The United States will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen the national response to avian flu, the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden announced this Friday, January 3. The $306 million in funding will support national, state and local preparedness and surveillance programs, as well as medical research against the H5N1 virus. “Even though the risk to humans is low, we always prepare for all possible scenarios,” Health Minister Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Preparedness is the key to keeping Americans healthy and our country safe,” he added.
The United States has detected 66 human cases of avian flu since the start of 2024, and others may have gone unnoticed, according to authorities. No spread of the disease from one person to another has been observed, but the level of circulation of the virus worries researchers: the risk being that it will mix with that of seasonal flu, risking triggering a pandemic deadly, like those of 1918 and 2009.
The announcement comes as concerns emerge about how the Trump administration will handle the threat. The elected president, whose inauguration is scheduled for January 20, declared in April to the magazine Time that he would eliminate the White House office responsible for preparing the response to the next pandemic, established under the Joe Biden administration – although it is not certain that he could do so, as this body has was created by Congress.
Criticism against the Biden administration
His Health Department pick, Robert Kennedy Jr., is notoriously skeptical of vaccines and has promised to reform health agencies. The latter also promoted raw milk, considered a vector of avian flu.
The Biden administration is also facing criticism for its response to bird flu, which some consider insufficient. In a report published in December, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research institute based in Washington, criticized in particular the “incomplete surveillance” and the “slow coordination” of the authorities.
Another source of concern: the avian flu virus may have mutated in the body of an American patient to adapt to human respiratory tract, American health authorities announced at the end of December. They are also closely monitoring the increase in cases of bird flu in felines, which could put their owners at “risk” of contracting the disease through close contact.