Beijing, China - February 27, 2025 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Wednesday rolled out a 1-billion-dollar plan to tackle the outbreaks of bird flu and bring down egg prices, which have soared to unprecedented levels. According to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA), Rollins outlined a five-pronged approach, which includes an additional 500 million U.S. dollars for biosecurity measures, 400 million dollars in financial relief for affected farmers, and 100 million dollars for vaccine research, action to reduce regulatory burdens, and exploring temporary import options. Continuing outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have devastated American poultry farmers and slashed the egg supply over the past two years. The epidemic has killed more than 140 million egg-laying birds in the country since 2022. According to the USDA's Chickens and Eggs report released Monday, the nation's egg-laying hen flock dropped to 363 million birds in January, down 3.8 percent from a year ago and the lowest level since 2016. USDA data showed that January egg production totaled 8.86 billion ones, a 4.2-percent drop from January 2024 and the lowest monthly production since the previous major outbreak of bird flu in 2016. Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this month showed that egg prices shot up by 15.2 percent month on month in January, the largest increase since June 2015. Shotlist: Beijing, China - Feb 27, 2025: 1. Screenshot of U.S. Department of Agriculture webpage showing new plan for tackling bird flu, lowering egg prices; USA - Feb 19, 2025 2. Various of eggs for sale, price tags, sign for purchase limit; 3. Various of empty shelves for fresh eggs, notices of under-supply; FILE: Miami, USA - November 2024 4. Various of customers grocery shopping at store; 5. Various of customers, staff member at check-out counter; USA - Feb 19, 2025 6. Various of Costco store, parking lot. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]