The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it accidentally fired several employees working on the H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, outbreak and is now trying to rehire them.
The about-face came after the USDA touted its plans to “optimize its workforce” by firing workers and terminating contracts, actions aided by billionaire Elon Musk’s unofficial agency, the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), NBC News reported on Tuesday.
“Although several positions supporting [avian flu] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a USDA spokesperson told NBC. The USDA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said the bird flu is a low risk to the general public, with farm workers at greater risk of infection.
However, flocks of laying hens were decimated by the virus, causing the price of eggs to soar as farmers struggle with enormous losses. Since 2022, efforts to limit the spread of bird flu have led to the slaughter of more than 145m chickens, turkeys and other birds, causing the price of eggs to jump. In 2024, egg prices rose 65% and then another 15% in the month of January alone.
The USDA’s mistaken firings come as other federal agencies experience heavy job losses related to a voluntary buyout scheme and the firing of probationary employees, both carried out by the Trump administration.
It terminated 1,165 workers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Sunday, Reuters reported. Terminations were so severe at the food division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that a senior leader tendered his resignation in protest.
Meanwhile, the state of Turkey has begun exporting around 15,000 metric tonnes (16,500 US tons) of eggs to the United States because of the ongoing outbreak of bird flu and disruption to supply, a leading sector official said on Wednesday.
Ibrahim Afyon, chair of the Egg Producers Central Union (YUM-BIR) in Turkey, told Reuters that shipments began this month and will continue until July.
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