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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a potential plan to vaccinate poultry against bird flu for the first time that includes evaluating how it would affect exports, the agency told Reuters this week. The actions advance the government's assessment of a vaccine after the USDA received proposals on usage from associations representing egg and turkey producers whose farms have been devastated by the virus. Nearly 175 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been culled in attempts to contain outbreaks since 2022 in the nation's worst animal-health emergency. Losses of egg-laying chickens drove egg prices to records this year,...

In two separate incidents at Otay Mesa and San Ysidro, agents discovered a total of 28 parrots and three chickens during suspected smuggling attempts. The first incident unfolded on April 30 at the Otay Mesa port of entry. After the 51-year-old driver exited his vehicle, officers noticed peculiar bulges around his ankles. A safety pat-down revealed a shocking discovery: six live, undeclared parrots crammed inside the man’s boots, according to a CBP release. A further search of the vehicle uncovered six additional parrots, sadly, two of which had died. Just days later, on May 4, at the San Ysidro port...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, jointly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other law enforcement partners, executed search warrants in Southern Mississippi that resulted in multiple arrests involving illegal immigration, cockfighting, and other criminal activity. The search warrants were part of an ongoing undercover investigation into the unlawful cockfighting in Harrison County, Mississippi. The arrests included United States citizens and suspected illegal aliens found at the site of the makeshift animal fights attended by some people from outside Mississippi. Two defendants, Alvin Smith III and Herbert Kasey Smith, were charged with violating the Animal Welfare Act for hosting the...

The lines go down the sidewalk before the doors even open - families, backyard farmers, and people fighting high egg prices are here to get a first look. These early birds get the chicks. Kathy Swint called it “our regular chick order day” at Swint’s Feed and Garden Supply in Jonesboro. They started the day with hundreds of tiny 2-day old chicks, and they were all snapped up in 40 minutes. Phyllis Gardner told Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer that she found exactly what she was looking for. “We have Lavender Orpingtons, these are Buff Orpingtons. They grow up to be...

The humble egg is one of those foods that pops up just about everywhere. An egg can be cooked in dozens, if not hundreds, of different preparations, and just like any other commodity, the price has really fluctuated over the years. Tracking down the retail price of a dozen Grade A eggs over the decades wasn't an easy task, as prices have varied from store to store over the years, and supermarkets haven't kept track of prices for decades on end. So in order to get an annual retail price that we could stand behind, we worked with the U.S....

When President Trump recently griped about Europe's distaste for buying American chicken, his comments touched on a long-running and divisive trade spat that's flared up from time to time. Europeans disparage U.S. poultry as "chlorinated chicken," or "Chlorhünchen" in the German press, and see it as possibly unsafe. The phrase refers to the use of chlorine in poultry processing plants after the birds have been slaughtered in order to cut down on harmful bacteria that are frequent sources of food-borne illness like Salmonella and Campylobacter. Rinsing poultry in chlorine was common practice in the U.S. when the European Union first...

Egg prices in the United States have reached record highs, with the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs hitting $4.95 in January 2025, the highest on record. This surge in prices is primarily due to the ongoing bird flu outbreak, which has significantly impacted the poultry industry. Since the bird flu outbreak began in 2022, over 100 million chickens have been culled to prevent the spread of the virus. This extensive culling has resulted in a significant reduction in the population of egg-laying chickens, leading to a shortage in egg supply and subsequently driving up prices.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has lifted the suspension of poultry activities in Georgia, one of the country’s top poultry-producing states, after bird flu testing, depopulation, cleaning and disinfecting were done in the area and no new cases were found. Bird flu variant found in Nevada cows shows signs of adaptation to mammals In January, all poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets and sales in Georgia were suspended after positive bird flu cases in Elbert County were identified at two facilities by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture. The cases were the first in a commercial...

For hundreds of years, history left us wondering what disease killed the Aztecs in the mid-1500s. Many assumed the Aztecs were one of many Central American groups to be wiped out by European diseases like smallpox. However, DNA testing has unearthed new evidence about what really killed 80% of the Aztecs. Scientists extracted DNA from Aztec teeth, and discovered the presence of a strand of Salmonella. Research on climate change in Mexico at the time indicates droughts could have precipitated the spread of disease. Some things remain unexplained, however; only continued research can explain how a massive epidemic ravaged the...

