US, EU Officials Looking Into Vaccinating Farm Workers Against H5N1

Reuters (5/27, Steenhuysen, Rigby) reports, “The United States and Europe are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians, government officials said, moves influenza experts say could curb the threat of a pandemic.” US authorities “last week said they were moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of vaccine.” Meanwhile, “European health officials told Reuters they were in talks to acquire CSL’s prepandemic vaccine.”