The Trump USDA is considering a vaccine as the next step in the battle against High Path Avian Influenza, commonly known as bird flu, but it’s a nuanced conversation. Dr. Mike Martin is the state veterinarian for North Carolina, and says a vaccine has been partially approved.

“We do have an approved vaccine for USDA Centers for Veterinary Biologics. That just means that it’s possible to use something that’s been vetted out for safety and efficacy reasons, but USDA APHIS still has a restriction on it, so there’s still no use of that vaccine in birds in the United States.”

European nations such as France do allow the use of a vaccine there with limitations. Martin says it’s an issue complicated by trade and just how effective a vaccine would be.

“We could lose over $3 billion of trade instantly if that vaccine goes into a domesticated bird, potentially, and so, you know, that’s a big issue. And then even when you’re looking at the disease control, that vaccine doesn’t prevent infection. It just reduces the amount of clinical signs, and it reduces amount of the shedding of the virus.”

In addition, putting a vaccine into widespread use could be a monumental task.

“How you actually implement that into even a commercial industry setting, can be kind of challenging, because you’re not necessarily preventing those birds from getting sick. And are you getting a carrier state, you know, where you’re hiding it a little bit, or is it something that you then have to live with if it gets into a larger population of birds? It’s just a lot of really difficult questions from a scientific basis.”