USDA to invest up to $100 million for projects to combat bird flu

By Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek

(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday it plans to invest up to $100 million in projects that will help fund research for therapies and potential vaccines to combat bird flu in poultry.

The U.S. will also begin importing more eggs from South Korea, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on a call with industry groups and reporters. South Korea joins Turkey and Brazil among nations sending more eggs to the U.S. as part of the Trump administration's effort to drive down prices of the kitchen staple.

Bird flu has killed nearly 170 million egg-laying hens, turkeys and other birds in an outbreak that began in 2022. Egg prices reached record highs in recent months in large part due to the constrained supply. Humans and dairy cows have also tested positive.

The funding announced on Thursday will be available to for-profit organizations, including vaccine and therapy makers, as well as states, universities and other eligible entities, according to the USDA.

Rollins said she has had multiple conversations with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has said in media interviews that he does not support a bird flu vaccine and that the virus should instead be allowed to spread among poultry to identify birds with natural immunity.

Asked about whether Rollins agrees with Kennedy, her chief of staff Kailee Tkacz Buller said the two secretaries are "aligned on approach" but did not comment on his specific remarks.

The USDA has long required that flocks infected with bird flu be culled, an approach backed by veterinarians and public health experts as the best means of containing the virus.

In February, Rollins said the U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu and drive down high egg prices.

The USDA has not approved the use of a vaccine but said on Thursday it is seeking vaccine candidates that are well matched to circulating variants.

The U.S. egg industry wants farmers to be able to vaccinate laying hens, turkeys and potentially dairy cows, Chad Gregory, CEO of the United Egg Producers industry group, said on the call.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru, Leah Douglas in Washington and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Bill Berkrot)