The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is facing opposition from dairy farmers and state officials in its efforts to investigate dairy farms and cows for bird flu. The agency has warned of the potential risk of a bird flu pandemic, but its attempts to conduct investigations are being met with resistance, particularly in Republican-controlled states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is facing resistance from dairy farmers and state officials in its efforts to investigate dairy farms and cows for bird flu. The agency has warned of the potential risk of a bird flu pandemic, but its attempts to conduct investigations are being met with resistance, particularly in Republican-controlled states.
"It's overreach," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told Politico. "They don't need to do that. They need to back off."
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are facing opposition from dairy farmers and local officials as they attempt to investigate dairy farms and cows for bird flu. (Getty Images)
CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah stressed the severity of the situation.
"We've all seen how a virus can spread around the globe before public health has even had a chance to get its shoes on," he said. "That's a risk and one that we have to be mindful of."
Some officials argued that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rather than the CDC, should be conducting bird flu investigations.
"Decouple it from an FDA and a CDC issue," Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. "This is a workforce concern that really ought to be expressed from the USDA and Secretary [Tom] Vilsack."
Other officials believe that the CDC is asking for too much from dairy farmers.
"Bless their hearts, CDC wanted to know everything," Idaho Division of Public Health's medical director, Dr. Christine Hahn, said. "The concern is that it is so lengthy and so detailed that you'll actually just get a lot of inaccurate answers."
"The dairies are considering it. Nothing's been decided, but they would prefer local health do that, not CDC or even us, which we totally are okay with," Hahn said. "I think the more local things can get done, the better. It strengthens those relationships."
Some experts requested that the CDC interview farmers on a voluntary basis.
"We have had conversations with CDC," Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Dr. Justin Smith said. "We're willing and the dairies are willing to work through our local public health [offices], there's been a relationship built there."
"Having CDC show up with a response team is very intimidating to the workers," Smith added. "And it's intimidating to the dairies."
The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare and the Kansas Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Neither the CDC nor the Texas Department of State Health Services provided comment.
The resistance to the CDC's bird flu investigations highlights the challenges public health agencies face in responding to potential pandemics. In the case of COVID-19, the CDC's response was hampered by political interference and a lack of public trust. The agency's efforts to investigate bird flu could suffer from similar challenges, potentially putting the public at risk.
