USDA grants conditional approval for bird flu vaccine: What this means

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – There is new hope when it comes to egg prices. A company producing a bird flu vaccine has now been granted conditional approval from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

While this current strain of the avian flu has been top of mind for the past few months, the Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen says it’s actually been around for three years, and adds that means vaccines have been in development for longer than people might think. 

“This is definitely great news for both consumers and the agricultural community, simply because the losses have been so devastating from this disease,” he said. 

He says it’s a step in the right direction for fighting avian flu. The USDA has now granted conditional approval for the company Zoetis to vaccinate hens against the H5N2 virus. 

A press release from the company says it’s based off of a “demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy.” 

Jacobsen says commercial egg producers shouldn’t see the vaccine appear overnight, but he’s hopeful the new United States Secretary of Agriculture will help move the project along, as the price of eggs continue to skyrocket. 

“Vaccines in animal production is definitely not uncommon. It’s something that we do see for other types of diseases, many of them that we’ve either been able to eliminate or all but eliminate throughout the U.S. simply because we have been so proactive on this. This is one of those situations where the culling of those poultry operations, trying to get it through that way has just not worked,” he said. 

The soaring prices, or even the inability to buy eggs is felt nationwide but especially in California. Local businesses, like Fresno’s Benaddiction, a breakfast restaurant specializing in eggs benedict, have been hit hard.

The owner there told YourCentralValley.com he used to pay $30 for a 15-dozen case of eggs at Restaurant Depot, but now he’s paying $150 the for the same amount. 

Jacobsen says he expects to see egg laying hens get the vaccine first, but adds it’ll still have impacts on other poultry products and dairy producers. 

“We definitely want to see something that’s in the preventative mode going towards dairy cows, you know, relatively short time line.”