The United States government is working to fund a human vaccine trial for bird flu in collaboration with Moderna, according to a report by The Financial Times. The H5N1 bird flu virus is currently spreading among wild birds, causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cows. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also detected the virus in the nation’s milk supply.
On April 24, the USDA announced a federal order requiring lactating dairy cows to be tested before interstate movement, along with financial assistance for producers with affected herds. Recently, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, R, issued a disaster proclamation for Sioux County, Iowa, where more than 4 million chickens had to be culled due to a bird flu outbreak on a farm.
Although two dairy workers — one in Texas and one in Michigan — contracted the virus in the last two months, they have both recovered. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently assesses the public health risk as “low.” Unlike COVID-19, bird flu is unlikely to become the next pandemic because it does not transmit effectively from person to person.
Pharmaceutical companies are exploring the need to produce more doses of a bird flu pandemic vaccine, while scientists urge caution but not panic. The federal government already maintains a stockpile of a vaccine that could help prevent H5N1 in humans if the virus develops the capability to spread efficiently from person to person worldwide.
Both the United States and European nations are prioritizing vaccination for front-line workers, including poultry farmers and dairy farm workers who may be exposed to bird flu. David Boucher, the director of Infectious Disease at the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledges that the effectiveness of the current bird flu vaccine is low due to its imperfect match against the circulating strain.
Scientists are actively developing a human mRNA bird flu vaccine because such vaccines can be rapidly produced and tailored to the circulating strain of the virus.
The Financial Times reported that federal funding, potentially several tens of millions of dollars, may come from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) next month to support a late-stage trial for Moderna’s mRNA bird flu vaccine. If successful, BARDA would also purchase a stockpile of vaccine doses. Moderna is expected to release interim trial data soon.