The discovery prompted health officials to remind people to take biosecurity measuresSan Mateo County confirmed for the first time the presence of bird flu in a backyard poultry flock in San Mateo this week after the owner contacted the state agriculture department’s Sick Bird Hotline. The H5N1 incident was one of 49 backyard flock infections documented across the country — including 38 in California — by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. No human infection has been found in association with the flock, but the county’s health department reminded backyard poultry and livestock owners to take precautions such as handwashing to...

Along with all the changes we’ve seen across the country in the early throws of 2025, consumers have been warned to expect some record-high egg prices in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) price outlook, egg prices are predicted to increase by 20.3 percent by the end of 2025. This isn’t necessarily a surprise, since retail egg prices were up by 8.4 percent in December. The elevated egg prices come after the 2022 outbreak of bird flu, which led to more than 20 million egg-laying chickens dying in the U.S. during the last quarter of...

<p>Nearly all eggs sold in Michigan starting before the New Year must come from cage-free birds, even as egg prices continue to climb.</p><p>Michigan lawmakers modified the Animal Industry Act in 2019, requiring shell eggs from chickens, ducks and other fowl, sold in the state to be from cage-free housing systems, starting Dec. 31, 2024.</p>

The collagen of a 68-million-year-old T. rex painted a curious family portrait. Image credit: David Shayani Photography / Shutterstock.com There’s an incredible meme that depicts a chicken looking to the skies Simba style and being met with a Tyrannosaurus rex saying “Remember who you are.” It’s a fantastic visual and one that carries some truth, because the closest living relative to T. rex could well be a chicken, or possibly an ostrich. This was the big news that followed a 2008 study that used proteins extracted from dinosaur bones to see how closely the molecular data compared to living animals....

What started as a Texas farmer’s love for exotic chickens has led to armed federal agents storming her farm, killing her prized birds, and a possible 20-year prison sentence for bringing rare eggs into the country. Jennifer Mayo, who owns a chicken farm in South Texas, has found herself at the center of a federal smuggling case that has destroyed her business and left her fighting for her freedom. The farmer’s story begins with a passion project that grew into a flourishing business enterprise. She started with nine birds about five years ago. Her collection eventually expanded into 39 different...

With Autumn has come the deadline for Registering your Poultry with DEFRA (and the APHA) under new regulations introduced to prevent the spread of Bird Flu. Under the new legislation, all keepers of poultry in England and Wales, even if you just have two or three pottering around your allotment or garden, must register them with DEFRA before Tuesday 1st October 2024. DO NOT WORRY! The Registration only requires your address, the number of birds you keep, and the type (e.g. chicken, duck, geese etc). It is an online registration form but you can email them if you prefer at...

TULSA, Okla. (KFOR) – An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper helped wrangle chickens after they were lost along westbound and eastbound I-44 in Tulsa. >p? According to OHP, the city of Tulsa released a general broadcast letting residents know of a truck with a “makeshift trailer” losing chickens on the highway between 165th E. Ave. and 145th E. Ave.

Animal sacrifices are surging in Queens, with chickens, pigs and rats being tortured, mutilated or killed in “twisted” religious rituals in parkland surrounding Jamaica Bay, The Post has learned. In a little over a month, at least nine wounded animals or carcasses have been discovered in the federally-managed Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel — including five live pigs with partially severed ears. Creatures recovered from the revolting scene also include a near-dead baby rat tied up in a bag with chicken bones; a freshly-decapitated chicken head; a live hen in...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will spend $5 million to vaccinate livestock workers against the seasonal flu in an effort to prevent possible interaction with bird flu, officials said today, July 30. If someone gets both the H5N1 (highly pathogenic avian influenza) and seasonal flu, the result could be “an exchange of genetic material” that could do what scientists call “reassortment” and the development of a new influenza virus, said Nirav Shah, the principal deputy director at CDC. Shah spoke to reporters in a call organized by the Health and Human Services Department. The $5 million will go...

Nearly 1.8 million chickens will be killed after bird flu was detected at an egg-laying operation in Weld County, a major resurgence on a commercial farm of the disease that has already seen more than 6 million birds culled. Gov. Jared Polis verbally declared a disaster declaration for the facility over the long holiday weekend. The move activates the state’s emergency operations plan and makes additional resources available to respond to the outbreak. A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Agriculture declined to name the facility.

Australia has implemented lockdowns on farms due to bird flu outbreaks. Specifically, in the state of Victoria, more than 500,000 chickens have been euthanized, and strict quarantine zones have been established to restrict the movement of birds and equipment. The highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of avian influenza has been detected on four farms, while another virus, H7N9, has been found on a fifth property over the past seven weeks. As part of sweeping biosecurity controls, at least 580,000 birds have been destroyed.