US gives conditional nod to Zoetis' bird flu vaccine for poultry

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US gives conditional nod to Zoetis' bird flu vaccine for poultry

By Reuters
February 14, 20255:27 PM CSTUpdated 18 hours ago

Feb 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given a conditional approval to Zoetis (ZTS.N) to use its bird flu vaccine in poultry, the animal healthcare company said on Friday.

Bird flu has infected nearly 70 people in the United States, with one death, since last April. Most of those infections have been among farm workers exposed to infected poultry or cows.
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https://www.reuters.com/business/he...e-zoetis-bird-flu-vaccine-poultry-2025-02-14/

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Company press release:


Zoetis Receives Conditional License from USDA for Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N2 Subtype, Killed Virus, for Chickens

02/14/2025

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zoetis today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) has issued the company a conditional license for its Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N2 Subtype, Killed Virus. The vaccine is labelled for use in chickens. The conditional license was granted on the demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy based on serology data.

Zoetis is committed to supporting poultry producers with scientific solutions for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). The decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks against HPAI rests solely with national regulatory authorities in partnership with the poultry industry.

According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), more than 150 million birds in the U.S. have been affected with HPAI since February 2022, including in backyard and commercial flocks. A conditional license is used to meet an emergency condition, limited market, local situation or other special circumstance and is issued for a finite period of time. Conditional licenses may be renewed at the discretion of the CVB.

“When a new strain of HPAI was identified in the U.S. in early 2022, our scientists immediately began work to update our previous avian influenza vaccine,” said Mahesh Kumar, Ph.D., senior vice president, global biologics research and development at Zoetis. “We first worked on HPAI vaccines in 2001-02 when outbreaks occurred in flocks in Southeast Asia. Our readiness with this most recent vaccine is another example of how we continue to live our purpose to nurture the world and humankind by advancing care for animals, ultimately providing solutions to global animal health challenges.”

Zoetis has a long history of developing vaccines to address avian influenza in multiple countries. In 2016, the company received a conditional license for its H5N1 vaccine and a contract award for the USDA’s National Veterinary Stockpile; this same vaccine was first used by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2023 to help protect California condors. Zoetis also holds a USDA license for POULVAC[SUP]® [/SUP]FLUFEND™ i AI H5N3 RG which has been available in smaller markets outside the U.S. and was used to help protect endangered birds in New Zealand in 2024.
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https://investor.zoetis.com/news/ne...accine-H5N2-Subtype-Killed-Virus/default.aspx

 

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US egg farmers worry fight against bird flu is unwinnable as experts consider vaccinations: ‘I call this virus a terrorist’

By Katherine Donlevy
Published Feb. 15, 2025, 1:10 p.m. ET
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“The last six months have accelerated my concern, which was already high,” Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious diseases physician and founding director of Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the outlet.
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Bhadelia pointed to chicken vaccinations as a strong alternative — especially now that there’s an urgent need to focus on reducing the risk to humans of getting infected in the first place.
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The World Organization for Animal Health urged nations to consider vaccination in 2023, but some experts worry that the inoculations would only mask infections and make it easier to bring the virus across borders — costing billions of dollars in international trade deals.

But with flocks down by millions and the disease spreading, the cost is irrelevant, said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, adding that it’s clear biosecurity is not doing the job.

“We’re desperate, and we need every possible tool,” she said.

“And right now, we’re fighting this virus with at least one, if not two, arms tied behind our back. And the vaccine can be a huge hammer in our toolbox.”
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https://nypost.com/2025/02/15/us-ne...-unwinnable-as-experts-consider-vaccinations/

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See also:

WOAH’s Animal Health Forum reshapes avian influenza prevention and control strategies (June 7, 2023)
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...prevention-and-control-strategies-june-7-2023

Avian influenza vaccination: why it should not be a barrier to safe trade
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/national-international-government-ngo-preparation-response/oie/983694-avian-influenza-vaccination-why-it-should-not-be-a-barrier-to-safe-trade-woah-december-28-2023​

 

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Exclusive-USDA develops potential plan to vaccinate poultry for bird flu

Published on 06/20/2025 at 12:22, updated on 06/20/2025 at 17:33

CHICAGO (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a potential plan to vaccinate poultry against bird flu for the first time that includes evaluating how it would affect exports, the agency told Reuters this week.

The actions advance the government's assessment of a vaccine after the USDA received proposals on usage from associations representing egg and turkey producers whose farms have been devastated by the virus.
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Their plan suggested an initial vaccination for baby chicks, followed by a booster shot and then testing of flocks every few weeks, Rowles said. Vaccinations would make chickens less susceptible to infections, while routine testing would increase monitoring for outbreaks, he said.

Flocks that test positive would still be culled under the proposal, Rowles said, adding that such cullings would likely be important to importers seeking to avoid the virus.
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Glenn Hickman, president of egg producer Hickman's Family Farms, blamed the chicken meat industry for opposing vaccinations that could help save his flocks. The virus has decimated about 6 million of his birds since May, or 95% of his production in Arizona.

"Let me protect my chickens," Hickman said.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quot...n-to-vaccinate-poultry-for-bird-flu-50296597/

 

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Fears of importing vaccinated poultry based on misconceptions
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Roy Graber
September 15, 2025

Many countries have held out on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccination programs because of a fear of a loss of trade.

Dr. David Swayne, consultant, Birdflu Veterinarian LLC, said this mentality needs to change. Swayne spoke during a panel discussion last week at the forum, “Tackling High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Together,” hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.
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“To my knowledge, there is no solid evidence that importation of poultry products from a vaccinating country has transmitted the virus,” Swayne said.
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“We need to reexamine the terminology we use on vaccination, because really the vaccination makes the poultry very resistant to infection, and therefore, really the vaccinated products are potentially more safe than non-vaccinated because you made them resistant, the chickens resistant, or the turkey resistant, or the layers resistant,” Swayne said.

“It's almost like we need to have a paradigm shift that vaccinated products from vaccinated birds are safer than from non-vaccinated because the chances of them having infection are much, much lower.”
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https://www.wattagnet.com/poultry-m...ng-vaccinated-poultry-based-on-misconceptions

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See also:

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...between-science-policy-and-the-private-sector