NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF SEN. GARY PETERS
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is pressing the Trump Administration to take immediate action to mitigate the worsening outbreak of a bird flu virus, known as H5N1. The Trump Administration’s incredibly harmful “pause” on time-sensitive and critical public health communications from key federal agencies risks missing key indicators of health threats and exacerbates the likelihood of another deadly pandemic.
Peters’ warning comes as the Trump Administration has taken little action to coordinate a response to the growing H5N1 outbreak. Already this year, more than 20 million egg-laying chickens have died due to the bird flu, raising the price of eggs dramatically. The United States has already reported its first human death from the virus, and the same strain has recently infected dairy cows in Nevada, where at least one dairy farm worker has tested positive.
“As the H5N1 virus continues to infect wild birds, poultry flocks, and dairy cattle across the country, it has been detected in all fifty states and Puerto Rico, with 68 reported human cases in 11 states throughout the U.S,” wrote Peters. “In Michigan, H5N1 has been identified in 25 counties and two farm workers tested positive for the virus last year.”
Peters continued: “We are at a critical juncture and must work to mitigate H5N1 transmission among affected animals to ensure the virus does not eventually adapt to spread easily between humans, resulting in human-to-human transmission like the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us the importance of early and prompt action, clear roles and responsibilities, regular and unified communication, and most importantly, the severe consequences of a delayed response.”
“I request that the White House, including the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), and relevant executive branch agencies, take immediate and necessary measures to ensure transparent, unified, and regular communications with the public about the H5N1 outbreak,” Peters underscored. “Public health communications must not be interrupted.”
In his role leading the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters led an investigation and released a report identifying significant failures of the federal government’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Peters’ report made recommendations to bolster our preparedness for future pandemics and response to future public health crises. Many of those recommendations have not yet been addressed by Congress or the Administration.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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