Nearly One Million Chickens Culled as US Bird Flu Hits Largest Active Outbreak
Around 934,600 chickens at Rose Acre Farms in Illinois — the second-largest US egg producer — were destroyed after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed there, marking the nation's single largest active outbreak site.
Authorities confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a Rose Acre Farms commercial table-egg facility in Clinton County, Illinois, resulting in the culling of 934,600 birds — the nation's largest single active outbreak site. Rose Acre Farms is the second-largest egg producer in the United States. The scale of the Illinois outbreak far exceeds other active cases nationally; Minnesota had the next-highest number of affected birds at 168,880 statewide, according to the USDA. Because no treatment exists for highly pathogenic avian influenza, infected and exposed birds must be destroyed to contain the virus. The US bird flu epidemic was first detected in February 2022, and since then more than 210 million birds have died or been killed as a result. The loss of nearly a million hens raises concerns about tighter egg supplies and rising prices — a pattern already seen in 2024, when widespread bird flu deaths among egg-laying hens sent prices soaring. By January that year, a dozen cage-free eggs averaged $5.26 at advertised retail prices, according to the USDA; as of last month, national averages had eased to around $3.80 to $3.88. Bird flu detections typically rise in fall and spring, when migrating wild birds can spread the virus to domestic poultry. The USDA and state animal health officials continue to monitor commercial poultry operations, backyard flocks and wild birds for further signs of infection.
