In a bid to rectify recent missteps, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is urgently rehiring key personnel mistakenly terminated during a federal workforce reduction, aiming to bolster its response to the ongoing avian influenza crisis.
Josh Funk reports for the Associated Press.
In short:
- The USDA inadvertently fired several employees critical to managing the bird flu outbreak, which has led to the culling of approximately 160 million birds since 2022.
- These layoffs were part of broader federal cuts recommended by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.
- The mass culling has significantly impacted egg prices, driving them to a record high average of $4.95 per dozen.
Key quote:
“At a time when producers are already grappling with the bird flu, the public is facing high prices, and all Americans are on edge about what broader spread of this virus could mean, the last thing the administration should have done was to eliminate these positions.”
— Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
Why this matters:
The accidental termination of essential USDA staff amid an increasingly concerning avian flu outbreak puts the focus on vulnerabilities in public health infrastructure. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Trump administration limited data-sharing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), raising concerns among experts that the move could hamper efforts to track and contain the rapidly spreading bird flu outbreak.
The H5N1 bird flu has affected millions of birds in the U.S. since 2022 and recently spread to dairy cattle, raising concerns about its evolving nature and implications for the food system — in particular, industrialized agriculture.
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