Under pressure to control the emerging bird flu spreading through U.S. dairy cattle, the Biden Administration is trying to calm fears that its agencies are not working together.
The number of agencies involved in tracking the spread of bird flu — and their competing interests — can make collaboration complicated, political and slow. Lawmakers voiced concerns this week that divisions between agencies could hamper a successful response to the outbreak.
“We want to make sure that these departments that tend to operate in silos, and don’t talk to each other… We want to find out whether or not they are cooperating,” Sen. Chuck Grassley said to NOTUS Thursday. Grassley was among a bipartisan group of senators who sent a letter to the USDA on May 6 asking for a coordinated, interagency approach.