News Photo by Zipporah Abarca A red-winged black bird perches itself on a sign at Duck Park in Alpena as the breeze picks up speed.

ALPENA — As of June 28, the United States has had more than 58 million poultry affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) across 47 states.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all 50 states have detected the disease in 7,105 wild birds.

As the issue grows, the United States Department of Agriculture has reported the beginning of vaccine trials for highly pathogenic avian influenza as of May 1.

The department says there are currently four vaccines for the bird flu, but none are applicable to the highly pathogenic strain.

The USDA began testing the four vaccines in April with single-dose trials in efforts to develop a new vaccine for HPAI. Results from these trials were expected to be available in May, as well as a two-dose vaccine study with results in June. However, there have been no official reports from the USDA yet.

The CDC reported about 20 million H5N1 avian influenza vaccines available in the U.S. National Strategic Stockpile as of June 20, and 12 million of the H7N9 Asian lineage avian vaccines.

Two days later, the USDA announced its $502 million funding towards the Animal Health Protection Act to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to assist in detections of HPAI in the U.S.

Additionally, within the month of June, the CDC confirmed that annual flu shots are unlikely to protect people during avian influenza pandemics.

As of April 28, 2022, the CDC has gathered that only one person has contracted the bird flu within the U.S. The organization says this does not change how low the risk is of people getting the disease.

HPAI is likely to have come from wild birds and poultry operations that have also been shown to affect mammals that have preyed on infected birds such as mountain lions and coyotes, according to the CDC.

According to NPR of Kansas City article, if a vaccine for HPAI is developed and effective, this could create more issues. This means it could become difficult to detect symptoms of the disease among vaccinated poultry in the case they’re sick. Deaths would become less likely, but the disease would still be prevalent.

NPR also notes some challenges with detecting the bird flu within vaccinated birds by noting how other countries may refuse U.S. poultry due to the injected vaccines.

President and CEO of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council Greg Tyler says 20% of broiler chickens produced in the U.S. are exported. Therefore, nearly $6.2 billion worth of poultry exports would be lost.

Besides the potential of losing money, NPR says the U.S. could also experience some other costly challenges. By not being able to detect the disease within birds, it would be necessary to put forth funding for testing and surveillance.

Jada Thompson, an economist at the University of Arkansas, says U.S. consumers should expect to pay more for chicken, turkey or eggs if poultry were to be vaccinated.

NPR notes that USDA officials say if a vaccine was developed, it would only be used in areas the disease was rapidly spreading. Additionally, if the detection of the disease remains low, the USDA is less likely to be as invested in a vaccine.

Nevertheless, it still poses a potential threat to banning poultry exports. That is why the National Chicken Council is against the vaccine, according to NPR.

The USDA’s vaccination trials should finish in August. NPR says a vaccine could possibly be available within 18-24 months.

This story was produced as part of the Michigan News Group Internship. Zipporah Abarca is working for WCMU this summer at The Alpena News.