The US Department of Agriculture last week issued a conditional license for an avian flu vaccine for use in chickens, amid an outbreak ravaging poultry flocks, contributing to the sky-high price of eggs.
Zoetis, the manufacturer behind the vaccine, announced the conditional approval Friday, saying in a news release its scientists had begun updating its existing avian flu vaccine in 2022.
“We’ve been working with the administration and with Congress, and we’re very excited today to get the licensure for (the vaccine) in poultry, which we think will be a tool that we will help support the government as they deem necessary,” Zoetis CEO Kristin Peck told CNBC on Friday.
The conditional license was granted based on the “the demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy,” Zoetis said. A conditional license can generally be used to address an emergency situation or special circumstance, the company noted, and is issued for a set period of time.
The company has previously developed vaccines for avian flu, including one used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect California condors in 2023, Zoetis said, noting, “The decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks rests solely with national regulatory authorities in consultation with their local poultry sector,” the company’s news release said.
CNN reached out to the USDA for comment Sunday.
While other countries already vaccinate chickens against bird flu, the US approach has long been focused on eradicating the virus, mainly through culling flocks of birds when a case is identified. Historically, vaccination has been thought to carry a number of complications, including making it difficult to detect the virus in inoculated birds and trade concerns.
Credit: CNN