With the government shutdown, APHIS’ Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) – the agency overseeing the release of vaccines for use in animal health, in particular poultry, cattle and swine- has furloughed employees.  This means CVB will not release serials (batches) of vaccines for distribution.  The agency has said that after 14 days, they will reevaluate.”Two weeks of stalled vaccine delivery will directly impact food safety, animal health and bio-security,” said National Chicken Council President Mike Brown, National Turkey Federation President Joel Brandenberger and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association President John Starkey, in a letter to congressional officials. “The animal health industry cannot wait that long. Because producers hold limited supply of these vaccines, many of the large poultry, swine and cattle companies will be out of critical vaccines in a matter of days. Once they run out, they will be faced with tough decisions including not vaccinating their flocks or herds and shutting down production and furloughing their own employees.”  Read More

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