In previous years, egg prices in Japan have dipped in January — but not in 2025. This changing pattern is attributed to a series of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks, which are particularly affecting the country’s laying hens.
Meanwhile, outbreaks in South Korea have affected meat ducks, as well as laying hens. Israel and Cambodia have also reported new outbreaks in poultry, while the disease situation has been declared resolved in Australia.
The current cost of eggs in Japan has risen by 10% since the start of 2025, and is 60% higher than the average for the month in past years. At 295 yen (JPY; US$1.90) per kilo, NHK reports that prices this week are even higher than following last summer’s heatwave, when production was reduced by the birds’ heat stress from the prolonged high temperatures.
Authorities have called on Japanese consumers not to stockpile eggs, adding that they expect the HPAI outbreaks to end in May — if not before.
Over the past 10 days, the agriculture ministry has confirmed a further 10 outbreaks of HPAI on commercial farms. These bring the nation’s total since October 2024 to 50 (as of January 31). Of these, the presence of the H5N1 virus serotype has been confirmed in the first 43 outbreaks. It is also the likely cause of the more recent cases.
Of these 10 latest outbreaks, eight involved laying hens and close to 1.63 million birds in total. Two commercial flocks totaling around 157,000 meat chickens were kept at the other affected premises.
Locations of the majority of recent outbreaks have been Chiba and Aichi. These two prefectures are near to Tokyo, and a little further south in central Honshu, respectively.
South Korean outbreak total rises to 30
As of January 31, the agriculture ministry has confirmed 30 HPAI outbreaks in poultry flocks in South Korea. Also involving the H5N1 virus variant, the HPAI season began at the end of October 2024.
In South Korea, HPAI infections have been confirmed in 10 provinces/cities.
Just over half of the nation’s outbreaks to date have involved meat ducks. However, the latest premises to be affected — presence of an H5 virus was confirmed on January 30 — comprised around 85,000 laying hens. It was found in connection with an earlier outbreak in the same area.
Following usual procedure in South Korea, the ministry imposed a 24-hour standstill for all farms with laying hens in the province (North Jeolla). Inspections are underway at 36 farms with 10km of the outbreak, as well as 37 more locations that had been visited by people or vehicles that have been at the infected premises.
Further cases in Israeli poultry, wild birds
Over the past 10 days, the nation’s veterinary agency has officially registered a further five HPAI outbreaks in commercial poultry.
According to the latest notification to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), presence of the H5N1 virus variant was confirmed on four farms rearing turkeys, and one with laying hens. Outbreaks started in the period January 4-19. Three of the premises were in the Jerusalem area, and one in each of the North and Central districts.
So far, Israel has recorded 14 outbreaks on commercial farms since HPAI reemerged in the country in early September 2024.
Furthermore, authorities have detected the same virus recently in four more wild birds, and in a number of captive birds at a natural park.
HPAI developments elsewhere in Asia
To WOAH the Indian authorities have confirmed H5N1 HPAI infections in wild cats.
As reported recently by local media, one leopard and three tigers died at a zoo rescue center in the western state of Maharashtra in mid-December.
Source of infection at the site in Nagpur city in unknown, according to the WOAH report.
To the same organization, the authorities have reported the deaths of more than 30 wild cranes linked to the same virus serotype.
Starting in mid-December, the mortalities occurred at three distant locations in Rajasthan state in northwestern India.
In the Phnom Penh area in Cambodia, presence of the H5N1 HPAI virus was confirmed following the deaths of 153 poultry out of a backyard flock of around 430 birds earlier this month.
This brings the outbreak total since July 2024 to three, based on WOAH reports. The previous outbreaks both started in July, and all were in different areas of the country.
Australia declares HPAI situation “resolved”
The national animal health agency has declared to WOAH that the last of its HPAI outbreak series has been “resolved.”
In mid-June 2024, the H7N8 HPAI virus was detected for the first time in the nation’s poultry.
Over the following 3-4 weeks, outbreaks occurred at four farms, and directly impacted around 492,000 commercial birds, according to WOAH reports. Three of these were in the Hawkesbury area of New South Wales, and one was in the Australian Capital Territory. One of the farms reared broilers, and the others had laying hens and sold eggs — even though one had just 11 birds.
One week ago, the New South Wales government announced that the HPAI situation emergency in Hawkesbury has been eradicated, and all controls have been lifted.
According to this source, government security teams detected and responded to outbreaks at two commercial poultry farms and two non-commercial premises in the region. This involved quarantine, depopulation, disposal and decontamination of the infected premises, in accordance with the national avian flu response strategy. Each site was checked for traces of the disease before operations could resume.
As well as the H7N8 variant, H7N3 and H7N9 HPAI virus serotypes were also detected in Australian poultry flocks around the same time in 2024. These disease series were declared closed earlier this month, and in November last, respectively.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation in poultry, and on disease developments in the U.S. dairy sector.
