Vilsack: Help for bird flu on the way

DES MOINES - Tom Vilsack knows some Iowa bird farmers are growing frustrated with the avian influenza that is devastating flocks throughout the state.

Vilsack, the U.S. secretary of agriculture and a former Iowa governor, wants Iowans to know the federal government is addressing the outbreak by attempting to be thorough, safe and expedient.

'It's a tricky process here. It's complicated. And the reality is, because it's complicated, it's easy for people to assume this isn't happening or that isn't happening,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday during a visit to Iowa to discuss the bird flu with industry leaders. 'We know this is hard. We know this is difficult for people.”

Bird flu kills infected birds, and is so contagious that once the disease is detected and confirmed, the entire flock must be destroyed.

Two more cases were announced Tuesday, bringing the total in Iowa to 66 cases - 51 of which have been confirmed - impacting more than 25 million birds.

Nationwide, Vilsack said, the disease has impacted nearly 200 sites and more than 40 million birds, or roughly 9 percent of the country's egg-laying birds and 7 percent of its turkeys.

'The size and magnitude of this is unprecedented,” he said.

The federal government expects to compensate impacted farmers to the tune of more than $150 million, he said, and that number could go even higher depending on how long the disease continues to spread.

Vilsack said a federal insurance program similar to programs for crop and other livestock farmers was proposed by President Barack Obama's administration during the most recent farm bill negotiations, but Congress balked at the price tag.

The farm bill instead called for a study to examine the cost of a poultry insurance program.

'Congress did a calculation of the cost and decided it was too expensive,” Vilsack said. 'I will tell you, as a result of this particular circumstance, certainly Congress will rethink that, as they should.”

Some farmers at a recent public forum in northwest Iowa expressed frustration that the government has not acted faster to dispose of destroyed flocks.

Vilsack said that process was slowed by a lack of locations to dispose of the destroyed birds. He said the government has reached agreements with a handful of landfills and incinerators, so he hopes disposal will begin to move more briskly.

He said finding willing partners was not easy. Some facilities expressed willingness to take destroyed birds, but backed off after hearing concerns from neighbors.

'Our hope is we can clear up the backlog that has been created because of the lack of facilities this week and early next week, assuming there's not a problem with these incinerators not working,” he said.

Vilsack said poultry producers are divided over whether vaccines would help. He said the best vaccine available has only a 60 percent rate of success.

Once infected flocks are cleared, facilities must be cleaned and kept disease-free for at least three weeks, or six weeks in some cases. Vilsack said he understands producers are eager to repopulate flocks, but the suggested time frame is based upon science.

'If you don't have a problem within 21 days, there's a pretty good chance the virus has been licked in that area,” he said.

Vilsack renewed a call for bird farmers to take increased biosecurity measures to slow the disease's spread.

'It can be carried by birds. It can be carried by wind. Some producers were using pond water to water their birds; pond water can be contaminated by geese or ducks flying over it,” Vilsack said. 'We're all going to learn through this process. The key here is for us to work collaboratively.”