Moderna MRNA announced that the U.S. government, through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (“BARDA”), has awarded the company $590 million to accelerate the development of an mRNA-based vaccine program aimed at preventing the spread of the H5N1 virus,

CDC officials say medical professionals are seeing more patients whose illness cannot be traced back to an infected animal or bird.

The current public-health risk is low, but the CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposure.

The U.S. government has awarded Moderna $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans. This is in addition to $176 million awarded by the U.