RFK Jr. Cautions Against Bird Flu Vaccination for Chickens

March 12, 2025 TruthUSA

“Vaccinating birds poses risks for human safety,” stated the health secretary.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has cautioned against administering vaccines to poultry amid a recent outbreak of bird flu, which has led to a significant rise in egg prices in recent months.

During an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Kennedy expressed his primary concern that vaccines for egg-laying chickens do not offer complete protection against avian influenza.

“All my agencies advise against bird vaccination because a leaky vaccine—one that doesn’t provide sterilizing immunity and fails to completely protect against the disease—turns those flocks into mutation sources,” he explained in the interview.

According to Kennedy, it becomes “much more likely for the virus to leap to other animals if this occurs,” and he noted that officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agree that “we should not be vaccinating” birds.

“It’s dangerous for human beings to vaccinate the birds.”

Since the bird flu outbreak began in the United States in 2022, millions of egg-laying hens have been culled to inhibit the virus’s spread, resulting in soaring egg prices, which have averaged $4.95 per dozen as of January 2025, according to recent reports.

“We’ve had to cull 166 million chickens. This explains the egg crisis,” Kennedy remarked during his conversation with Fox’s Sean Hannity, emphasizing that the bird flu does not transmit through eggs or food.

“The majority of our scientists oppose the culling approach,” he added. “They advocate for testing therapeutics on those flocks, allowing the disease to run its course and identifying birds that survive, as these are likely to have a genetic predisposition for immunity.”

Before the outbreak, the price for a dozen eggs had consistently hovered around $2 for decades. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently predicted a further increase of 41 percent in egg prices in 2025.

However, the USDA reported last week that egg shortages are beginning to lessen, with wholesale prices falling, potentially providing some relief to retailers ahead of this year’s late Easter, which is three weeks later than the previous year. The agency noted there had been no significant bird flu outbreak for the past two weeks.

“Shoppers are starting to notice more consistent availability of shell eggs, although retail prices remain high and may deter many consumers,” the agency detailed in a March 7 report.

Regarding the possibility of bird flu transmission to humans, the CDC has indicated that the risk to the general public remains low.

“Currently, there is no known person-to-person transmission,” the CDC stated in its latest update on the virus, dated March 10.

Up to now, 70 individuals have contracted avian influenza, with one fatality reported. In December 2024, authorities in Louisiana confirmed the passing of an individual in their 60s with existing health conditions.

The Trump administration has rolled out a strategy to address bird flu, which includes a $500 million investment to enhance biosecurity for farmers, $400 million in additional support for farmers affected by avian flu, and $100 million aimed at researching and potentially developing vaccines and therapeutics for U.S. poultry, among other initiatives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source link