Nearly a million hens are killed at America's second-largest egg producer as the biggest US bird flu outbreak grows

The outbreak struck Rose Acre Farms outside Germantown in Clinton County, Illinois, where 934,600 birds were infected or exposed. With no treatment for the virus, every infected and exposed hen must be killed to contain it. That toll dwarfs Minnesota, the next-worst state with 168,880 birds hit. Losing so many layers could tighten supplies and push egg prices higher.

In 2024 bird flu sent a dozen cage-free eggs to an average of $5.26.

More than 210 million US birds have died or been culled since February 2022.

The USDA says the H5N1 strain is also causing outbreaks in US dairy cattle.