RFK Jr. proposes letting bird flu spread in poultry to better ID immunities

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has proposed an unconventional approach to tackling the bird flu epidemic plaguing U.S. poultry farms: allowing the virus to spread naturally through flocks.

Instead of culling birds upon detection of the virus, Kennedy suggested that farmers “should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds that are immune to it,” he said in a recent interview on Fox News. He has repeated this stance in other interviews on the network.

Although Kennedy does not oversee agricultural policy, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also voiced support for testing the idea.

“There are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity,” Rollins told Fox News last month.

However, veterinary scientists have strongly opposed the proposal, citing serious animal welfare concerns and potential economic devastation.

“That’s a really terrible idea, for any one of a number of reasons,” said Dr. Gail Hansen, a former state veterinarian for Kansas told The New York Times.

“The Biden plan was to just kill chickens, and they spent billions of dollars just randomly killing chickens within a perimeter where they found a sick chicken,” Kevin Hasset, director of the White House’s economic council, told CBS News last month.

In another interview with Fox News, Kennedy told Sean Hannity, “All of my agencies have advised against vaccination of birds. Because if you vaccinate with a leaky vaccine — in other words, a vaccine that does not provide sterilizing immunity, that does not absolutely protect against the disease — you turn those flocks into mutation factories. They’re teaching the organism how to mutate … It’s much more likely to jump to animals, if you do that.”

The U.S. does not currently vaccinate poultry against avian flu. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a conditional license for poultry vaccine use in chickens in February. Cattle vaccines are currently under development. 

In Europe, two vaccines are approved for use in chickens, according to the European Medicines Agency. The EMA recommends vaccination during outbreaks, stating that immunizing the most vulnerable species in high-risk areas is the most effective way to reduce the number and duration of outbreaks.

Since January 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in U.S. wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard flocks, marking the first outbreak since 2016. The virus has affected over 166 million birds across 50 states and Puerto Rico and in 671 counties, with 1,654 reported outbreaks. The webpage tracking new detections is updated daily.

If the virus were allowed to run unchecked through a flock of 5 million birds, “That’s literally 5 million chances for that virus to replicate or to mutate,” Hansen warned. Large-scale infections would also create heightened risks for farmworkers and other animals.

Kennedy’s office defended his comments, emphasizing that he aims to minimize human exposure to the virus.

“Culling puts people at the highest risk of exposure, which is why Secretary Kennedy and N.I.H. want to limit culling activities,” said Emily Hilliard, deputy press secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, as reported by The New York Times. “Culling is not the solution. Strong biosecurity is.”

Rollins has proposed strengthening farm biosecurity measures, including improved sanitation and protective equipment, but these efforts are currently being implemented in only ten states.

The current culling strategy allows farmers to be reimbursed for lost flocks, and their facilities must pass inspections before they can be restocked. Allowing the virus to spread instead would prolong quarantines, increase costs, and trigger trade restrictions. 

Kennedy has speculated that some poultry might naturally resist bird flu. However, scientists say that chickens and turkeys lack genetic immunity to H5N1, and survivors would likely not be permitted for sale under public health regulations. 

In his interview with Fox News, Kennedy also suggested that wild birds might have natural immunity. Yet, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported, H5N1 has killed various wild species, including raptors, sandhill cranes, and snow geese. Wild birds that aren’t showing signs of illness can also spread the disease to new areas while migrating.