Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen is seeing progress being made on vaccines for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, but approval and trade considerations remain significant hurdles. “My understanding is that the USDA has vaccines that are close to being ready to go, but will need to be approved and put out by the USDA,” Peterson told the Red River Farm Network. “I think the sentiment that we have in the turkey industry in Minnesota is that there is support for the vaccines, taking into consideration that we may have some issues with export.” Petersen added that global HPAI outbreaks may influence trading partners’ positions on vaccine use. “I’ve seen our trading partners change their minds on this issue because they’re also dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza, and they’re also incurring losses.” Recent weeks have been relatively quiet in Minnesota, but elevated HPAI activity nationwide highlights the importance of continued preparedness.
