Nearly one million hens destroyed at Illinois egg farm in nation's largest active bird flu outbreak

Nearly one million chickens have been destroyed at an Illinois egg farm after bird flu was detected on Monday, making it the nation's largest active outbreak this week.

The outbreak affected 934,600 birds at a commercial table egg layer facility in Clinton County, Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Village officials told KSDK the facility is Rose Acre Farms outside Germantown — the second-largest egg producer in the United States, according to the company's own website. There is no treatment for highly pathogenic avian influenza, so infected and exposed birds must be killed to contain the virus.

Since the nationwide epidemic was first detected in February 2022, more than 210 million birds have died or been killed. Minnesota, the next-highest state among active outbreaks, has 168,880 birds affected — roughly one-fifth of the Illinois figure.

The arithmetic explains itself. When one farm holds nearly a million laying hens, a single biosecurity failure removes a region's worth of egg production in a day, and rebuilding takes months as pullets are raised from scratch. In 2024, bird flu killed tens of millions of laying hens, and by January a dozen cage-free eggs averaged $5.26 in advertised retail prices; last month the national average was $3.80 to $3.88.

The Trump administration sued California and Michigan over their cage-free egg laws, arguing state requirements drive up prices and that production should follow federal standards. Judges dismissed the suits, finding the administration had not established legal grounds to bring the challenges.

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says it continues to monitor commercial poultry operations, backyard flocks and wild birds, and "encourages all bird owners to practice strong biosecurity." Detections typically rise during fall migration, when wild birds carry the virus onto farmland.