Let-it-spread approach to HPAI 'dangerous and unethical,' researchers say

Letting highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) spread unchecked in poultry could devastate the industry and could pose a threat to other species, including humans, researchers argue in a new paper for the journal Science.

Top U.S. officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., suggested this year that allowing HPAI to spread among the nation's flocks would eventually result in chickens becoming more resistant to the disease. Given the myriad risks, Erin Sorrell, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, said she and her colleagues felt it was necessary to speak out against the proposal.