Government spending to stop the worst outbreak of avian influenza in the US could exceed half a billion dollars, according to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The outbreak began in December when an H5 type of bird flu was detected at two turkey and chicken farms in British Columbia, Canada. Less than three weeks later, the first US case was confirmed when an H5N8 strain was reported in a mixed poultry flock in Douglas County, Oregon. To date, the outbreak has spread to 14 states and affected almost 47 million birds, though no human cases have been reported. The virus is thought to be traveling with ducks and geese as they migrate north along the Pacific, Central and Mississippi flyways. Meanwhile, Ames, Iowa–based biotech Harrisvaccines has begun testing a vaccine with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that could protect poultry from the virus. The trials could last 4–8 weeks. USDA would then decide how to distribute the vaccine and how it would affect exports of US poultry, currently banned in several countries including South Korea and China. Vilsack told reporters in Washington, DC, in June that although the outbreak may be ebbing with warmer weather, “We need to be very prepared for this [outbreak] to reassert itself in the fall.”