
U.S. egg producers have made significant investments in structural biosecurity on their farms and implemented strict biosecurity programs since the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in 2015. Despite these efforts and investments, HPAI introductions on layer farms continue to occur.
The current HPAI outbreak, which began in 2022, shows no sign of diminishing. Oscar Garrison, senior vice president for food safety, United Egg Producers (UEP), said that HPAI has already claimed more layers in the U.S. in January of 2025 than it did in all of 2023, when 13.63 million layers were lost. Speaking at the UEP Animal Health and Biosecurity Committee Briefing in Atlanta, Georgia on January 27, 2025, Garrison also said that 28 million of the layers lost to HPAI in 2024 were infected with a virus strain matching the virus found in dairy cattle. There have been over 940 U.S. dairies with cows that have tested positive for avian influenza to date.
Egg producers are asking for in depth epidemiological research on the outbreaks to help determine the introduction source of the virus to infected layer facilities. There has been much speculation regarding airborne transmission of the virus into poultry houses, but this has not been definitively established as one of the means of transmission. Insects, particularly flies, have also been suggested as a fomite. Sampling of wildlife around some infected layer facilities and dairies has shown that a relatively large number of wild birds and rodents tested positive for the virus. Exclusion of wild birds and rodents from within and around poultry houses should be part of a farm’s biosecurity program.
HPAI is no longer just a poultry industry problem. The efforts to stamp out the disease in North America have been ongoing for three years and have been unsuccessful to date. It may be time for a new approach.