US wants to fight bird flu virus without killing millions of birds

More details will be released this week, he said. However, USDA officials did not respond to requests for additional information.

Typically, when chickens or turkeys begin dying from the disease, officials “depopulate,” or kill, all the birds on a farm to stop the spread of the virus. But the slaughter of millions of birds each month has sent egg prices soaring , and shortages have forced some retailers to limit sales. The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities reached $4.95 in January, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects it will rise another 20 percent this year.

The poultry industry has resisted vaccinating its flocks against avian influenza because of the potential impact on EXPORT markets and the cost of the process. Most U.S. trading partners do not accept exports from countries that allow vaccination, out of concern that it could mask the presence of the virus.

“We will support the administration and its goals of reducing food inflation, cutting red tape and hopefully eradicating this virus,” said Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Poultry Council, which represents the poultry industry. But he said in an interview that producers need “robust trade protections” to ensure they don’t lose markets.

Congressional chicken leaders in a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said that while the egg industry has lost the most birds, the broiler industry could end up bearing a disproportionate share of the costs of any policy change.

Of the roughly 159 million commercial birds killed by bird flu since February 2022, 77.5% were laying hens, or more than 123 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By comparison, 13.7 million chickens, or 8.6%, and 18.7 million turkeys, or about 11.8%, were slaughtered.

Other obstacles include the logistical challenges of vaccinating up to 3 million birds or more on a single egg farm, since existing vaccines are injectable. Vaccines that can be delivered economically through the water supply will require innovation, but without a market, there is no incentive to develop them, said Carol Cardona, an avian flu expert at the University of Minnesota.