USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that additional criteria must be met before any vaccine for highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) can be approved for emergency use.

According to the agency, the vaccines currently available “are not well matched and do not meet a suitable level of efficacy.”

USDA also wants to be sure that the vaccine industry is in a position to produce enough doses to create an effective control measure. Finally, additional outreach with trading partners will be required to avoid significant market disruptions.

APHIS also states that the vaccine currently available “offers just 60 percent effectiveness in chickens, leaving 4 in 10 birds unprotected.” The vaccine’s effectiveness in turkeys is still being studied. They add that “some significant trading partners have indicated that, if we began vaccinating, they would ban all U.S. exports of poultry and eggs until they could complete a risk assessment.”

USDA will continue to encourage development of vaccines for HPAI and will approve vaccines as they are developed and evaluated. To date, over 212 cases of HPAI have been detected in more than a dozen states impacting over 46 million birds.