US ‘Looking Closely’ at Vaccinating Workers Exposed to Bird Flu: Official

Officials in the United States, Canada, and Europe are considering the vaccination of workers and others against the highly pathogenic avian influenza. The U.S. government is “looking closely” at the possibility of vaccinating farm workers and others in close contact with the virus, according to Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said she has been in discussions with U.S. and Canadian officials about using vaccines to protect workers after the influenza, or bird flu, jumped from birds to cattle....