The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to create a stockpile of vaccines to improve response to bird flu, which hit the Midwest earlier this year and caused the destruction of 48 million birds.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the USDA, put out a call Tuesday for animal-health companies to come up with proposals for a vaccine. The agency said it wants companies capable of producing between 100 million and 500 million doses.
While the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has not approved the use of a vaccine to respond to HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) to date, the agency is trying to ensure the vaccine is available should one be approved, according to a statement from the department.
Wild birds, including geese, will migrate south in the fall, potentially bringing bird flu with them. It was the bird's northern migration that carried bird flu through the country this spring.
The USDA said it wants to have an emergency stockpile of vaccines that could reach anywhere in the country within 24 hours.
Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, said not everyone is on board with the idea of an bird flu vaccine.
"If we were to start vaccinating, this would create a possibly whole new set of problems for our industry," he said.
Sumner said the industry is divided on the use of the vaccines.
Worries about export bans have pitted producers of broiler chickens against the idea, he said.
"The broiler and breeding companies are very much opposed to vaccinations," Sumner said. "They feel like this could result in additional trade restrictions affecting broilers."
The country's poultry and egg exports for the first half of the year fell by 14 percent because of bird flu, according to a report by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
Countries put bans on poultry products from states where the virus was found. This includes Arkansas, even though the disease was detected only in turkeys in the state.
The overall cost of the bans added up to more than $380 million for the first half of 2015, according to the same report.
Mexico, the industry's largest export market, has not removed restrictions.
Segments of the industry not as dependent on exports have been more receptive. Egg producers, which were among the hardest hit by the outbreak earlier this year, largely have supported the idea of a vaccine. The National Turkey Federation said in a statement Tuesday it also supports a vaccine.
"Everyone's waiting to see what happens," Sumner said.
Business on 08/21/2015