Q&A: Why Finland is vaccinating farmers against bird flu—but California isn’t—and more info about the spreading virus

Medical Xpress December 24, 2024
Lisa M. Krieger

Faced with the rapid spread of avian flu through California dairies, health officials are now doing weekly testing of every dairy farm in the state—expanding initial efforts amid new evidence that some infections are going undetected and there may be unknown paths of transmission.

But farmworkers are not being vaccinated, unlike workers at poultry and fur farms in Finland. Why not?

On Friday, health experts offered updates about what we’re learning about the virus.

Q: The federal government has vaccines that protect against H5N1, the virus that causes avian influenza, in its Strategic National Stockpile. Why aren’t we using them?

A: The virus isn’t spreading between people, said Erica Pan, California’s state epidemiologist. California’s cases have been mild. And antiviral...

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