Leah Douglas

Well, newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Wednesday announced a plan. And a big chunk of it goes to helping farmers, particularly poultry farmers, increase what's called biosecurity on their farms. So basically the efforts they can take to keep wild birds that might be sick off their property.

to make sure that technicians and workers and other folks coming onto the farm aren't bringing the virus. So the agency is putting about $500 million towards those efforts of prevention, really.

to make sure that technicians and workers and other folks coming onto the farm aren't bringing the virus. So the agency is putting about $500 million towards those efforts of prevention, really.

to make sure that technicians and workers and other folks coming onto the farm aren't bringing the virus. So the agency is putting about $500 million towards those efforts of prevention, really.

And then there's also some effort that the agency is taking to look into vaccination of birds, which is something that was also happening under the previous Biden administration, looking into vaccines for chickens and cows as well as another sort of preventative approach.

And then there's also some effort that the agency is taking to look into vaccination of birds, which is something that was also happening under the previous Biden administration, looking into vaccines for chickens and cows as well as another sort of preventative approach.

And then there's also some effort that the agency is taking to look into vaccination of birds, which is something that was also happening under the previous Biden administration, looking into vaccines for chickens and cows as well as another sort of preventative approach.

That's right. The USDA hasn't yet said that we should be vaccinating either poultry or cows against bird flu. And some of that is because there's still ongoing research. The agency is still collecting information. The poultry industry is divided over whether to use vaccines.

That's right. The USDA hasn't yet said that we should be vaccinating either poultry or cows against bird flu. And some of that is because there's still ongoing research. The agency is still collecting information. The poultry industry is divided over whether to use vaccines.

That's right. The USDA hasn't yet said that we should be vaccinating either poultry or cows against bird flu. And some of that is because there's still ongoing research. The agency is still collecting information. The poultry industry is divided over whether to use vaccines.

So the farmers who grow laying hens, they do support vaccines because, as we've talked about, that's primarily the chickens that are being affected by the spread of the virus. They really want that to stop. The growers who produce chickens for meat have been less impacted, and there's also potential trade implications from vaccinating those animals.

So the farmers who grow laying hens, they do support vaccines because, as we've talked about, that's primarily the chickens that are being affected by the spread of the virus. They really want that to stop. The growers who produce chickens for meat have been less impacted, and there's also potential trade implications from vaccinating those animals.

So the farmers who grow laying hens, they do support vaccines because, as we've talked about, that's primarily the chickens that are being affected by the spread of the virus. They really want that to stop. The growers who produce chickens for meat have been less impacted, and there's also potential trade implications from vaccinating those animals.

And so there's a divide in the industry that the agriculture secretary has said she's still thinking about whether to move forward with a vaccine strategy.

And so there's a divide in the industry that the agriculture secretary has said she's still thinking about whether to move forward with a vaccine strategy.

And so there's a divide in the industry that the agriculture secretary has said she's still thinking about whether to move forward with a vaccine strategy.

Experts are really telling me that this situation is unprecedented. That was a word used by the USDA's chief veterinarian in a presentation this week. There's a lot of support for a vaccine strategy as a way of really trying to prevent this from continuing to spread further. Farmers are already implementing biosecurity measures. And so there's already a lot of efforts underway.

Experts are really telling me that this situation is unprecedented. That was a word used by the USDA's chief veterinarian in a presentation this week. There's a lot of support for a vaccine strategy as a way of really trying to prevent this from continuing to spread further. Farmers are already implementing biosecurity measures. And so there's already a lot of efforts underway.

Experts are really telling me that this situation is unprecedented. That was a word used by the USDA's chief veterinarian in a presentation this week. There's a lot of support for a vaccine strategy as a way of really trying to prevent this from continuing to spread further. Farmers are already implementing biosecurity measures. And so there's already a lot of efforts underway.

And I think there is increased attention to, do we need to move to a vaccine? Because the efforts that we've been doing for the last few years clearly have not controlled the outbreak.