Bird flu fades in May after death toll of nearly 38 million birds, but USDA doubles funding to animal-health agency

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has resulted in the deaths of nearly 38 million domestic birds, mostly egg layers, since February; Agriculture Department data for May suggest the pandemic is dying down. "Losses for the month were on track to be the smallest of the year. A viral disease that spreads best in cold conditions, bird flu typically dissipates with the arrival of consistently warm weather," Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network. "All the same, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack transferred an additional $400 million to the USDA agency responsible for protecting animal health on Friday. The transfer doubled, to nearly $800 million, the money available for fighting HPAI and indemnifying owners of commercial flocks."

About 780,000 commercial birds died from bird flu or were culled preventively in May, far fewer than the 14.7 million in April, 21 million in March and 1.5 million in February. Overall this year, "Egg-laying hens, 28.8 million in all, accounted for three of every four losses to HPAI," Abbott reports. "The number of layers in the U.S. flock was down by 6 percent compared to a year ago because of bird flu. Often volatile, egg prices at the wholesale level soared to nearly $3 for a dozen Large eggs in the week before Easter, double their price at that point in 2021, but were trending downward. The nationwide wholesale average price was $2.48 last week."