Vilsack authorizes first field trial for H5N1 cattle vaccine

The next step regarding the potential development of an H5N1 virus vaccine for cattle is taking place, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday during his address at the 2024 Farm Progress Show.

“Since we’re at the Farm Progress Show, we obviously want to make sure we announce progress,” he said.

Vilsack’s first announcement was the allocation of an additional $35 million for the expansion of domestic fertilizer production, but then he provided an update on vaccine development for the prevention of avian flu in cattle.

“We have a number of companies that have been working on vaccines, and one company has now presented sufficient information to the USDA to allow me to authorize, as I did this week, the first field trial of a vaccine for cattle H5N1 for safety purposes,” he told attendees.

It’s the next step in the development of a vaccine, “which hopefully we’ll be able to develop in the near term with the information we get from this trial.”

The trial, he said, will allow USDA to determine whether it can proceed to the next steps necessary “to ensure safe and effective use of the vaccine.”

USDA’s Center of Veterinary Biologics, which is overseeing these efforts, published a notice Wednesday that it is now accepting field trial applications for H5N1 vaccines that may be conducted outside of containment without terminal disposal of milk and other commodities. Previously, CVB indicated that all studies, even those not involving virus challenge, were to be conducted in containment facilities regardless of risk profile.

Vilsack’s announcement comes after U.S. dairy, turkey, and egg industries sent him an urgent request for USDA and its federal partners to support development of safe and effective H5Nx vaccinations for dairy cows, turkeys, and egg-laying hens to help mitigate the circulation of H5Nx in dairy herds and reduce the risk of spill-over of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) into commercial turkey flocks and egg layer operations.

In a statement provided to Feedstuffs, a USDA spokesperson said last week that the agency is leaving “no stone unturned in the fight against H5N1.”

Vaccine development is part of that effort, but the agency noted that, particularly for poultry, “a vaccination strategy would be challenging to implement domestically and would have significant trade ramifications that would affect poultry farmers and still may not be guaranteed to eliminate the virus.”

At that time, the spokesperson said research in bovine vaccines is promising but in the early stage of development.

The agency continues to emphasize the use of already available strategies, including strong biosecurity safeguards.