United States: A recent bird flu pandemic has seriously affected US chicken farms. The virus killed over 20 million egg-laying chickens in the last quarter alone, which is the worst blow to egg production in America since the flu began in 2022, as reported by HealthDay.
Over 20 Million Chickens Lost in Recent Outbreak
Another 52 million plus other animals including the chickens that were affected and had to be euthanized to stop the spread of the virus, according to USDA figures. This has led to record-high egg prices for all forms of production: conventional, cage-free, and certified organic, as revealed by a USDA report dated Jan 10.
The federal government has spent $1.25 billion on compensating farmers for the chickens that have died from bird flu since then in order to motivate farmers to report the infections and prevent the virus from circulating, according to a news release from CBS News.
Why cases of bird flu are on the rise now
Bird flu incidents are more common during winter since wild birds take the virus to the southern parts — a growth-incentive environment.
This winter, the virus has crossed the border from poultry to dairy cattle. Many infected herds have been associated with raw milk contaminated by farmers’ clothes, equipment, and other animals on different farms.
California has been most affected and has been forced to declare a state of emergency.
Bird Flu Kills 20 Million Chickens in U.S., Driving Egg Prices Sky-High https://t.co/OQZ4QsxP5I
— The Rockdale Citizen (@rockdalecitizen) January 14, 2025
While the virus has affected several poultry populations adversely, the CDC has only confirmed 66 bird flu cases in humans in the U.S. ever since the virus broke out, most of which were mild and affecting workers who had close contact with the sick birds.
Nonetheless, one fatal and recent case was reported in Louisiana, which was associated with the D1.1 subtype of the virus, which is prevalent among wild birds.
However, researchers think that the strain that has infected many human beings contains a mutation that makes it less pathogenic to humans as compared to the other strains that are in the forests.
And vaccines?
USDA has recently posted intentions of holding the new poultry vaccine that addresses the D1.1 variant of the virus. However, the officials argue that mass vaccination is impossible because people may forget their symptoms, which may negatively affect global poultry exports.
It has already become an issue affecting not only humans but also pets after getting through contaminated products. In two different cases associated with raw pet food consumed from infected animals, several cats passed on in California and Oregon, as reported by HealthDay.
“All recent detections of H5N1 [bird flu] in cats had these things in common: the infected cats ate wild birds, unpasteurized milk, raw poultry, and/or raw poultry pet food,” a Food and Drug Administration spokesperson told CBS News.