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Gov. Mike DeWine speaks to media about HPAI cases in Ohio after meeting with western Ohio poultry producers and government officials on Thursday afternoon in Versailles.
VERSAILLES - The federal government must do more research into bird flu, and fast, Gov. Mike DeWine said after speaking with western Ohio poultry producers and government officials on Thursday in Versailles.
Ohio has suffered the bulk of the nation's HPAI cases in 2025, with the majority of its detections occurring in Mercer and Darke counties - two of the state's top poultry-producing counties.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, commonly known as bird flu, is a contagious viral disease that poses a major threat to the poultry industry and animal health.
"I think one of the things that is clear is that the federal government is really going to have to accelerate the research that is being done in regard to bird flu," DeWine said. "... The federal government is going to have to become much more active in regard to the research. I think one of the messages that I heard today was, 'Please do everything you can to speed that up.'"
DeWine was joined in the meeting by Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge, state veterinarian Dr. Dennis Summers and executive vice president of the Ohio Poultry Association Jim Chakeres.
Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge, Gov. Mike DeWine, state veterinarian Dr. Dennis Summers and executive vice president of the Ohio Poultry Association Jim Chakeres (left to right) speak during Thursday's press conference.
"My purpose in being here today, is that in my experience, I learn more when I'm talking directly to the people involved," DeWine said of the visit.
The group met with county officials, state legislators and area poultry producers for a little over an hour to gather information and discuss the impact of the outbreak that's led to the destruction of 14,636,622 commercial birds and 34 backyard non-poultry birds in Ohio this year. Of those 71 confirmed detections throughout the state, there have been 45 in Mercer, 21 in Darke, two in Auglaize and one each in Stark, Van Wert and Portage.
"We have obviously been following this (outbreak), particularly through the department of agriculture, for some time," DeWine said. "Farmers who raise poultry in this part of the state ... have really suffered some tremendous losses. We estimate about 15.5 million birds have been destroyed. That's a massive loss. I don't know if it's the biggest in the country, but I met with the Secretary of Agriculture (Brooke Rollins) when I was in Washington a little over a week ago; (there were) a number of governors there, and Ohio's (loss of poultry) was much higher than any of the states, at least what was represented by those governors. This is continuing to be an ongoing problem."
DeWine said he will call Rollins today to discuss the need for more HPAI research as well as the implementation of retroactive compensation for affected producers.
"One of the things that the federal government has done is up the amount of compensation," he said. "One of the things I'll take up with the secretary, is to see whether or not that could be basically (made) retroactive, because some of these farmers (have suffered losses), obviously before the date that went into effect. You know, as far as the research, this has to be federal research. It has to be fairly funded, or funded by the pharmaceutical companies. But, in most cases, I think you would have the federal government being actively involved. And I think what we need, frankly, is just a real sense of urgency. And that would be my message when I talk to the secretary."
Rollins recently announced that the USDA will invest another $1 billion on top of the roughly $2 billion it has already spent since the outbreak began in 2022.
The plan calls for a $500 million investment to help farmers bolster biosecurity measures, $400 million in additional aid for farmers whose flocks have been impacted by avian flu, $100 million to research and potentially develop vaccines and therapeutics for U.S. chicken flocks and explore rolling back what the Trump administration sees as restrictive animal welfare rules in some states, like California's voter-approved cage-free requirement.
The USDA has already paid farmers roughly $1.2 billion for the birds they had to slaughter. The additional aid will continue going to those payments and help farmers bring in new flocks more quickly.
The USDA plan also includes significant attention to the possible use of vaccines for poultry to get the outbreak under control.
"USDA will be hyper-focused on a targeted and thoughtful strategy for potential new generation vaccines, therapeutics, and other innovative solutions to minimize depopulation of egg laying chickens along with increased bio-surveillance and other innovative solutions targeted at egg laying chickens in and around outbreaks," the department said in a statement. "Up to a $100 million investment will be available for innovation in this area."
According to a report last month from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, "Some countries bar poultry imports from nations that vaccinate commercial poultry due to concerns that their use could mask ongoing avian flu circulation. ... Earlier this month, the USDA conditionally approved a license for an avian flu vaccine for poultry made by Zoetis."
"Importantly, USDA will work with trading partners to limit impacts to export trade markets from potential vaccination," the USDA noted.
Summers noted Thursday that he and other state officials are focused on the potential HPAI vaccine.
"One thing that we definitely want to make sure that we're keeping an eye on is an effective way to use a vaccination strategy for poultry for HPAI," he said. "That's one thing that we're going to be continuing to watch, and hopefully we (will) have that as a tool in the toolbox here for Ohio."
There isn't a lot of information yet on vaccine implementation or the specific type of vaccine, but that is something that the USDA is going to continue to work on, Summers added, "so we know that it's safe and effective, and that it provides the immunity we're looking for in our poultry flocks."
DeWine maintained that western Ohio's poultry producers are doing everything that they can do to mitigate the outbreak.
"And they're doing exactly what they're being told to do," he continued. "(The) federal government sets the criteria, sets the protocol (and) we are following that protocol, and these farmers know exactly what to do and how to follow that protocol. Frankly, this relies on individuals, farmers, all those who are involved, doing the right thing, and they certainly have been doing that."
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
