The avian flu has hit the poultry industry with a vengeance leaving 48 million chickens and turkey dead since last December.
The U.S. Agriculture Department has been moving quickly to round of the birds as quickly as possible and killing them before it spreads.
In the Mid-West the pandemic appears to have slowed.
But during a senate committee hearing yesterday on Capitol Hill Delaware Democrat Tom Carper warned of becoming too complacent.
"It's not a time to pat ourselves on the back. It's not a time to rest on our laurels. The possibility of new outbreaks even on the East Coast is real. And, all of us need to remain on high alert. This is especially true as we move into the migratory season in the coming months."
Delaware has far been untouched by avian flu.
Meanwhile, Jack Gelb, director of the Avian Biosciences Center at the University of Delaware, told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the best line of defense is biosecurity and acting quickly when birds do show signs of infection.
"The A.I. virus that causes the disease, is highly contagious and will multiply to enormous concentrations in poultry and spread via the air and off farm movement of infected poultry and human carriers and contaminated farm equipment."
During yesterday's hearing Senators also looked to developing a vaccine that would allow the poultry industry to escape the ravages of the disease.
However, Gelb said, that vaccines were of limited use.
"Vaccination is a slippery slope. And we need to determine very carefully whether or not we are going to go down this road. The effect on trade, the fact that these vaccine aren't particularly effective, can push the virus to further mutations."
