Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 10/15/15


USDA has awarded two contracts for vaccines to fight avian influenza to companies in Iowa and France, the winning contractors announced separately.

Harrisvaccines of Ames, Iowa, and Ceva Corp. of France each received contracts worth $6 million dollars to supply vaccines to combat an anticipated resurgence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) with this fall’s migration of potentially infected birds. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) began looing for suppliers in August in an effort to stockpile up to 500 million doses of one or more vaccines.

Harrisvaccines said it will provide 48 million doses as part of a two-year contract, with 25 million doses scheduled to be delivered by the end of next month. The Ceva Animal Health division in Lenexa, Kan., is expected to ultimately produce and store 100 million doses of its vaccine, which the company said should be available anywhere in the United States within 10 days once the APHIS program launches this fall.

APHIS announced that no final decision on using any vaccines has been determined, although It plans to continue to issue proposal requests on a quarterly basis through September of 2016 to generate potential stockpiles of the preventative medicine from a variety of suppliers.

The outbreaks since December of 2014 resulted in the deaths of 50 million chickens and turkeys across 15 U.S. states as infected migratory birds helped spread HPAI among commercial and non-commercial flocks. Many states are gearing up for the possibility of more HPAI outbreaks as wild birds migrate for winter.

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