On Feb. 14, 2025, Zoetis announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) has issued the company a conditional license for its Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N2 Subtype, Killed Virus.

The vaccine is labelled for use in chickens. The conditional license was granted on the demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy based on serology data. According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), more than 150 million birds in the U.S. have been affected with HPAI since February 2022, including in backyard and commercial flocks.

A conditional license is used to meet an emergency condition, limited market, local situation or other special circumstance and is issued for a finite period of time. Conditional licenses may be renewed at the discretion of the CVB.

Zoetis has a long history of developing vaccines to address avian influenza in multiple countries. In 2016, the company received a conditional license for its H5N1 vaccine and a contract award for the USDA’s National Veterinary Stockpile; this same vaccine was first used by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2023 to help protect California condors.

Zoetis also holds a USDA license for POULVAC^® FLUFEND™ i AI H5N3 RG which has been available in smaller markets outside the U.S. and was used to help protect endangered birds in New Zealand in 2024.