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Turkey industry backs Senate push for USDA action on HPAI vaccination plan

Leaders in the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee are urging USDA to prioritize a vaccine strategy for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Minnesota turkey grower John Zimmerman, who served as chair of the National Turkey Federation in 2024, tells Brownfield the industry has made great strides in biosecurity and limiting the spread of avian flu.

“But at the end of the day we’re still having very highly bio-secure farms come down with the virus, so we need to look at other options. And that other option for us now is the vaccine.”

Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar and nearly two dozen colleagues recently sent a letter to USDA asking the department to advance a draft proposal of an HPAI vaccine strategy for poultry.

Zimmerman says the use of a vaccine would have trade implications.

“So we have to get a strategy in place to work with USDA to make sure that if we do start to selectively vaccinate some of these flocks that have been hit multiple times or certain geographic areas, that it doesn’t interrupt our trade agreements with other foreign countries. So that’s what we’re fighting for now and that’s what we’re asking for help from the Senators.”

The letter to USDA said any finalized vaccine strategy must take into account feedback from animal health stakeholders, industry experts, and be grounded in sound science.