Turkey farm in Minnesota hit hard with avian flu

News brief
Topics
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
turkey farm
Morgan Lieberman/Mizzou CAFNR/Flickr cc

A large turkey producer in Meeker County, Minnesota, was the site of one of the avian flu outbreaks the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) noted last week.

In the past 30 days, APHIS has confirmed avian flu in 67 flocks across the United States, including 18 commercial flocks and 49 backyard flocks. A total of 1.48 million birds have been affected. 

The Meeker County, Minnesota, January 16 detection involved 250,600 birds; that same county tracked avian flu in 77,300 birds the day before. Also noted were smaller outbreaks of 70 and 30 birds, respectively in Edgar County, Illinois and Yakima County, Washington. Minnesota and Kansas have had the most commercial poultry detections in the past month. 

For wild bird detections, APHIS tracked 72 birds across the country this past week, many hunter harvested. Of note, six detections in Hyde County, North Carolina, included several American widgeons.

Texas attorney general takes aim at pediatricians who vaccinate, claiming they are part of illegal scheme

News brief
Topics
Childhood Vaccines
Anti-science
Baby getting vaccinated
CDC

On the heels of a measles outbreak in Texas that killed two unvaccinated children, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he has opened an investigation into pediatricians who vaccinate because, he claims, they receive illegal financial incentives to do so.

“I launched an investigation into unlawful financial incentives related to childhood vaccine recommendations,” he said in a press release yesterday. “I will ensure that Big Pharma and Big Insurance don’t bribe medical providers to pressure parents to jab their kids with vaccines they feel aren’t safe or necessary.”

Purported denials of health care based on vaccination status

Without providing any evidence, Paxton, a Republican who has been state attorney general since 2015, said he is targeting a purported “multi-level, multi-industry scheme that has illegally incentivized medial providers to recommend childhood vaccines that are not proven to be safe or necessary. The wide-sweeping investigation will analyze an incentivization framework that has historically forced Texas kids to receive over 70 shots from birth to age 18 in order to continue receiving medical care.” 

But the Texas Health and Human Services website doesn’t support his claim of 70 required doses and discusses the availability of nonmedical exemptions for “religious or personal belief that goes against getting immunized.”

Doctors’ wages, bonuses, and even employment often hinge on the number of vaccinations they administer.

Ken Paxton

Paxton said he would look into medical providers, insurance companies, vaccine makers, or other groups that “failed to disclose financial incentives.” 

“The investigation comes as children across the state are expelled from pediatric practices and denied medical care based on their vaccination status,” he alleged. “Doctors’ wages, bonuses, and even employment often hinge on the number of vaccinations they administer.”

Paxton said he is issuing more than 20 civil investigative demands to some of the nation’s largest health care entities, including UnitedHealthcare and Pfizer.

“Alongside President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s significant efforts to ensure safety when it comes to childhood vaccines, my office will fight to protect kids’ health and uphold transparency in the medical industry,” he vowed. “I will not tolerate a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to healthcare recommendations.”

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