WASHINGTON, DC - Bipartisan leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today sent a letter to Dr. Nicole Lurie, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, seeking details regarding the administration’s “emergency preparedness in response to the spread of avian influenza."
Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) write, “The U.S. is currently suffering from the worst avian influenza outbreak in history." The United States Department of Agriculture has identified two sub-types of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that “are spreading, causing widespread economic devastation and the deaths of tens of millions of birds."
The bipartisan leaders continue, “Influenza has the ability to mutate and potentially threaten public health. On June 2, 2015, the CDC issued a health advisory stating that it ‘considers these newly-identified HPAI H5 viruses as having the potential to cause sever disease in humans’ and made recommendations to clinicians, state health departments, and the public. … HPAI H5 viruses also have the potential to threaten public health indirectly through pressures on the flu vaccine development process, which still mostly requires chicken eggs."
The leaders are seeking information regarding the administration’s efforts to prevent disruption to the development of the flu vaccine and to prepare local communities to deal with the potential spread to humans.
Upton, Pallone, Murphy, and DeGette also sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office seeking a review of the federal preparedness efforts surrounding this rapidly spreading disease.
Read the complete letters online HERE.
