Bird flu is sweeping through egg-laying chickens in the United States at an unprecedented rate. So far in 2025, 30 million layers, as they’re known, have been culled, close to the 38 million killed throughout all of last year: Nearly 10 percent of the country’s annual number of egg-layers have been wiped out.

Vaccines could prevent bird flu and the mass slaughter of chickens that currently leads to high egg prices. The USDA plans a $100 million study on bird flu vaccines, but concerns about chicken exports slow the process.