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Eggheads is the go-to podcast for egg industry professionals who are interested in leadership and innovation in the egg world. Host Greg Schonefeld explores the evolving world of modern egg farming, from the latest in cage-free innovations and organic certifications to navigating the economics of large-scale production. Whether you're an egg producer, supplier, or involved in poultry genetics, this show provides the insights and expert discussions you need to thrive in the industry. Crack open the science, strategies, and stories behind the egg industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Working together to figure out how to effectively get in front of the virus, because while we're all arguing about policy in the background, the virus doesn't care. It's out there spreading like wildfire. This putting our heads in the sand approach, isn't going to age well.
Speaker 2:
Welcome back to Eggheads. Today we're tackling the X factor in the egg industry, avian influenza, which has become even more of an X factor with its mutation into cattle. To do so, we're joined by someone with a diverse background in animal health.
Dr. Kay Russo:
My name is Dr. Kay Russo. I am a veterinarian with RSM Consulting.
Speaker 2:
Kay graduated from Cornell in 2010, and started her career in private dairy practice, where she managed operations ranging from 30 to 10,000 milking cows. This experience provided her with a unique perspective on both individual and large scale production animal medicine. After several years in dairy practice, she transitioned to the industry side, taking on various roles. But her journey took a significant turn when she began conducting poultry research as a proof of concept for cattle products, utilizing poultry due to its cost-effectiveness and quicker study times.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Then COVID hit and I said to my boss at the time, I said, "Hey, would you be interested in supporting a master's degree in avian health and medicine from UGA? Because I know exactly nothing about birds and I'm doing all this poultry research." He said, "Yes." So, I completed a master's degree in Avian Health and Medicine from UGA, and that's how I got into poultry to begin with.
Speaker 2:
Kay's work has increasingly focused on addressing the challenges of disease management in both the dairy and poultry industries. Her role extends far beyond traditional veterinary duties, encompassing broader responsibilities that reflect the interconnected and complex nature of our world. As the demand for reduced antibiotic use increases, Kay's emphasis on alternative technologies and more humane animal care practices have become crucial. In this episode, Kay shares her insights on managing diseases across different animal populations, and the critical importance of bio-security and management practices.
Speaker 2:
I'd really like to start with just the basics of avian influenza. In other episodes we've talked on some of the impacts to the egg industry, specifically how this disease has caused loss of population, which then affects supply of eggs, which then affects pricing. I know there's a lot of bio-security protocols in the egg industry. I've experienced some of them myself, as a vendor to the egg industry. I mean, if we're going to a farm, our vehicle gets sprayed down. We have to attest that we've been at least 72 hours away from birds in any other location. Could you talk a little bit about what this disease means to the egg industry and what we know about how it spreads, despite some of those bio-security measures?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Certainly. So, if you consider highly pathogenic avian influenza, which is essentially what's circulating now, both in the cattle populations and spilling over into poultry. Albeit it's not killing the cows, it is the same H5N1 virus that is highly pathogenic in birds. So, what we've seen in the last four to five months since the recognition of H5N1 in cattle is this bovine variant spilling back into our poultry populations. We've already had issues with this particular clade of influenza they call it, over the last two years, circulating, largely being moved by migratory waterfowl. However, now we've got a new host, which is the cows, which are in proximity to turkeys and layers in many states. We're seeing essentially a pressure from that virus mounting in proximity to these operations. So, even though it's lowly pathogenic in cattle, it's still highly pathogenic in poultry.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Just to throw out some rough numbers. In the last four to five months, we've seen the bovine variant spill back into layers, and we're getting close to having had to depopulate 20 million layers. 20 million layers in the last four to five months in association with this bovine variant. Then if you consider the turkeys, there's hundreds of thousands of turkeys that have also had to be depopulated. So, this is a new pressure that is provided by a new host of H5N1, and something that will certainly continue if we don't start to better understand how it's moving and getting into these operations that are traditionally bio-secure.
Speaker 2:
Wow. I guess before this bovine aspect to the disease, already it was spreading, as you said, from migratory birds. Was there a good understanding of how it was spreading in that instance?
