Last year marked the beginning of the worst avian influenza outbreak to date, and the U.S. is still experiencing the chaos of this virus. The 2015 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affected 35 million egg-laying hens; however, 2022 was far more impactful on the nation's poultry flocks, with the loss of more than 58 million birds from turkey farms, broiler farms, backyard flocks, and egg-laying farms.  

To date in the ongoing outbreak, HPAI has been detected on 316 commercial farm locations, but only 30 of those are egg farms. Unfortunately, 2023 is off to a similar start, with cases already identified in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, California, and Kansas.¹