Newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is expected to soon announce a new strategy to combat the bird flu outbreak, though it's unclear if vaccinations will play a role, NBC News reported Thursday.
The Department of Agriculture last week granted a conditional license to Zoetis, a New Jersey-based vaccine manufacturer, for its avian influenza vaccine H5N2 subtype for use in chickens. However, the agency stopped short of saying it approved the vaccine for commercial use.
"This is simply a normal step in the research and development phase, not in the implementation of a vaccine strategy," the USDA spokesperson told NBC News.
The USDA spokesperson said Rollins is expected to announce a new strategy "in the coming days."
Rollins assured that the bird flu and the resulting high cost of eggs is a high priority for her and the Trump administration, saying in an interview this week she's "looking at every tool in the tool kit," vaccines included.
"There are other countries that use vaccines for their egg-layers that have none of these issues," Rollins said. "That's a complicated solution because there are trade implications. But when Canada's price of eggs is much lower than ours and they're using that approach, we need to take a strong look at it."
More than 160 million cases of "viruses have been detected in U.S. wild aquatic birds, commercial poultry, and backyard or hobbyist flocks beginning in January 2022," the CDC said in an update on Feb. 18.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.