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, I mean, ultimately the way it was spreading was varied. If you look at just overall basic bio-security protocols on these operations that seem to have stayed some of the depopulations associated with this virus. It moves with fomite transmission. Birds are very sensitive to it, so there's a statistic that says something like, a dime-sized or 10 grams of feces with highly pathogenic avian influenza has the capacity to wipe out a million susceptible birds. So, if you consider that and think about people walking into barns with the material on shoes, any sort of fomite that could potentially bring it on an operation could have catastrophic effects. So, that's why you're seeing the bio-security protocols that are currently employed. It can be very difficult to keep it out, even despite these measures.
Speaker 2:
Even if you had say, perfect control, are there still things that can happen outside your control? I mean, like a bird landing on your building or whatever?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Yeah. I think ultimately my major concern here, and it's really hard to prove this, is the influenza becoming airborne on dust particles, odor particles, and getting pulled into ventilation. Again, it's very hard to prove that that is a mechanism by which it's getting in. But if you consider some of these areas where the viral load is likely horrendous coming off the dairies and these operations that are infected, that would be my major concern. Because a number of these layer barns that have been most recently hit, are showering facilities.
Speaker 2:
To prevent the spread of infectious pathogens, bio-security in the poultry farming sector is becoming increasingly critical. The devastating avian influenza outbreak in 2015 prompted a significant tightening of bio-security protocols across the industry. As part of the enhanced National Poultry Improvement Plan Guidelines, some facilities implemented rigorous measures such as guarded entries requiring 72 hours away from poultry contact outside the farm, and in some cases the requirement to shower in before accessing sensitive areas. A walk through shower separates dirty and clean areas. In the clean room, visitors must wear facility provided clothing and footwear.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, how is it then getting into these barns ultimately? That is the million-dollar question and something that really needs to be determined. That gets determined ultimately by taking on epidemiological investigations. That's a fancy word for saying, how is this virus moving and how are we able to determine it's getting in, so that we can implement control measures to keep it out?
Speaker 2:
Interesting. Yeah. I guess there's still some unknowns out there, which I would like to get to a little bit more later. Going back to what you're saying about the 20 million birds have basically had to be put down because they've caught this bovine variant. I guess you can know that because you can know that it's a certain variant that had to have passed through the cattle. Is that right?
Dr. Kay Russo:
That's correct. So, if you think about these influenzas, they have fingerprints on them. This variant is called the B313 variant. Every time you have a positive operation, a sample is sent in and they look at the genetic sequence, and that's its fingerprint. The operations that have been hit on the layer side, the number that I quoted are positive for that bovine B313 variant.
Speaker 2:
Wow. You said it's not so highly pathogenic in cattle. What does the disease look like in a herd of dairy cows?
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, the disease in dairy cattle is interesting. It's a little bit unlike anything we've ever seen on the cattle side. The most primary clinical sign is an abrupt drop in milk production with these cows. That's where the virus is being shed at the highest levels, is in the milk. So, you'll see an abrupt drop in milk production. The milk will look abnormal. But the cows are also exhibiting other symptoms. There's certain herds that have monitors that track the stomach motility, so the stomach movement on the animals is an indicator of health.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, you'll see abrupt drops in milk production, abrupt drops in the movement of the guts in these animals. So, the rumen it's called, which is one of the stomachs. Some people have indicated seeing respiratory signs, GI signs, so dry, tacky manure and some indication of red noses. So, a nondescript signalant, or clinical signs I should say, but the most abrupt being that drop in milk production and abnormal milk, which was the thing that didn't quite fit with me when we first started exploring influenzas being a potential cause of this mystery cow disease that they were seeing.
Speaker 2:
So, there's obviously some symptoms, but when it comes to the birds it's really life or death. In some ways maybe that's good news for the cattle themselves, but it probably promotes more spread of the disease, right?
Dr. Kay Russo:
That's exactly right. I think that's part of the reason you saw this delayed response. Had this virus been highly pathogenic like it is in birds, with significant numbers of birds getting sick, significant numbers of birds dying, than the response may have been more robust from the beginning. However, given the nondescript sign, I think that essentially delayed the response, and was in part responsible for the movement of this virus across the United States like it did.
Speaker 2:
As Kay explained, the spread of the virus has been rapid and severe. In Fort Collins, Colorado, a significant hotspot, nearly 90% of the dairies have been affected, with the virus present in approximately 13 states. This outbreak has also impacted the local layer industry, leading to the recent depopulation of birds at two companies due to influenza. It doesn't take Google Maps to recognize the proximity of these two industries, and it highlights the interconnected nature of animal health and the urgent need for action in effective management and bio-security measures. As I followed along the news of spread in Colorado, I've never been really clear on how it passes from milk cows to laying hens, and I wanted to get Kay's take, knowing there's a spectrum of opinions as it relates to the how.
