The US May Start Vaccinating Chickens Against Bird Flu

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to spend more than $1bn on battling bird flu and lowering egg prices, with measures including vaccinations for chickens.
Since 2022, the bird flu outbreak has been found in wild birds across the US and led to the exposure of commercial poultry, resulting in the culling of more than 166m birds and 973 dairy herds.
It has also caused 70 infections and one death in people.
In order to stop the spread of the virus, the USDA has adopted the strategy of culling infected birds, causing a 53% increase in egg prices in 2024 and a further predicted 40% increase in 2025.
The USDA will spend $100 m o n rese a rc hin g an dd e v e l o p in gv a cc in es an d t h er a p e u t i cs, a s w e ll a s$ 500m on biosecurity measures on farms and $400m in financial aid for affected farmers.
It has also granted animal health company Zoetis a conditional license for an updated bird flu vaccine and will provide up to $100m for further research and development of vaccines and therapeutics.
However, the US has held back on vaccinating poultry against bird flu in the past over concerns it would hurt the exported poultry market.

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