Egg farmers reportedly may resort to vaccinating poultry because of ‘bird flu.’
The United States has already foolishly culled millions of chickens, causing egg shortages and skyrocketing prices.
“I call this virus a terrorist. And we are in a battle and losing, at the moment,” Greg Herbruck, the CEO of Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch in Michigan, said, according to the New York Post.
‘Health experts’ are now pointing to vaccinations as an alternative.
US egg farmers worry fight against bird flu is unwinnable as experts consider vaccinations: ‘I call this virus a terrorist’ https://t.co/AZC7JPA4zm pic.twitter.com/jc1uSKwgt2
— New York Post (@nypost) February 15, 2025
From the New York Post:
“The last six months have accelerated my concern, which was already high,” Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious diseases physician and founding director of Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the outlet.
The small mitigation results have experts worried that biosecurity efforts will be fruitless in the fight against the flu, which appears to be a stronger strain than the one that spread a decade ago.
Bhadelia pointed to chicken vaccinations as a strong alternative — especially now that there’s an urgent need to focus on reducing the risk to humans of getting infected in the first place.
ADVERTISEMENTOther countries like China, Egypt and France already vaccinate their birds, which also reduces infections in other animals that are around humans, including cows.
The World Organization for Animal Health urged nations to consider vaccination in 2023, but some experts worry that the inoculations would only mask infections and make it easier to bring the virus across borders — costing billions of dollars in international trade deals.
But with flocks down by millions and the disease spreading, the cost is irrelevant, said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, adding that it’s clear biosecurity is not doing the job.
“We’re desperate, and we need every possible tool,” she said.
“And right now, we’re fighting this virus with at least one, if not two, arms tied behind our back. And the vaccine can be a huge hammer in our toolbox.”
They’re getting ready to poison our food supply with mRNA vaccines.
That was always the plan. pic.twitter.com/0IzraOwMgJ
— Died Suddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) February 15, 2025
According to Science, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ‘conditionally approved’ a vaccine for poultry against bird flu.
Important to follow..
“The vaccine, made by Zoetis, contains a killed version of an H5N2 variant that the company has designed to work against circulating variants of the H5N1 virus that have decimated poultry flocks and have even jumped to cows and some humans.” pic.twitter.com/SQOBo2OSAI— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) February 15, 2025
Per Science:
With egg prices in the United States soaring because of the spread of H5N1 influenza virus among poultry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday conditionally approved a vaccine to protect the birds. President Donald Trump’s administration may therefore soon face a fraught decision on whether to join the ranks of other nations—including China, France, Egypt, and Mexico—that vaccinate poultry against H5N1.
Although many influenza researchers contend that vaccination can help control spread of the deadly virus, the U.S. government has long resisted allowing its use because of politics and trade concerns that many contend are unscientific. The USDA approval may signal a shift in policy linked to the Trump administration’s worries about egg prices. Even with the conditional approval, USDA must still approve its use before farmers can start to administer the vaccine because special regulations apply to H5N1 and other so-called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses.
The vaccine, made by Zoetis, contains a killed version of an H5N2 variant that the company has designed to work against circulating variants of the H5N1 virus that have decimated poultry flocks and have even jumped to cows and some humans. (The “H” in both variants stands for hemagglutinin, the surface protein of the virus, and antibodies against it are the main mechanism of vaccine-induced protection.) Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday that three cow veterinarians harbored antibodies to the H5N1 virus in dairy cattle. None had symptomatic disease, they noted in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, suggesting the virus may be more widespread in humans than previously thought.
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“Zoetis received a conditional license from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), for its Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N2 Subtype, Killed Virus for use in chickens. Our scientists routinely update our vaccines, and they began working on an updated Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) vaccine in 2022 when a new strain was identified in the U.S.,” Zoetis wrote on Thursday.
“The decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks rests solely with national regulatory authorities in consultation with their local poultry sector. Zoetis has several decades of experience developing vaccines for avian influenza in multiple countries and remains committed to supporting poultry producers by providing scientific solutions for HPAI,” it added.
Have you noticed the egg shelves are EMPTY…
The U.S. Dept of Agriculture has given a conditional approval to Zoetis
to use its bird flu vaccine in poultry, the animal healthcare company said on Friday.A conditional approval, called a conditional license, is used for… pic.twitter.com/9GjwgLTWdb
— Informed NJ Nurses (@InformedNJNurse) February 15, 2025
Lancaster Farming reports:
Sen. Dave McCormick plans to examine vaccination options and press USDA for better cooperation as avian influenza batters Pennsylvania’s egg industry.
“We’re somewhere between bad and catastrophic,” said McCormick, R-Pa., during a Feb. 15 meeting with industry leaders at Kreider Farms.
Pennsylvania has had about a dozen poultry farms test positive for avian influenza this year, including two egg farms.
Nationally, the flu-related losses of layers and pullets in 2025 are already at least 55% of the scale seen in the full year 2022, which was the worst of the current outbreak, according to data presented by Byron Shaffer, the director of food safety and quality assurance at Kreider Farms.
McCormick has met with poultry leaders to discuss avian influenza several times since he was sworn in at the beginning of the year.
ADVERTISEMENTAt this meeting, he was keen to learn about the poultry industry’s opinions about vaccinating birds against avian influenza.
Egg farms, which have long-lived birds, would benefit from vaccination.
The broiler industry produces birds in under two months and can restock easier than the egg industry can.
With the least to gain, broiler farms also have the most to lose from trade restrictions that are expected to follow vaccination, said Chris Pierce, the president of Heritage Poultry Management Services.
If the U.S. is able to export poultry products despite vaccination, it would need testing to prove the hens don’t have avian influenza. The vaccine can prevent an infected hen from showing clinical signs, he said.
Given the trade risks, USDA has so far blocked vaccination.
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