NASDA Appreciates USDA Approach to HPAI

At the 2025 NASDA Winter Policy Conference, members updated policy to support a plan for detecting and controlling highly pathogenic avian influenza. NASDA CEO Ted McKinney backed Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins’ approach. “We were encouraged by the level of support we heard from the Secretary on addressing this bird flu issue,” said McKinney. “The level of federal support was welcomed and astounding; there were no indications that you as the states must pick this up and we’re thrilled with that.” NASDA members also passed two related action items: one urging a national vaccine strategy led by USDA APHIS with industry coordination and another pushing Congress to support USDA APHIS compensation for foreign animal disease outbreaks.