By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu, including increasing imports of eggs, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday.
A three-year bird flu outbreak in U.S. poultry has killed 166 million chickens since 2022, according to USDA data.
The agency will also provide free biosecurity audits to farms and increase payment rates to farmers who need to kill their chickens due to bird flu, Rollins said at a conference of state agriculture officials.
The USDA is exploring vaccines for chickens but is not yet authorizing their use, Rollins said. The poultry industry is divided on whether to vaccinate chickens because of potential trade implications.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas, Editing by Louise Heavens)
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