more specimens are being analyzed.