Ohio Poultry Industry Recovers After Major Bird Flu Losses

By Andi Anderson

Ohio’s poultry industry is slowly recovering after a severe outbreak of avian influenza caused major losses across the state. The first case appeared in late 2024, and by 2025 more than 15 million birds had been destroyed to control the spread of the virus.

Most cases were reported in the central western areas of the state. At present, there are no confirmed infections in commercial poultry facilities. However, full restocking has not yet occurred. The process of rebuilding flocks remains slow due to health concerns and production scheduling challenges.

"Our response is to depopulate those birds to minimize the spread," Baldridge said.

Even though migratory bird season has ended, health officials warn that the threat has not completely passed. Wild birds continue to carry the virus in surrounding regions, raising the risk of new outbreaks.

"Most of those bird movements should be done, but it is that time of year that we are really externally concerned about the possibilities," said Baldridge.

Rebuilding poultry populations is difficult because new flocks are often planned for years in advance. Production delays have limited the speed at which barns can be restocked. As a result, the industry has not yet returned to full production capacity.

"You can see that it's a delay in that process and then factor in that most of our new flocks of birds coming into production are scheduled for up to two years or more in advance. And so, it's really a difficult situation. And here we are about one year later, and we are not 100 percent fully restocked yet," Chakeres said.

Across the United States, nearly 175 million birds have been destroyed since 2022. These losses have contributed to higher poultry and egg prices. Biosecurity remains strict, allowing only essential workers on poultry facilities.

"We know that there are wild birds that are carrying diseases in Ohio now. We have had poultry in northern Indiana as well as across the United States that have been diagnosed with avian influenza this year. And so, there have been significant losses this fall into winter. So, we're all holding our breath, and we want to be able to protect our birds. We need these tools," Chakeres said.

Vaccination remains limited, as federal approval is granted only on a case-by-case basis due to trade concerns. For now, strict biosecurity remains the main protection tool.

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