Dr. Kay Russo:
That goes back to the concept of epidemiology, and that's really the investigation of understanding what risk factors are responsible for the movement of the virus. So, I know that the state, USDA, couple of other entities, are in the process of performing an epidemiological investigation to help answer some of those questions. I know at least one of these facilities is shower in. So, again, I'm concerned about potential for essentially a viral plume in the area of the affected dairies. There's a lot of dust on these dairies, that type of thing. I don't think it's wild to consider the potential that the virus is getting moved on dust particles for instance, and getting pulled into the ventilation on these operations, these poultry operations that are in proximity.
Dr. Kay Russo:
That's an uncomfortable and unpopular opinion, because that is a very difficult thing to stop if that's the case. We keep hearing the term bio-security, bio-security, bio-security. As a dairy veterinarian, I'll tell you that dairies are traditionally very bio-insecure places. You've got a lot of vehicle traffic, human traffic, movement of animals, as the dairies get larger they will send calves off to be raised in one portion of the country, like the southwest, i.e. Texas, and then bring them home when they're ready to calve and milk them out. So, the model is such on the dairy side that it has really lent itself well to the movement of a disease such as this one.
Speaker 2:
So, I guess what I'm hearing from you there is that there's structural issues in dairy when it comes to bio-security. There's practices, the way things are done aren't really built today to effectively stop this kind of thing in its tracks. I guess part of what you were saying is that the structural part of it, I mean you can't change that overnight. That involves all kinds of distribution, economics, just the whole way the whole thing works to get milk to the shelves. That thing you're not going to change overnight. Is there anything that could be done quickly on that front?
Dr. Kay Russo:
I think ultimately, in terms of stopping the spread, we really need to understand how it's spreading. At least the point between cattle operation to poultry operation, because that's the most immediate threat to an alternative protein source in our country. I mean, the sort of quote/unquote, protein wars, one might take out the other as we try to preserve the traditional practices of dairy, we may end up burning down essentially the poultry industry because of the existential threat H5N1 provides. So, in my mind, understanding how it's getting from point A to point B will be first and foremost. But then we have to start thinking about essentially how to reduce viral load on these dairy operations. If you think about it, on a dairy, you've got a set number of animals that gets replaced essentially every year, about a third of the herd gets replaced with new milking cows. That provides a naive source for the virus to jump into.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, what do we need to do with those animals that are, quote/unquote, naive to the virus, in order to prevent the virus from jumping into them, replicating and allowing this cycle to continue? This cycle and also this pressure that's going to be exerted on poultry operation X next door. I think it'll come down to in part bio-security, but also employing potential tactics to boost immunity in these animals. That's essentially vaccination. Again, vaccination, particularly in the poultry side, is a very heavily politicized issue because of trade implications. My hope is that on the dairy side, that we can potentially employ vaccination without major disruptions to trade, in order to do something about these naive animals that we're adding into the herd, because that's going to be that point that you can reduce the viral load, reduce the pressure.
Speaker 2:
I want to back up to the first thing you said, which is step one is basically, how is it getting from the dairy cows to the laying hens? How could we go about that or what are some roadblocks to that, or is no one in particular in charge of that? I mean, who's looking at that? Who's supposed to be looking at that? How do you look at that? What stands in the way of looking at that? I'm curious about those things.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, ultimately it's going to come down to the USDA playing a major role in spearheading these investigations with cooperation from the state, the companies that are affected, and any additional resources that they may require in order to carry out these investigations. They can be pretty onerous to really figure out the different points of contact between operations. If you consider movement of animals by operations, people that might be employed on both dairy operations and poultry operations, I mean there's a whole host of questions that essentially need to be answered and investigated in order to better understand that movement of the virus between dairy X and poultry operation Y.
Speaker 2:
I guess what I was imagining is a bird lands on a cow's back and then jumps over to an egg facility. But a few things you mentioned there make it obvious that there's maybe more interconnection between those two industries than what I imagined before. Even, like you said, crossover of workers or similarities in feed, where some feed products may go to both and some trucks may pass from one to the other. So, I guess all of that just has to be looked at.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Yes, investigated.
