WASHINGTON — On April 30, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced a bill to prevent the transmission of wildlife diseases like avian flu and chronic wasting disease between wildlife, livestock, and humans.
The “Wildlife Health Coordination and Zoonotic Disease Prevention Act” seeks to increase interagency coordination, facilitates information sharing, improves coordination between states, and furthers sharing of best practices for managing wildlife and zoonotic disease outbreaks, according to a release from Sen. Baldwin about the bill.
“Wisconsin farmers have dealt with the devastating fallout of avian flu and chronic wasting disease for far too long,” Sen. Baldwin said. “These diseases don’t just threaten our deer herds and poultry flocks – they put our food supply, our rural economy, and public health at risk. That’s why I’m introducing this bill to ensure that our state has the tools it needs to monitor and manage outbreaks, support our farmers, and protect our rural communities.”
Since the current highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak started in 2022, Wisconsin has lost 11.6 million birds across 50 commercial and backyard flocks, according to USDA data. More recently, between late February and March, the state had three major cases of bird flu where more than 1 million birds were infected at each facility.
The latest three cases caused two Wisconsin farms to temporarily lay off more than 80 employees.
In order to protect public health, wildlife, and various agriculture industries, public officials need to deal with these outbreaks, because three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in human populations come from animals, according to the CDC.
In March 2024, the first reported cow-to-human case of HPAI was identified after the individual encountered herds believed to have been infected by wild birds, the release noted.
The Wildlife Health Coordination and Zoonotic Disease Prevention Act would take a preemptive approach to disease outbreaks by establishing the Wildlife Health Coordination and Zoonotic Disease Program, the announcement added. The program will create and support four Regional Wildlife Health Coordinators, one National Wildlife Health Coordinator, and one Tribal Wildlife Health Coordinator to help increase the communication between Federal agencies, States, and Tribes and facilitate more comprehensive and effective responses to current and emerging wildlife disease outbreaks.
Specifically, the coordinators will:
- Establish relationships with relevant Federal agencies, States, and Native American Tribes.
- Facilitate information sharing about existing and emerging zoonotic disease outbreaks between States, Tribes, and Federal agencies (including USDA, FWS, and CDC).
- Assist States and Tribes in applying for funding to work on wildlife disease issues.
- Coordinate between States, including state agencies that work on agriculture, environment, natural resources, and public health.
- Share best management practices for zoonotic disease management and prevention.
- Report to Congress on necessary resources and response activities for preventing and mitigating wildlife diseases.
Multiple industry associations, federations, and other groups support this bill, including the National Turkey Federation and the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
“Wisconsin Farmers Union endorses the Wildlife Health Coordination and Zoonotic Disease Prevention Act of 2026 and sees it as an effective way to further address disease transmission to and the protection of Wisconsin livestock,” Darin Von Ruden, president of Wisconsin Farmers Union, said.
