About a dozen people ultimately lost their jobs this week at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan after federal officials made cuts and then tried to rehire some employees, a USDA spokesperson said in a statement.

The Mercury earlier this week reported that according to a source, at least 28 people at NBAF had been notified by email that they had lost their jobs. The email said the decision was related to job performance, but it seems they were part of the nationwide federal workforce reductions by the Trump administration.

The USDA subsequently announced it was rehiring some employees who were working on the federal government’s response to the avian influenza outbreak spreading across the United States, as well as other employees whose jobs are deemed critical.

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The post The KMAN Five-Minute Morning Show: USDA accidentally fires officials handling avian flu response; seeks to rehire appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said it accidentally fired several officials working on the response to the avian flu outbreak and is trying to get them back.

The statement came after the department cut thousands of employees since Friday, including at least 28 employees at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan. A source with knowledge of the situation told The Mercury that at least one of those was someone in a high-level position working on the government’s response to the avian flu outbreak.

“Although several positions supporting (avian flu) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement. “USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission.”

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more local news.

The post USDA says it accidentally fired some officials working on bird flu response and is trying to rehire them appeared first on News Radio KMAN.