U.S. awards Moderna $590 million to speed up development of bird flu vaccine : NPR

U.S. awards Moderna 0 million to speed up development of bird flu vaccine : NPR


Moderna headquarters, exterior view, in Cambridge, Mass.

Moderna headquarters, exterior view, in Cambridge, Mass.

Plexi Images/Universal Images Group Editorial via Getty Images


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Plexi Images/Universal Images Group Editorial via Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it will award $590 million to Moderna to accelerate the development of influenza vaccines, including to protect against bird flu.

“Accelerating the development of new vaccines will allow us to stay ahead and ensure that Americans have the tools they need to stay safe,” outgoing HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Friday.

Turkeys at a farm as California declares state of emergency to prevent new public health crisis on Bird flu in Pescadero, California, in December.

The money will go to Moderna, the Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company that previously developed a COVID-19 vaccine. Since 2023, Moderna has been working to create a “pandemic influenza vaccine” which would help protect against certain viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu.

The new funds build on the $176 million that HHS gave to Moderna last July. On Friday, Moderna said the additional funding will help pay for late-stage development, licensure of the vaccines and expanding clinical studies for additional subtypes of pandemic influenza to prevent other potential public health emergencies.

Over the past several months, bird flu has spread rapidly throughout the U.S.

It has mostly infected livestock and other mammals, but there have been at least 67 confirmed human cases so far, including one death in Louisiana, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California currently accounts for more than half of human infections.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 08: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services walks to a meeting with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sander (I-VT) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump's nominees for his incoming administration continue to meet with senators on Capitol Hill, weeks before his inauguration. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The public health risk remains low, but HHS Secretary Becerra said bird flu variants have proven to be unpredictable, which is why the virus is a top priority for the federal government.

On Thursday, the CDC issued an alert urging hospitals to speed up efforts to test people who they suspect have an infection.



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Dozens of birds found dead of suspected bird flu outbreak in Plymouth, officials say

Dozens of birds found dead of suspected bird flu outbreak in Plymouth, officials say


More than 60 birds suspected of being infected with bird flu were found dead at a Plymouth pond, officials said on Sunday.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as H5N1 bird flu, is the suspected cause of death for over 60 birds found on Billington Sea, including Canadian geese and swans, according to a statement released by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

People are rarely infected with bird flu, but could be at risk if they have prolonged close contact with sick or dead birds, according to officials. They are urging the public to avoid handling any sick or dead birds, and to report any sightings to a local animal control officer. Pet owners in affected areas are encouraged to keep pets indoors and away from wildlife.

The town of Plymouth said in a statement that the dead birds and several others that were acting sick were safely assessed and removed by officials around 9 a.m. on Sunday. The state will begin lab tests on the dead birds to confirm a cause of death, according to the statement.

Bird flu outbreaks have impacted small flocks of geese in other parts of Massachusetts in recent weeks, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Bird flu has also been reported in wildlife in other parts of New England, including a flock of birds in a backyard in Franklin County, Vermont in December.

Officials urge anyone who encounters five or more sick or deceased birds in a single location to report it online at mass.gov/reportbirds, or by calling the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources at (617) 626-1795.

Collin Robisheaux can be reached at collin.robisheaux@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ColRobisheaux.





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Bird flu hits a poultry producer in Georgia, first time since 2022

Bird flu hits a poultry producer in Georgia, first time since 2022


ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time since the 2022 countrywide outbreak, bird flu hit a poultry producer in Georgia, the nation’s top state for chicken production.

The state Department of Agriculture announced Friday that the agency has detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza at a commercial poultry producer in Elbert County, approximately 100 miles (165 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. The agency suspended all poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets and sales.

The virus has been detected four times in Georgia, but only in backyard flocks previously, including among 13 chickens and ducks earlier this month in Clayton County south of Atlanta.

“This is a serious threat to Georgia’s #1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who make their living in our state’s poultry industry,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a news release.

The producer first noticed clinical signs of bird flu Wednesday at the Elbert County location, according to the release. The Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network confirmed a positive virus detection Thursday afternoon, which the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory also confirmed Friday. The site had about 45,000 broiler breeders when bird flu was detected.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Management sent its State Agricultural Response Teams on Friday to the site to “conduct depopulation, cleaning and disinfecting, and disposal operations.”

All commercial poultry operations within a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) radius were put under quarantine and will undergo at least two weeks of surveillance testing.

Georgia Poultry Federation president Mike Giles said in a statement Saturday that it is cooperating with state and federal officials and there are already testing processes in place to make sure all chicken products sold for consumption are safe to eat, local outlets reported. The federation represents producers in the state.

“That approach to protecting the safety of poultry products produced in Georgia will continue throughout this response and beyond” Giles said.

A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Agriculture said it does not provide the name of an affected site when an animal disease breaks out to prevent any unauthorized access to the operation that could trigger a wider spread of the disease and to protect the farmer from harassment.

Bird flu has been spreading, killing millions of wild and domestic birds worldwide over the last two years, among other animals.

Nationwide, the virus has been detected in 84 commercial and backyard flocks in the last month, with 10.7 million birds on those sites, according to the latest online data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has also been confirmed in dozens of dairy farms.

While human cases are rare and are mostly found among farmworkers, one person has died from bird flu — a Louisiana man over the age of 65 who was hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.





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