The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday an additional $1 billion to help the nation’s poultry industry combat an accelerating outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza, which has devastated farmers and driven the price of eggs to record highs.
The infusion is part of a new strategy under the Trump administration that aims to boost financial relief to farmers whose flocks have been affected by the bird flu and aid in increasing biosecurity measures to prevent the spread from wild birds to domestic poultry operations. It also sets aside funds to develop vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens.
But the new plan does not include any additional efforts to curb the spread of the virus among dairy cattle. Since first being confirmed in Texas last March, outbreaks of H5N1 have been detected in 973 dairy herds across 17 states.
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