Bird Flu Outbreak Results in Culling of 30 Million Chickens Across Nine States in 2025 – One America News Network
OAN Staff James Meyers
1:43 PM – Wednesday, April 23, 2025
In 2025, bird flu outbreaks have led to the culling of tens of millions of chickens across nine states, according to a troubling report.
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The Department of Agriculture (DOA) has reported an alarming 41 outbreaks this year that have devastated entire egg-laying flocks in states including Arizona, California, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Ohio noted another setback this week, marking its first case since March, as detailed in the April Egg Markets Overview from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
The culling of chickens contributed to a national egg shortage that precipitated price hikes at the start of the year, with prices soaring to over $8 in February.
Currently, egg prices have decreased, with the average wholesale price now at $3.13, according to USDA data.
“You can have all the eggs. You watch, we have too many eggs. In fact, if anything, the prices are getting too low,” President Donald Trump remarked last week.
Since January, approximately 30.6 million chickens have been impacted by bird flu, as reported by the USDA. Out of these, 19.6 million were kept in caged environments, while 11 million were free-range.
As states started to feel the effects, leaders called on the Trump administration for an enhanced response, including Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio (R-Ohio).
“One of the things that is clear is that the federal government is really going to have to accelerate the research that is being done in regard to bird flu,” DeWine stated last month.
In March, the USDA announced a $1 billion initiative aimed at addressing the bird flu crisis, slated to begin this summer. This plan allocates $400 million to assist affected farmers in the cleaning and repopulation of their farms, a process that may take nearly six months.
Recently, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cautioned farmers against immunizing their flocks, warning it could turn them into “mutation factories.”
Since April 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that there have been 70 reported human cases of bird flu, with no instances of human-to-human transmission to date.
“The current risk of bird flu for the general public is low. However, people who have close and prolonged unprotected contact with infected birds and other animals are at increased risk of infection,” the Ohio Department of Health conveyed.
According to the CDC, nearly 168 billion poultry birds have been affected by avian influenza since early 2022.
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