US to award $306 mln for bird flu monitoring and preparedness

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday it would award $306 million in funds to help bird flu monitoring, as the virus spreads in dairy herds and farm workers across the country.

The country in December reported its first severe human case of bird flu in a Louisiana resident, who was hospitalized in a critical condition after suspected contact with an infected backyard flock.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 61 human cases nationally since April, mostly in workers on dairy farms where the virus infected cattle, although it noted that bird flu still represents a low risk to the general public.

“While the risk to humans remains low, we are always preparing for any possible scenario that could arise,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will award about $183 million in funding for regional, state and local programs for hospital preparedness and pathogen treatment centers, among others.

The CDC will award about $111 million to help monitor the disease as well as manufacture, store and distribute additional influenza diagnostic test kits for surveillance.

The National Institutes of Health will award about $11 million for additional research into potential medicines for the disease.

The HHS said it, together with the United States Department of Agriculture, are working closely with federal, state, local and industry partners to protect human and animal health as well as food safety.