June 24, 2025

USDA develops vaccination strategy for poultry against bird flu

The US Department of Agriculture is considering a plan to vaccinate poultry against bird flu for the first time, including an evaluation of its impact on exports.

The actions advance the government's assessment of a vaccine after the USDA received proposals on usage from associations representing egg and turkey producers whose farms have been devastated by the virus. Nearly 175 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been culled in attempts to contain outbreaks since 2022 in the nation's worst animal-health emergency.

Losses of egg-laying chickens drove egg prices to records this year, prompting grocers to ration supplies, restaurants to hike prices, and food manufacturers to increase imports from countries including Turkey, Brazil and South Korea.

The USDA pledged to spend up to US$100 million on research into vaccines and other therapies to combat bird flu after prices spiked.

Now, USDA and industry officials are pursuing a more solid, written plan to potentially show importers to gauge whether vaccinations would limit trading. Industry members expect the agency to complete the plan in July.

The USDA said that it is working with federal, state and industry officials to develop its potential plan and is engaging with trading partners.

"You need a more complete strategy and plan for them to consider," said Dr John Clifford, a former USDA chief veterinary officer who advises the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.

Debates over potential vaccinations have pitted poultry producers against each other since widespread outbreaks in 2015.

Many egg and turkey farmers said they need vaccines to help protect flocks. But government officials and companies that produce chicken meat have worried that inoculations risk all types of US poultry exports, if countries impose broad bans over concerns that a vaccine might mask the presence of the virus in flocks.

It would be devastating to chicken meat producers if importers halted trading, Clifford said. Such producers rely more heavily on exports than egg and turkey farmers, and they have not been hit as hard by the virus.

-      Reuters