In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, senators from both sides of the aisle urged the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to combat the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
“The United States is now entering the fourth year of an outbreak of HPAI that has devastated farms, required the depopulation of more than 136 million birds on commercial poultry operations, and infected a small but growing number of farm workers,” the lawmakers wrote. “A new urgency is required from the USDA to address the evolving situation. We stand ready to work with you as you provide leadership on this vitally important issue, the largest animal health outbreak that the department has ever dealt with.”
