May 10, 2024
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at a Senate hearing Wednesday that the current bird flu strain circulating in the US poses a low risk to public health, but the FDA and other agencies are preparing to scale up medical countermeasures in case the H5N1 virus jumps to humans on a larger level. Califf said there's a possibility that the virus could jump to people and cause lung infections, but the FDA can scale up vaccine manufacturing if necessary, and the existing mRNA platforms can be used to target new strains.