Speaker 2:
There might be 10, 20 different things, and each one of those is hard to really track down and pinpoint.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Absolutely. The other component of this too, I mean dairy cows generate a lot of manure, and they've got to do something with that manure. So, you'll see manure being spread on fields that may be in proximity to poultry operations. I think that's one of the major concerns on the turkey side, is if, for instance, a dairy decides to discard some of their hospital waste milk, which again that virus is highest in the milk from these infected cows. Say they decide to discard it in a manure lagoon, and then that manure gets spread on a field in proximity to a poultry operation. So, that would be a major concern. So, really investigating these different connections between dairy and poultry will allow us to define how the disease is moving. If we can't define that, then we can't employ practices to prevent it. So, that's going to be first and foremost.
Speaker 2:
Part of what I'm getting to, is that the huge impact is on the egg side. I mean, it may make your dairy cow sick, it may affect milk production, but that dairy cow is going to recover, it's going to go on to produce milk. I read maybe 10% of the herd typically gets infected.
Dr. Kay Russo:
I caution folks in saying that this is mild in dairy cattle, because it does have a spectrum of severity across different operations. So, there's an operation that I'm aware of that's 4,000 cows, and they had a significant portion of the herd get sick in a short period of time. They lost approximately 40 pounds herd average in a month's period of time. So, if you pencil that out with current milk prices, that equates to over $200,000 of milk loss a week. So, people are saying, "Oh, it's mild in dairy cattle. They get affected. It moves on." Well, it is financially troublesome in the acute stage of the disease, and we still don't really know. I mean, there's been some recent research on cows that were infected with the virus experimentally, and it did in fact damage the udder tissue. So, that could indicate subsequent lactations on that animal having essentially a dampening of the milk production.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, I think we need to be cautious on the dairy side to say, "Oh, this is mild, one and done. It goes away," because of those reasons. Also this virus seems to not quite be going away. It seems to be swirling around on these operations. We're still in the early stages of this. We may end up seeing this hit operations again and again and again, and that's going to have a major financial impact, let alone the animal health impact of it. But you're right. I mean, ultimately from a mortality perspective, this virus is considered a foreign animal disease in poultry, and therefore the USDA of requirement is to stamp it out. Even though it's the same virus as what we're seeing in the cows, in poultry you have to stamp this virus out. That means all the birds on an affected operation are depopulated, preferably between 24 to 72 hours after they're infected. So, this has the potential to be extraordinarily damaging to the industry, if we can't get our arms around it sooner than later.
Speaker 2:
From Kay's perspective, the call to action is extremely clear. Cut through the politics and implement comprehensive strategies that cut through jurisdictional lines. The recent spread to dairy cattle marks a significant and deeply concerning trend. Whereas avian flu has been a seasonal issue since 2022, following migratory bird patterns, the spread to cattle means it's not only more pervasive, but also that it can deliver its catastrophic blows at any time throughout the year. We must address it at all junctures, including how the disease spreads, design proper bio-security measures with both industries in mind and consider the use of vaccines. But even in the face of a significant threat, solutions aren't simple layups, especially when it comes to vaccination of birds.
Dr. Kay Russo:
If you look at the United States, we negotiate trade agreements with different countries for export, and a part of those trade agreements many of them indicate that we are not to vaccinate birds for influenza. So, the US, Brazil, and I believe the UK, all have indications and the USDA requires no vaccination of birds in the US. So, if we were to turn around and try to employ vaccination of birds, it could have serious implications on some of these trade agreements. I think we export somewhere between 5.4 to $5.5 billion worth of poultry products every year. So, there's resistance to vaccinating birds for high path influenza for that reason. So, again, the political trade decision is a little bit at odds with the scientific decision.
Speaker 2:
Is that because these other countries in these trade agreements, they don't want to buy chicken from us that may have been vaccinated? Is it that or is it something else?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Well, I mean, I don't want to get into the politics of it necessarily, but I think some countries would look for an excuse to potentially not accept US poultry products. That could be one of those excuses. But it's based on antiquated technology to test for influenza. Now we have molecular techniques, like PCR, that help us to really determine whether an animal is infected or not with the virus. Traditionally, they relied more on antibody types of techniques for determining exposure, which when you consider a bird that's say been vaccinated or a bird that's been naturally exposed, it might be difficult to differentiate.
