DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. government expects to spend $191 million to pay chicken and turkey farmers for birds lost to avian flu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday as he called for Congress to consider a disaster program for poultry producers similar to that for other livestock farmers.
That’s just a fraction of the federal government’s $700 million price tag for what is considered by many to be the worst animal disease disaster to hit the nation, Vilsack said. The government has spent $400 million on cleaning up dead birds and disinfecting and is paying to research and stockpile a bird flu vaccine in case the virus returns.