Federal plans to formulate a vaccination strategy for poultry and egg-laying hens have stalled amid concerns over international trade and internal administration opposition, leaving the United States to continue fighting the largest bird flu outbreak in its history without one of its most effective defense tools.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as H5N1, has devastated the domestic poultry industry since 2022. The ongoing multiyear outbreak has resulted in the deaths of more than 160 million egg-laying hens, severely restricting egg supplies and driving up consumer costs. In early 2023, avian circulation caused egg prices to surge by 65 percent compared to previous months, while prices climbed to a national average of more than $6 per dozen in 2025. Federal investigators have also examined whether major egg producers engaged in price collusion during the period.
While the United States possesses several safe and effective bird flu vaccines, and many egg and turkey producers want to administer them, regulatory hurdles have kept the immunizations sidelined. In early 2025, the administration announced plans to engage trade partners, state veterinarians, farmers, and other stakeholders to develop a potential vaccination framework. However, that initiative has since faltered.
According to federal reporting, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins pulled back on an internal U.S. Department of Agriculture strategy for vaccinating poultry and egg-laying hens over concerns about whether the move would conflict with the anti-vaccine agenda of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The policy pause reportedly went against the advice of expert agency staff. While the USDA manages disease outbreaks, Kennedy oversees the Food and Drug Administration and wields significant political influence within the current administration through his “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
A primary obstacle to poultry vaccination stems from the economic power of the chicken meat industry. Broiler chickens raised for meat are significantly less vulnerable to the virus, and the domestic industry exported 13.9 percent of its production last year, valued at $6.2 billion. Major chicken importing nations maintain blanket bans on poultry from countries where vaccination is practiced, citing the “DIVA” challenge—the difficulty of differentiating infected animals from those carrying antibodies resulting from vaccination. Because major chicken meat producers have substantial export markets to protect and little to gain from domestic vaccination, their opposition has historically weighed heavily on federal policy. Two of the largest chicken meat companies, Pilgrim’s Pride and Mountaire, are also major political donors.
Experts argue that trade restrictions can be overcome through enhanced disease surveillance and testing. In 2023, French duck farmers began vaccinating against H5N1, prompting temporary import restrictions from the United States and Canada that were later partially lifted once biosecurity safeguards were assured. Alongside trade resistance, however, the administration’s internal hesitancy has added a fresh barrier.
Under current federal regulations, the primary method for controlling H5N1 on farms is the mandatory culling of entire flocks as soon as the virus is detected. This process often involves sealing ventilation systems to raise temperatures, subjecting birds to death by heatstroke. Millions of turkeys have similarly perished due to the virus and subsequent culling protocols since 2022.
Veterinary experts argue that reliance on culling and basic farm biosecurity measures is insufficient. Carol Cardona, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine, noted that repeated biosecurity failures indicate systemic flaws. Cardona advocates for targeted vaccination focused on the most vulnerable and valuable species—egg-laying hens and breeding turkeys—particularly in the northern half of the United States where infection rates run higher. Vaccinating these populations would reduce environmental viral loads and decrease infections across other species.
Beyond economic impacts on consumers and billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded compensation paid to farmers for culled animals, the outbreak carries a human and ecological toll. Since 2024, 72 people in the United States have contracted the virus, primarily poultry and dairy workers, resulting in two deaths. Scientists continue to monitor the virus for potential pandemic risks. The pathogen has also devastated wildlife populations globally, including mass die-offs of sea lions in Peru and seal pups in Antarctica, and was detected in dairy cattle in 2024, affecting nearly 1,200 herds and imposing financial losses on farmers.
While federal officials maintain that containment efforts and biosecurity investments remain ongoing, critics warn that failing to deploy vaccines leaves the agricultural sector vulnerable as migratory bird seasons bring new waves of the virus near commercial farms.
