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The Chicken Cull Controversy: How Misguided Policies and Public Fear Drove Egg Prices Skyward—and How the Current Administration Fixed It
The Avian Flu Panic and the Slaughter of Millions Since the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak began in February 2022, the U.S. poultry industry has been gripped by a crisis that sent egg prices soaring to unprecedented levels. Over 166 million birds, predominantly egg-laying hens, were culled in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. This mass slaughter was driven by a longstanding USDA policy of “stamping out,” which mandates the depopulation of entire flocks if even a single bird tests positive for HPAI. The policy, in place across multiple administrations, was rooted in fears that the virus could devastate the poultry industry and, in rare cases, pose a public health risk. However, the testing methods used to detect HPAI have faced scrutiny for their…