Dr. Kay Russo:
But I believe with the more modern molecular techniques that we could certainly work around that. There's been other countries that have recently started vaccinating birds. France, for one, started vaccinating their duck population because of just the significant numbers of high path outbreaks they were dealing with. It did reduce those quite a lot post-vaccination. I believe China vaccinates, Mexico vaccinates, there's certain African countries that vaccinate. So, it's possible, but it all comes down to how this will impact those trade agreements, and would they need to be negotiated in order to retain the ability to trade with other countries.
Speaker 2:
You said one option might be to vaccinate the dairy cattle. Are there less of these kinds of restrictions in that industry?
Dr. Kay Russo:
I believe that will be the case. I mean, ultimately, if you look at it, the dairy animals are positive in 13 plus states at this point. I've been somewhat surprised really, we as a country, this hasn't had any major implications on export of dairy or beef products. I believe the only trade partner that pulled out on us so far was Columbia has refused to accept American beef. Which surprises me some because you've got animals that are shedding virus, you have appreciable levels of virus in milk. We're finding the viral RNA, so that's basically the genetic material of the virus, in at least one out of five shelf dairy product samples. So, the virus is really ubiquitous, and it surprises me some that we haven't seen any implications on trade, significant implications on trade with dairy products so far. So, that may be an indication, should we decide to vaccinate, that that will be sustained.
Speaker 2:
I mean, there's now been, I think, around 10, maybe 11 human cases. I understand symptoms so far are mild, but what are some of the risks there?
Dr. Kay Russo:
You're correct that we've seen a low number of human cases. The cases on the poultry side were in fact the bovine strain. They've been sequenced out from those patients that they could isolate enough genetic material of the virus to do so. It has typed out as B3.13. I asked the gentleman at the CDC why the poultry worker cases were identified so quickly versus the dairy cases, which we're seeing a lot more symptoms on dairies and people than what is being reported. I asked him, "Why did you find it so quickly in these poultry folks that were in the process of depopulating the birds?" He said that, "It's part of the protocol." When they go in and they have to depopulate birds, those workers are monitored for 10 days post depopulation for signs of flu-like illness. If they are positive, then they're encouraged to test for influenza.
Dr. Kay Russo:
So, it's through that systematic monitoring of the people that they were able to identify them so quickly. I said, "Well, what could we do on the dairy side to better understand how many people are truly getting infected with this, so that we can better monitor it?" He said, "It's going to be very difficult." That's largely due to the fact, there are no protocols in place to monitor these people. On the dairy cases, I mean, you're seeing these dairies that are shedding virus for 16 plus weeks at this point. So, that window to monitor those humans would be astronomical. So, not only do we have difficulty accessing these populations, but the duration we'd have to monitor them would be quite long. I think that's why you saw it so quickly diagnosed on the poultry side, and yet so under-diagnosed on the dairy side in humans.
Speaker 2:
I'm curious. So far, I don't think it's passed from person to person. Why wouldn't that be the case? I mean, if someone caught it, they went home with their family, why hasn't that happened?
Dr. Kay Russo:
You're right. The major risk here is, should this virus adapt to people. Which it's a numbers game. The virus mutates rapidly, it's the nature of influenza viruses that it will rapidly change. It's a numbers game in that every time you have the virus being presented to a human, then those mutations are present, that this virus could adapt through those mutations to find a, quote/unquote, happier home in humans. Should it develop that ability to adapt to humans and spread human to human, that is truly the major concern here from a public health perspective. Because what that means is then we're going to have it not only in cattle, but now our human population spreading human to human, and that could trip our next pandemic.
Dr. Kay Russo:
If we look at traditional flu's humans are infected with year after year, their H1s, just different variants than the H5s. H5s essentially are viruses that we as humans have essentially no protection against. So, should it adapt to a human, spread human to human, we could potentially see some major implications on public health. Very similar, for instance, to what we saw with COVID. Ultimately, at the end of the day, nobody wants to go back to that.
Speaker 2:
I'm curious, has the CDC been involved in this, to your knowledge?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Yes. I was very involved with the initial diagnosis in dairy animals. I reached out to the CDC in the first couple of weeks, because the boots on the ground veterinarian indicated to me that there were a lot of workers that were complaining of flu like symptoms, right along with the cows on the operations. There's been certain individuals at the CDC that have worked really hard to determine how to access some of these populations of folks, many of which are undocumented on the dairies. How do we essentially access them to diagnose them and provide them with the treatment that they need? So, they've been working really hard, but the CDC isn't a regulatory agency. They've got to be invited into the state, they've got to be invited into local health departments to get involved. So, essentially all they can do is cascade suggested steps for state and local health departments, because they really have no regulatory power. So, I know they've been trying to find ways in, but without that regulatory power there's very little that they can do unless they're invited in.
