HPAI in Poultry and Cattle: How Can We Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?

Description

It has been approximately two months since federal and state animal health officials and the U.S. dairy industry became immersed in efforts to monitor and potentially control the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in dairy cattle. It has been more than two years since those same government officials and the U.S. poultry and egg production sectors became immersed in this same struggle in their species—an effort that continues unabated. HPAI could be with us as part of the permanent backdrop to animal production agriculture, primarily under the jurisdiction of USDA-APHIS, but also invoking FDA authority as threats to food safety need to be addressed and CDC authority if human health is implicated. Animal disease control is one of the core, but unappreciated, functions of USDA and state departments of agriculture.

This webinar will lay out the foundational statutes, regulations, manuals and procedures that authorize USDA-APHIS authority, through the lens of these two HPAI outbreaks in divergent species, including a slate of sometimes sweeping powers to compel a range of disease control measures and tactics. The webinar will also trace the last 60 days’ progression of the HPAI outbreak in dairy cattle to illustrate how the invocation of disease control measures evolves and adapts to the changing conditions of a disease, host animal, known potentials and methods for transmission, and the potential economic implications.

Presenter: Brook Duer, Staff Attorney, Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law