Staff exodus at US farm agency leaves fewer experts to battle bird flu

Staff exodus at US farm agency leaves fewer experts to battle bird flu

By Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek

Inside the business of killing in response to bird flu

As bird flu has spread across the U.S., bird disposal companies, environmental waste businesses and large poultry producers have received millions of federal dollars to kill flocks, compost their bodies and clean barns across the country. Investigate Midwest goes inside the business of killing in response to bird flu.

Hundreds of veterinarians, support staff and laboratory workers in the animal health arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have gone under pressure from the Trump administration to resign, according to three sources close to the issue, leaving fewer specialists to respond to animal disease outbreaks.Exits occur when the country fights the longest outbreak of avian influenza in its history and faces the invasion of the New World's swee…