The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Centers for Animal Health in Ames is at the forefront of livestock research, foreign disease diagnostics and vaccine regulation in the U.S. It’s also feeling the impact of dozens of layoffs associated with the Trump administration’s purge of federal workers.
“A lot of people don't realize just how much happens in this one facility,” said A., a USDA scientist. IPR is using their initial in this story to protect their identity out of fear of retribution.
Up until Feb. 14, A. said around 800 people worked on the secure campus, which includes the National Animal Disease Center, National Veterinary Services Laboratories and Centers for Veterinary Biologics.
Some of the scientists are tackling bird flu. Over 150 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S. have died directly from the H5N1 virus or from being culled to prevent the spread of the disease. The virus spilled into dairy cows last year and has infected dozens of people.
Researchers at the USDA facility in Ames are testing a bird flu vaccine for dairy cows. Others are testing bulk tank samples from across the country as part of a strategy to protect the nation’s milk supply and dairy herds from the virus.
“We are also screening vaccines for safety,” A. said. “This is your rabies, your distemper shots that go into your cats and dogs. We have to test them before the companies are allowed to sell them to you. So, we're making sure that they are safe [and] effective.”
Left in the lurch
The Associated Press reports there’s “no official figure available of the total firings or layoffs,” but thousands of federal employees across dozens of agencies have lost their jobs in the last week.
The new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, said Feb. 14 that she welcomes the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce federal spending.
"USDA is pursuing an aggressive plan to optimize its workforce by eliminating positions that are no longer necessary,” the department said in a news release.
A. said at least 55 people, including nine animal caretakers, were escorted off the USDA campus on Feb. 14.
“No one has really had time to process and react to this,” A. said. “Friday was filled with a lot of tears. I have never seen so many grown men cry in a day. But I mean, they hit us in the gut. We were not prepared for the level of cruelty that we saw.”
"They hit us in the gut. We were not prepared for the level of cruelty that we saw."A., USDA scientist
A. said the animal caretakers’ unit was disproportionately affected. These employees feed and care for thousands of poultry and hundreds of herd animals, including cattle, bison and deer.
There were discussions about culling animals without dedicated staff to make sure they were fed and properly cared for, A. said. The scientist isn’t aware of that happening yet and said the remaining employees are trying to fill in the gaps, even though many are not paid for this work.
“We take it very seriously, how we treat our animals here,” A. said. “I think our animals are treated better than [Elon] Musk treats his employees, and I think any Iowan — any Midwesterner — would understand that statement.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk heads the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is leading the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal government. Many of the employees laid off were in a probationary period because they had been in their roles for less than a year or changed job titles.
Laid off federal employees have reported termination letters that cited poor performance, even though they had positive reviews from supervisors. Rollins has indicated that more USDA layoffs are coming.
“I've had so many sleepless nights," A. said. "I mean, that's all of us. I can't stress that enough, how hard this has been on everyone mentally."
