Throughout February 2025, social media users continuously claimed that Phyllis Fong, a former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), was "one of the key players behind the artificial inflation of poultry and egg prices in the U.S." in 2024. Fong was forcibly removed from her office after defying President Donald Trump's termination order in late January shortly after the start of his second term in office.
Examples of the rumor appeared on X and Facebook in mid-February, with one such post saying that Fong ordered the mass extermination of healthy poultry throughout 2024, citing "mutating bird flu," in order to drive up the cost of poultry and eggs. It read as follows:
Arrested, USDA Inspector Phyllis Fong, a 22-year Deep State operative, is one of the key players behind the artificial inflation of poultry and egg prices in the U.S. She ordered the culling of MILLIONS of healthy birds, using the FAKE excuse of "mutating bird flu." But here's the TRUTH: There was NO pandemic.
Fong personally ordered mass bird exterminations in 2024, targeting farms in Colorado, Ohio, Arizona, Louisiana, and Nebraska. One case in Louisiana set the stage: a man (who DID NOT WORK on a poultry farm) was allegedly diagnosed with H5N1 after "finding dead birds" in his yard. The CDC then INVENTED a panic story, claiming 66 people were infected. Sources say that number is ENTIRELY FABRICATED.
Before the media even blasted this FAKE OUTBREAK, Fong and Biden's corrupt FDA sent teams of inspectors in full hazmat suits to Nebraska, ordering the instant killing of 600,000 birds. The farm owner—who recently tested his flock and found ZERO SIGNS of bird flu—REFUSED. But it didn't matter. Fong had already signed off on the order, threatening him with $4 BILLION in fines and PRISON TIME if he didn't comply.
She thought she was untouchable. When Trump began cleansing the Deep State in January, she REFUSED TO LEAVE, publicly claiming Trump had "no authority" over "federal watchdogs."
The next day, KARMA STRUCK. Security FORCED HER OUT, delivering her straight to JAG investigators.
Now you know why the price of eggs have shot thru the roof.
Another Facebook post from early February had amassed more than 134,000 shares as of this writing.
The claim is an example of copypasta — text written to be copied and shared online.
Snopes reached out to the USDA for comment and will update this story if we receive a response. However, there is no evidence Fong "personally ordered" mass bird exterminations in order to drive up the cost of poultry and eggs. The post did not provide any sources or evidence for its claims, and it appears to have taken nuggets of truth and twisted them with conspiratorial language to push an agenda.
For example, it is true that a man in Louisiana contracted highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, and died from the disease in January 2025, as claimed in the copypasta. The Louisiana Department of Health explained that the man caught the disease from a combination of a noncommercial backyard flock and wild birds. The health department also stressed that the patient was 65 with possible underlying medical conditions.
It is also true that, in 2022, the Nebraska Agriculture Department ordered 570,000 chickens to be killed after bird flu appeared in the flock (the copypasta message similarly claimed that Fong ordered the killing of 600,000 birds in Nebraska). However, there is no evidence Fong threatened the farmer with $4 billion in fines and prison time if he didn't comply, as the post claims.
According to a professor of epidemiology interviewed by CBS News in February 2025, more than 148 million birds have been ordered to be killed since H5N1 reached the U.S. in 2022. As of this writing, the CDC website reported that 162,586,638 birds were "affected."
In sum, there is no evidence Fong ordered the mass killing of birds in order to drive up the cost of poultry and eggs. Since avian flu arrived in the U.S. in 2022, farmers have killed millions of birds affected by the disease. This is standard procedure and does not reflect the "personal" decision of Fong.