(ABC 6 News) — The federal government is working on a vaccine to prevent bird flu in humans.

It’s a strategy that could have a big impact on Iowa farms, a top producer of poultry. The government is looking to invest over $70 million to develop the vaccine.

One expert says creating a vaccine from scratch can take years and starting now will shorten the timeline and potentially save lives.

“This is really part of that infrastructure where we see our federal partners looking to prepare and make sure that we have those logistics in place should we need to allocate or dispense vaccines like most people are familiar with now,” said Sam Jarvis of the Johnson County Department of Public Health.

The money is said to help create 10 million doses by the end of next year.