by Omaha, along. (AP) – Vaccines could be an important means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is held responsible for egg prices that are almost 6 US dollars per dozen. However, the move has been delayed due to concerns that it could endanger chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year.
The US Agriculture Ministry has announced plans to spend 100 million US dollars for the examination of bird flu vaccines for combating the disease with chicken, egg and turkey groups. This is part of a greater exertion of 1 billion US dollars to invest in more protective measures to keep the virus of agricultural companies, which President Donald Trump believes that they will reduce egg prices.
Chicken meat producers remain the strongest in the vaccines against vaccines, because considering that they could harm meat exports, which was almost 4.7 billion dollars in the past year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the USA and were hit hardest by the virus.
Why is a vaccine needed?
Without a new policy, including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every herd with a bird flu infection in order to limit the spread of the disease. These deaths have had over 166 million birds in the United States since 2022.
Most of the birds killed are egg laying chickens, and the death of so many chickens is the main reason why egg prices continue to rise. The average price per dozen has reached $ 5.90 and in part of the country it is much higher.
Simon Shane, the wing animalist, who heads www.egg-news.com, said the government hesitated to use vaccines and to change its politics, to kill birds primarily because of the opposition of the meat chicken industry.
“Basically, this is a political problem, and this only came to one head because the eggs are 8 to 9 US dollars per dozen and the government is embarrassing – the current administration,” said Shane.
Why do the US do not use bird flu vaccine?
Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to develop an effective system and an effective system for outbursts in vaccinated herds that may not have symptoms, said John Clifford, the former long -time Chief Veterinary Officer of the USDA, who is now working with an export group in the poultry industry. As soon as this is found, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trading problems.
“What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share this with the trading partners and then find out what kind of effects that will have on the trade,” said Clifford.
There are fears that vaccination could enable the virus to stay undetected in herds and to mutate in a way that might make it a threat to humans and enable them to get into food supply. As with other diseases, the correct cooking of chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken makers don’t want it there.
For meat chicken, known as a broiler, the virus is not so significant, since these birds are slaughtered with 6 to 8 weeks and therefore less have the chance to be infected with chickens with egg layers that live up to 2 years or older. Most broilers also grew up in the southeast, which did not have as many outbreaks as in the middle west and in the west.
A further delay in vaccination concerns the distribution. Egg farmers want to give it through chicken food or water and say that it is not practical to give millions of birds in a single barn.
It can also be difficult to see the difference between a vaccinated bird and a virus sick. That would make other countries nervous to import meat.
“People talked about how expensive it would be to monitor vaccinated populations. And it would be. But where do we want to spend our money? “Said Dr. Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota. “We are just spending our money on the fist and can buy eggs for breakfast.”
What does experience show in other countries?
China and Mexico have been vaccinating for years, but pursue different approaches.
Chicken are vaccinated in Mexico, but Clifford said the country did not slaughter when infections are found. This basically ensures that the virus is in the poultry.
China -sipper vaccinated herds when infections are found, which has proven to be more effective than the spread of the virus and the reign in the event of outbreaks.
Clifford said the United States would still have to break out the herds with outbreaks after vaccination, and it could make sense to shoot egg layers and turkey, not on layers of eggs and turke, not to shoot broilers.
Will it help the egg prices?
Don’t expect a great relief soon.
The USDA, which did not answer a request for a comment on this article, which was sent last week, is clearly not immediately vaccinated. And yet it will take time to raise new chickens.
“We have to wait to replace those with new hatched chicks, and it takes 20 weeks for them to start at all,” said Shane. “So I don’t know where you will get the eggs from.”
The prices can later alleviate something this year after the pointed question, which takes place at Easter, if massive egg farms in Iowa, Ohio, California and elsewhere can avoid more outbreaks.
The USDA predicted that average egg prices are 41% higher than the 2024 average of USD 3.17 per dozen. That would mean $ 4.47 per dozen, something below the current average.
