Donald Trump’s illegal government shutdown has disrupted the country’s response to bird flu as the outbreak worsens.
Since taking office last month, Donald Trump’s reckless executive orders resulted in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) withholding weekly reports on bird flu transmission and surveillance. The two agencies have canceled meetings on the outbreak with state officials and held no congressional briefings on the issue for three weeks.
Due to Trump’s freeze on external communications, the CDC’s first studies under his administration came almost a month after his inauguration. They indicated that spillovers of the disease from dairy cattle into humans have gone undetected.
In addition, late last week the Trump administration fired a quarter of the staff in the USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network program office. The program office plays a major role in coordinating responses to animal disease outbreaks. Its staff is responsible for data management, ensuring that labs across the country are conducting the same tests and following similar protocols to accurately and effectively track animal diseases.
According to Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, officials were told that testing and other responses to the bird flu outbreaks would be slower after last week’s haphazard layoffs by Republicans.
Meanwhile, this month alone bird flu detections have been confirmed in poultry flocks in nine states, including a farm in Pennsylvania with nearly two million birds.
Two weeks ago, dairy cows in Nevada were confirmed to be infected with a new form of bird flu. Last week, Arizona officials announced bird flu was detected in milk produced by a local dairy herd.
In Ohio, one of the nation’s recent hot spots, officials recently confirmed a local man was the state’s first human case of bird flu.
This week, it was confirmed that a woman in Wyoming became the fourth American to be hospitalized after contracting the virus.
The GOP’s mishandling of the bird flu outbreak is also hurting the pocketbook of American households. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced last week that the average cost of large grade-A eggs reached its highest point in 45 years.
“In just one month, the Trump administration has put public safety on a nosedive—both in the skies and on the ground. From slashing FAA oversight while near-miss incidents pile up to ignoring the escalating bird flu crisis that threatens our food supply and public health, this administration is asleep at the wheel,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Brandon Weathersby. “Instead, Republicans have a laser focus on Trump’s economy-wrecking tariffs and tax cuts for the wealthy. The only thing Trump wants to keep safe is the wealth of the richest people in the country. Americans deserve leadership that prioritizes their safety, not reckless deregulation and negligence.”
Published: Feb 19, 2025