WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal and state government agencies, working alongside the nation’s poultry industry, have launched unprecedented steps to combat the possible onset of another avian influenza outbreak like that which killed 48 million birds this spring.

The USDA has hired hundreds of veterinarians and animal-health specialists, instituted a long list of on-farm flu-fighting protocols and awarded emergency vaccine manufacturing contracts to immediately stockpile 25 million doses of a new bird flu vaccine.

The USDA on Oct. 13 awarded a $6 million contract to Ames, Iowa-based vaccine producer Harrisvaccines to immediately begin producing at least 25 million doses over the next 45 days. The company will stockpile another 23 million over the next 18 months, according to a company statement.

A second contract was awarded to the French firm, Ceva Corp., a global animal-health pharmaceutical company located in southwestern France. The company has not released contract details.

The vaccine contracts also order the companies to test the vaccines regularly for potency and they must be prepared to deliver finished vaccines anywhere in the country within 10 days of a request from the USDA’s National Veterinary Stockpile. However, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has not yet approved the use the avian influenza vaccine, nor has it made the decision whether to use such vaccines if the flu hits.

Within the past few weeks, the USDA said more than 200 veterinarians have been hired, with another 150 to join emergency bird flu-fighting teams that also include animal-health specialists.

Iowa State University and the USDA have translated government biosecurity training materials from English into Spanish, to prepare farmers and on-farm workers to better understand ways to prevent bird flu infections ahead of the potential resurgence. Iowa, the country’s largest egg producer, was hit hardest by the bird flu, the worst in U.S. history.

APHIS has begun distributing a 19-page 2015 Fall Preparedness and Response Plan detailing step-by-step crisis plans for the farm community and others, "assuming a worst-case scenario."

The plan can be accessed through www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth

The top poultry companies – Perdue Farms, Inc., Tyson Foods, Inc. and Cargill – are redoubling operational safeguards to restrict outside visitors to barns and farms.

Animal health companies and farm equipment manufacturers are increasing production of special tools to quickly euthanize flocks and decontaminate barns and farm properties.

Tyson Foods, the top U.S. chicken processor by sales, has instituted measures to require workers to wear farm footwear and other protective garments to prevent tracking the virus into poultry houses, is restricting limited visits to its growers’ farms and has begun training programs to combat an outbreak.

"We have every reason to believe we could see an outbreak of some sort this fall, as wild birds come back through the middle of the U.S.," Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said.

In an unlikely worst-case scenario, the USDA and state agencies are preparing to handle an outbreak on more than 500 farms in all 20 states with the most poultry flocks, working off forecasting models that see twice the scale of the spring disaster.

State health and federal inspectors have been using animal swabs to test more than 40,000 samples from wild fowl, seeking to identify infections.

Off of lessons from the spring outbreak, agency officials are prepared to meet its goal to exterminate birds within 24 hours of a diagnosis to prevent the further spread of the virus, backed by emergency APHIS personnel if necessary.

In some cases this spring, the virus spread because the process was delayed by a few days.

Among the emergency measures, officials may allow farmers to shut down ventilation systems in their barns to cull poultry if other methods – such as coating live birds with firefighting foam that asphyxiates them – can’t be done within 24 hours.

From the previous outbreak, the government learned it needed to respond more quickly, said Dr. T.J. Myers, a USDA veterinary service official.

Harrisvaccines said the vaccine can be produced rapidly within four weeks, does not require a live virus for production and is fully DIVA-compliant. DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals) compliance indicates bird flocks will not test positive for the HPAI virus simply because they were vaccinated. The company said this is an important factor to consider when eradicating the disease and evaluating international trade implications of vaccine use on the U.S. poultry population.

The awarding of the new vaccine contracts poses a dilemma for a poultry industry still divided about such treatment.

Those farms hit hard last spring favor vaccinations, while the chicken processors are concerned the vaccines could trigger new concerns about import bans in other countries.