Bird flu continues spread as Trump’s pandemic experts are MIA
As bird flu continues to rampage in dairy farms and poultry facilities around the country, the office tasked with coordinating the federal government’s response to pandemic threats, including bird flu, has been sidelined by Tweety McTreason and sits nearly empty, according to CNN. The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR)—established by a Congressional statute in 2022 in response to failures during the COVID-19 pandemic—used to include a staff of about around 20 people. Now, only one staffer remains, and it’s unclear who they report to. The OPPR director has been moved to the National Security Council (NSC). The report on the vacancies comes amid other moves that call into question the country’s ability to respond to a pandemic threat under the Trump administration. The USDA has shifted its response to the ongoing bird flu outbreak away from the health threat. For instance, in late February, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins touted a $1 billion effort to combat bird flu as a “strategy to deliver affordable eggs.” Read full article Comments
