At first glance, it looks like an unassuming Iowa farm. But the people who work there are not farmers, and the buildings look more like what you’d find at a modern university than in a cow pasture. The National Animal Disease Center in Ames is the place where scientists are pushing to solve the bird flu outbreak currently spreading through U.S. animals — and develop ways to stop it. After the H5N1 bird flu unexpectedly jumped into U.S. dairy cows, they quickly got to work and began testing a new cow vaccine in June. They hope to reduce the risk that bird flu will someday become a widespread disease in people.
