The HHS secretary has suggested letting bird flu ‘run through the flock,’ an idea one public health expert says could amplify the virus’ spread and ‘is just letting (birds) suffer.’
|
March 20, 2025, at 5:01 p.m.SaveMore
Expert Slams RFK Jr.’s Bird Flu Comments
Bernd Weißbrod|picture alliance|Getty Images
Eggs are fried in a pan on Mar. 19, 2025, in Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart.
Bird flu continues to spread in the U.S., infecting thousands of wild birds and poultry while posing an increasing threat to humans.
Since the outbreak among U.S. livestock was first detected in March 2024, there have been 70 human cases in the U.S., which have resulted in one death, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and among domesticated animals, the virus has been detected in nearly 1,000 cattle and millions of chickens, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Concerns over the continued spread of bird flu in the U.S. are compounded by recent comments made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suggested letting the bird flu found on poultry farms “run through the flock” so that “we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds that are immune to it.”
And while much of the current bird flu outbreak has been fueled by the H5N1 subtype of bird flu, recent reports of an outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu strain on a poultry farm in Mississippi confirmed on March 13 are further complicating matters. That marks the first confirmed U.S. cases of that strain – which has proven deadly in humans – since 2017, according to the State of Mississippi Board of Animal Health.
Meghan Davis, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke with U.S. News about Kennedy’s idea to let the virus spread, as well as the public health threat posed by the recent detection of the H7N9 strain and how the disease response effort can be more effective moving forward.
What to Know About the Bird Flu Outbreak
Steven Ross JohnsonMarch 17, 2025
The interview was edited for length and clarity.
How effective would HHS Secretary Kennedy’s idea of allowing the bird flu to ‘run through the flock’ at poultry farms be toward controlling the virus spread?
“I think it’s a terrible idea, and there are a couple of different reasons. What happens with bird flu is that these animals get quite sick, so just the animal welfare issues of just letting them suffer is one element of this that I strongly disagree with. The other element is that now you could be prolonging the infection within the flock given that the birds that don’t die very quickly could still be spreading it and that can amplify the potential spread.
“We now have identified that it may be possible for these farms to actually have proximity-based spread through shedding (of feathers) through the air. So that means now you are continuing to have lots of viruses around. So, I think what it’s going to lead to is more disease and a bigger impact to animal production than the current policy.
“If you have continued shedding , then that’s continued exposure for workers over a potentially longer period of time.”
Sign Up for U.S. News Decision Points
Your trusted source for breaking down the latest news from Washington and beyond, delivered weekdays.Sign Up
Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy.
How much of a public health threat does the H7N9 bird flu strain pose?
“We’ve seen it globally, just as we’d seen H5N1 prior to the late 2021, early 2022 North American incursion. When we see it globally, it can cause sporadic disease in people and it can also lead to production losses. So, I think we have reason to be concerned about it.”
What is the chance of bird flu spreading between humans?
“What we are most concerned about is a sustained chain of transmission. What happens when you don’t have a virus that is particularly suitable for sustained transmission is that you get it going from one person to a second but you would rarely have third and fourth cases.
“Right now we’re definitely seeing sustained chains of transmission within animal species. So, this is the big thing that would be problematic for any virus – whether it was a H5 or H7 – especially if they re-assort with a seasonal influenza virus and pick up more characteristics that could potentially be associated with the ability to have a sustained transmission chain.
“That would put us a big step down the path toward a pandemic.”
READ: USAID Cuts Spark Global Health Threats
In what ways would you like to see the federal government improve its bird flu outbreak response?
“The poultry industry has struggled a little bit with vaccination given that there are trade barriers and that disease-free status is often a part of these trade agreements. But I’m starting to hear a lot more softening on that – that maybe we should be better exploring vaccination as part of our control strategy within poultry. Exactly how that would be done is something that we need to evaluate. Same thing for dairy cows, I think that we’re just starting to recognize that there could be some longer-term production loss related to it, and that could change some of the economic algorithm for use of vaccination.
“We don’t yet have great eyes everywhere, and I don’t think we have great surveillance within two key areas. The first would be among consumers – people who consume raw milk products, or who have other exposures that are outside of the workplace-based exposure.
“We also have very little in the way of companion animal surveillance. A lot of these just end up being suspect cases that go to a veterinarian who can alert the authorities rather than something that is more active and really more systematic.”
The Best Cartoons on Health Care
View All 25 Images
Tags: health, bird flu, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump, diseases
Exposing the Big Game 