By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Academy of Sciences has canceled a workshop on preventing human bird flu infections after being told to stop work on the event by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an email sent to one of the workshop presenters and seen by Reuters.
Bird flu has infected 70 people, most of them farmworkers, over the past year as it has spread aggressively among cattle herds and poultry flocks.
Experts, including CDC officials during the previous administration of President Joe Biden, warned that further spread of the virus could allow it to adapt in ways that raise the risk it could more easily infect people.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which contains CDC, did not respond to a request for comment on the workshop cancellation. The administration of President Donald Trump has said it is aggressively working to contain bird flu with measures like heightened biosecurity on farms.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine workshop was scheduled for June 26 and 27 and expected to discuss best practices for the use of personal protective equipment for people at heightened risk of bird flu, like farmworkers and veterinarians.
Its organizing committee had included workplace health experts, veterinarians and a representative from the poultry and egg industry, according to the event website.
Jenna Gibbs, director of operations at the nonprofit Ag Health & Safety Alliance who was slated to present training materials on the proper use of PPE, said she was told on Monday that the workshop was canceled.
“Unfortunately, the National Academies received a contract termination notification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the workshop and accordingly, it has been canceled,” said an email sent to Gibbs from a workshop organizer and seen by Reuters.
Farmers had requested the workshop after a March forum hosted by the National Academies on the national bird flu response, and there had been a preparatory session as recently as April 22, Gibbs said. “We were in full planning mode.”
An advisory on the workshop website says, “On April 23, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services informed the National Academy of Sciences that it should terminate all work on this activity. This activity has ended, and a final product was not released.”
Farmworker advocates have said training and communication about proper PPE use and fit is critical to preventing bird flu infections. During one Colorado bird flu outbreak last year, the CDC said suboptimal use of PPE contributed to farmworker cases.
Federal worker terminations and departures at U.S. health agencies have affected staff working on the bird flu response, according to previous Reuters reporting.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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