Thousands of chickens and birds culled due to avian flu

In January, international headlines were circulating about the largest global bird flu ‘in history’ hitting farms around the world. As the year draws to a close, millions of farmers had to cull their stock due to the spread of avian influenza which has led to the shortage of eggs and poultry leading to drastic price increases.

At the start of the year, the Japanese agriculture ministry said that they culled more than 10 million chickens. It said that the highly contagious virus posed an extremely high risk to chickens and turkeys.

In the US, it was reported that close to 60 million poultry were affected. The EU said that more than 50 million birds were culled from 2021 to January 2023.

A World Organization for Animal Health and Food spokesperson said that the avian influenza epidemic was the largest “seen in history”. The organisation said that towards the end of 2023 close to 200 million cullings of farm birds had taken place.

“Aside from the ethical questions raised over the vast loss of life, the result has been loss of income for farmers, and soaring prices for poultry and eggs, both essential sources of affordable protein,” the organisation in a statement.

In the UK, after chicken farmers culled most of their stock, they had to implement biosecurity measures such as good hygiene practices to prevent an outbreak once again.

Since the detection of the virus a few years ago, some countries reported the outbreak for the first time this year. This includes Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador.

There have also been worldwide discussions around a vaccination which could reduce the need for culling, however, the agriculture sector has not been able to role this out successfully as yet. The UN said that poultry vaccinations might become inevitable in the age of pandemics.

While almost every country has reported avian flu cases, it has taken a toll on farmers and countries that depend on import. Brazil, one of the largest exporters of chicken to China, had to halt distribution for the year which meant chicken prices rose in China.

There have been shortages of eggs and poultry reported across the world, and until a method to halt the spread is found, the prices could continue rising in 2024.

The avian influenza has spread to every country around the world in 2023.