By Tom Polansek
(Reuters) – California’s only lab that can confirm lethal bird flu in poultry is shifting some testing to facilities out of state due to a workers’ strike, but does not expect testing delays, the University of California said on Wednesday.
The broader strike of University of California healthcare, research and technical employees is slated to last from Wednesday to Friday as they protest low staffing levels and other concerns, according to the University Professional and Technical Employees union that represents them.
Among those striking are workers from the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab, which detects H5N1 bird flu in poultry and cattle at UC-Davis.
Their walkout highlights how the worst-ever U.S. outbreak of bird flu has strained a range of people from lab technicians to poultry farmers and consumers.
Millions of egg-laying hens in California have died from bird flu or been culled to contain the virus in recent months, contributing to a national egg shortage that pushed prices to record highs. The most populous state and biggest U.S. milk producer has also been the epicenter of outbreaks in dairy cows.
UC-Davis does not expect delays in bird flu testing from the strike, and it had three staff members processing samples in the lab on Wednesday, spokesperson Bill Kisliuk said.
The lab is part of a national network of facilities approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that are designed to handle surges in testing demand.
Some H5N1 testing is being sent to labs in other states that are in the network, including tests for already-infected farms, Kisliuk said. Such tests are considered to be lower priority than new outbreaks in poultry, he added.
The university also reallocated testing for additional foreign animal diseases to other labs, Kisliuk said.
The lab normally aims to test samples for bird flu within 24 hours, but some sat for a week or more at times last year due to short staffing levels, said Alyssa Laxamana, a lab diagnostician who went on strike. Delayed confirmation of outbreaks could allow the virus to spread to other farms, she said.
“It’s really stressful, especially because I know how important our work is to California and the food chain,” said Laxamana, 25.
Since the H5N1 virus was first detected in cattle in California in August, the lab has tested 400 to 2,000 samples per week for bird flu in cows and poultry, according to the university.
The university said it added staff to the lab since workers left last year and also uses staff from other labs.
USDA said its animal health laboratory network office is in close contact with California’s lab and ready to support it if necessary.
California’s Department of Food and Agriculture does not anticipate the strike will impact operations, spokesperson Steve Lyle said.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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