The U.S. Department of Agriculture is testing vaccines on chickens to protect poultry from new strains of avian flu.

The avian flu has infected commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks in eight states since December. The USDA said there is no way to calculate where the next case will be as the new strains have been found in wild birds that can carry the virus, according to Reuters.

Within the next two months, scientists at the USDA Georgia lab will be testing the vaccine on chickens to see how well it prevents them from getting sick and dying of the virus.

The government has no plans of dispensing the vaccine at this time. The vaccine is being created by the U.S. only as a countermeasure to the containment strategy.

There is no prior data siting progress toward creating a vaccine. This only comes after the H5N8 and H5N2 flu strains infecting U.S. poultry.

Crucial overseas buyers have limited imports of U.S. poultry in response to the virus. Biosecurity has also been increased at farms that provide poultry to large U.S. poultry producers.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will ultimately decide whether or not to release the vaccine. They stated that vaccinating all poultry nationwide is not practical or necessary at this time. Only if the avian flu becomes uncontainable will the vaccine be considered.

The world’s largest animal-health company, Zoetis Inc., has been in contact with the USDA regarding the flu infections. At this time, the company has approved a vaccine for use in countries outside of the U.S.

The existing vaccine has been tested for effectiveness on the new strains, but has not performed as well as scientists wanted.
Although the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to respond if birds transmit the flu to humans, the actual risk for human infection is considered low.