Young Girl Died from Bird Flu; USDA Reducing Bird Flu Response Workers

There has now been a documented case of a child dying from highly pathogenic avian influenza. Health officials in Mexico said Tuesday that a girl, 3, died due to respiratory complications that resulted from an infection. Officials did not immediately know how the girl contracted the virus but said that she lived in the western part of the country.

The United States has had 70 confirmed bird flu infections over the past year with one fatal. A Louisiana man, 65, died after being exposed to wild birds and a backyard poultry flock, officials believe. Most of the confirmed infections have been among farm workers who were exposed to sick poultry or cows.

Bird flu has led to the culling of 170 million chickens, turkeys, and other birds since 2022 and sickened 1,000 dairy herds in the U.S. since last year. That has limited egg supply, and producers have raised prices to record highs.

USDA Employees Who Work on Bird Flu Response Will Leave Positions

Meanwhile, the U.S. will lose federal employees dedicated to bird flu response, Reuters reported. The departures are part of the Trump administration’s actions to slash hundreds of thousands of employees from the federal workforce as it prepares for another round of federal tax cuts.

The administration on April 1st gave USDA workers seven days to decide whether to accept financial incentives to voluntarily leave their positions at the end of the month. In February, the USDA claimed that it accidentally fired workers involved in bird flu response. The agency later announced that it would try to rehire workers. 

Politico reported that the USDA may ultimately lose about 10% of its 100,000 staff members. A spokesperson for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sent a statement to numerous outlets:

“While Secretary Rollins is actively pursuing plans to reduce USDA’s workforce to better serve the needs of the people we serve, she will not compromise the critical work of the Department.”

RELATED: Secretary Rollins last week pledged that the Trump administration would help farmers who suffer because of his trade war with other countries but added that it does not have any many resources to do that as it once did.

Midwest Egg and Poultry Leader Will Return to Family Farm

Mindy Larsen had a crash course in dealing with bird flu as she held dual roles as Executive Director of the North Central Poultry Association and Iowa Egg Council. She took over those positions last June but announced this month that she will leave to help with the family farm in western Iowa.

“It is often said, you can take the girl out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girl,” Larsen posted on LinkedIn following the announcement by the Iowa Egg Council of her pending departure.

The Iowa Egg Council issued this release:

“Mindy Larsen has made the difficult decision to leave the North Central Poultry Association and Iowa Egg Council to join her father Dale Larsen on the family farm in Cass County. The Larsen farm is a Certified Angus cow/calf operation along with hogs and crops. Mindy will be stepping up as the next generation to proudly keep Iowa farms family run. Mindy’s last day will be Friday, May 2, 2025.”

RELATED: Mindy Larsen shared with American Farmland Owner in January the challenges of preventing bird flu and what she thought about the possibility of vaccinations to limit spread.

Peregrine Falcons Dead from Bird Flu, Officials Believe

While chickens, turkeys, and dairy cattle have garnered the most attention from bird flu outbreaks, they aren’t the only animals sickened. Two celebrated Wisconsin peregrine falcons, Brinn and Beasley, are believed to be dead due to bird flu. The birds are considered an endangered species in Wisconsin.