Speaker 2:
That's interesting and really surprising to hear, especially after COVID, that they haven't seen more empowerment. Well, this might be a tough on the spot, but it came to my head so I'm going to ask. If you could overlap all these things, the CDC, the USDA, dairy, egg, and you could just call the shots here. If you were going to make, say a five-year strategy, what would it look like?
Dr. Kay Russo:
It's a convoluted issue. In my mind, we need to just, pardon my French, but cut the shit. We need to start communicating. The dairies need to communicate with the poultry operations, the poultry operations need to communicate back with dairy. I think that vaccination is going to be a piece of this. It's one of the legs of the three-legged stool. It's not the end all, but I think as a poultry industry we need to start considering the option for vaccination, which will require some renegotiating of these trade agreements most likely. I think the dairy sign will likely have to employ some degree of vaccination and finally start to employ bio-security principles, that we've been very lax, myself included, on the dairy side for antiquity. I think at the end of the day, we need to test more. We need to find out, is this present in young stock?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Is that a risk if it is? Is it present in beef animals? Is it a risk if it is? Because if we don't know these things and say, country Y gets some beef from our country and it pops positive, not to say that it will, but if it were, I mean, in my mind, that would have even more significant implications on trade. I mean, we've got multiple different mammalian species on affected operations that are infected with the virus. We've got mice, we've got cats, we've got peri-domestic birds which are things like pigeons and grackles and blackbirds. But ultimately, really understanding how this virus is moving, it comes down to being honest and testing all the susceptible species. So, this putting our heads in the sand approach isn't, again, I keep using this term, it isn't going to age well. So, employing more routine testing, vaccination, bio-security, and communication obviously, between these different entities.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Then from the human side, I mean, we really need to better understand how many humans are getting sick with this. When they take samples from humans, they look at certain components of the genetics to see if it's adapting to humans. There's this whole population of people that we probably don't have access to, that have the virus, that they may have these mutations that we just don't have an idea because we're not able to test them. If you look at experts that are much smarter than I, that really predict what the next pandemic looks like, it looks very much like something like this. If we start to see human to human spread, we need to consider what steps we need to employ to mitigate the risk of it ballooning up into a major public health crisis. I'm really worried about where this is heading.
Speaker 2:
Without a doubt, the challenges we face in managing diseases across animal populations are incredibly complex, and that still feels like an understatement. Yet the urgency to address these issues has never been greater. We're talking about a devastating disease to the egg industry. In 2015, 50 million egg laying hens were wiped out. Luckily, the disease went away after that one year, but now it's come back and the industry hasn't been able to shake it. Losing an additional almost 100 million egg laying hens since that timeframe. There are just over 300 commercial hens in the US. If you break that down, the egg industry has lost almost a third of its hen population in less than three years. Granted, the population has been replaced, but not without a major cost. One cost is the emotional side. For some egg farmers, it means living with the very real possibility that your entire operation could be wiped out in 24 hours.
Speaker 2:
The egg industry has a real challenge on its hands. We all remember how difficult COVID was, fighting an invisible enemy. The development of a bovine variant that has reached a significant cattle population adds complication and lessons control for the egg industry. It's going to take people and entities coming together across jurisdictional lines to come up with a comprehensive solution with short-term and long-term objectives. If we've learned anything coming out of COVID, it's that the interconnectedness of animal and human health demands that we act swiftly and decisively. As Kay pointed out, we may be at a tipping point. Our current methods are being tested like never before, and it's crucial that we rise to the occasion. The stakes are high, not just for the industries involved, but for public health at large. I'd really like to thank Dr. Kay Russo for sharing her recent findings, insights, and for discussing a potential path forward. One more question. Kay, how do you prefer your eggs?
Dr. Kay Russo:
Ooh, that's a good question. I'd say over medium.
Speaker 2:
It's a solid, straightforward answer.
Dr. Kay Russo:
Yep. Just simple over medium. Can't screw it up too bad.
Speaker 2:
Excellent.