Worsening Bird Flu Outbreak Highlights Factory Farm Threats

Jan 24, 2025

A bird flu outbreak has been reported at a second commercial poultry farm in Georgia, which confines more broiler chickens on factory farms than any other state. This follows news of the first U.S. human death from bird flu earlier this month, along with outbreaks on commercial poultry operations in dozens of states, and on cattle operations in 16 states.

Factory farms create the ideal breeding grounds for infectious diseases like bird flu. The vast majority of U.S. broiler chickens (78%) and U.S. egg laying hens (75%) are raised on factory farms, averaging over 175,000 and 850,000 animals per operation, respectively. Dairy cows, beef cattle and swine are raised in similarly cramped conditions.

This tightly-concentrated factory farm system means that outbreaks on a handful of operations can precipitate skyrocketing prices across the country, including in regions without bird flu outbreaks or significant egg shortages. And while consumers see egg prices skyrocket, food corporations like Cal-Maine, the nation’s largest egg producer, rake in record profits.

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Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.