(Radio Iowa) – The recent crossover outbreaks of avian influenza in cattle in several states have Iowa beef and dairy producers on alert and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is calling for better communication from multiple federal agencies on the topic.
Grassley says with bird flu outbreaks in cattle in Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, he wants to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture. is working hand-in-hand with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in sharing information with each other and with the public.
“It’s fair to assume we could have the same bureaucratic problems that we have throughout government on any issue, not just avian flu,” Grassley says, “and that is, each department operates like a silo. There’s not the proper cooperation on any issue.”
Back in 2015, a widespread outbreak of avian flu forced the slaughter of more that 43-million birds in 15 states, including nearly 30-million just in Iowa, the nation’s top egg producer. Egg prices bounded some 120-percent over the course of just a few weeks.
“In 2015, when the avian flu first hit birds in Iowa, there weren’t any protocols in place,” Grassley says. “And now when we have break out in poultry, we don’t worry too much about it. We know that the Iowa Department of Agriculture knows what steps to date.”
Grassley and several colleagues from both parties have sent a letter to the three agencies, urging them “to strengthen and coordinate public information-sharing” to ensure producers — and the public — are being fully informed about outbreaks.
“Now, I’m not saying that that isn’t happening in the case of avian flu and the three agencies that we wrote to,” Grassley says, “but we want to make sure that we’re on top of it, so we don’t be in the same place with dairy cattle that we were with poultry in 2015.”
In their letter, lawmakers said previous outbreaks have benefited from a “consortium strategy” where the USDA brought together experts in epidemiology and animal health research to lessen the potential economic and societal cost of the spread.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS