Poland’s poultry industry is facing its most serious bird flu crisis in years. By 2 June, 143 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza had been confirmed, affecting more than 9.7 million birds, according to data from the Chief Veterinary Officer. For comparison, 121 outbreaks were recorded in the whole of last year. Farmers are facing rising costs related to disease control and farm protection, while processing plants are increasingly struggling to secure poultry from virus-free areas. Further restrictions are also beginning to affect exports.
“The situation of poultry producers in Poland is quite varied and depends on whether we are talking about farming or processing. The poultry processing market is one of the largest and most dynamically developing branches of the Polish food and agriculture sector. According to our estimates, the value of the entire poultry production chain exceeds PLN 52 billion. Although the profitability of poultry processing improved in 2025 and reached an EBITDA margin of 6.6%, poultry producers and processors faced a 15% increase in the cost of live poultry, as well as higher energy and labour costs,” says Dr Magdalena Kowalewska, Director of the Agri-Food Sector Analysis Office at BNP Paribas, in an interview with Newseria.
She stresses that exports have so far had a positive impact on the poultry processing sector.
“In 2025, export volumes fell by 4%, but higher prices led to a 20% increase in export value. Exports are one of the most important sales channels for Polish poultry,” said Dr Kowalewska during the International Poultry Conference organised by the National Poultry Council – Chamber of Commerce. “As for poultry farmers, the situation is somewhat different for broiler chicken producers than for producers of ducks, turkeys or geese. The first group has enjoyed very favourable market conditions in recent years.”
Poland is the largest producer of poultry meat in the European Union. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, total poultry meat production in 2025 may have reached around 3.23 million tonnes. Nearly 60% of domestic production is exported. The production of table eggs in Poland increased from 507,000 tonnes in 2015 to around 690,000 tonnes in 2025. The value of egg exports rose by 25% year on year despite lower sales volumes, mainly due to higher prices obtained by exporters.
“There are many threats to poultry producers, and we need to start with animal diseases, which are exerting increasing pressure not only on production volumes in the country, but also have specific market implications in the form of export restrictions and lower poultry production volumes from so-called white zones. Processors have to look for meat from areas not affected by the virus, which creates cost pressure,” explains the Director of the Agri-Food Sector Analysis Office at BNP Paribas.
According to data from the Chief Veterinary Officer, 86 outbreaks of Newcastle disease were confirmed in Poland in 2025. In total, more than 8.5 million poultry were kept in those farms. By 2 June this year, 50 outbreaks of Newcastle disease in poultry had been confirmed. Over the same period, 143 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry were detected, mainly in the Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskie voivodeships. The total number of poultry in affected flocks exceeded 9.7 million. The largest infected flock consisted of almost 1.5 million laying hens. In addition, in 2026 several outbreaks of HPAI were confirmed among captive birds, as well as more than 220 outbreaks among wild birds, showing that the virus is circulating intensively in the environment.
Even local outbreaks can lead to export restrictions covering larger parts of the country, as some third countries still do not recognise the EU’s regionalisation principle.
“The losses are significant because the liquidation of outbreaks itself is a very costly process, including compensation paid to poultry farmers when an outbreak occurs. Losses for processing plants are also substantial, whether they result from export bans to specific markets, the inability to use raw material for export if it comes from restricted areas, or the failure of some third countries to recognise regionalisation. These losses are much greater than what can be seen in information about how much outbreak control cost from the targeted reserve,” says Karolina Florek, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer.
The fight against bird flu is based primarily on reducing the risk of the virus spreading and on administrative measures. The biggest problems concern regions with a high concentration of poultry farms, where the disease can easily spread between holdings.
“If the disease occurs, it is already too late. We must focus on farm biosecurity and on implementing measures to prevent outbreaks,” says Karolina Florek. “Since 2021, we have had EU regulations resulting from animal health law. Recently, they have been further clarified by our national regulations, so we now have a full package of legal tools for dealing with infectious disease control, including infectious poultry diseases.”
According to the General Veterinary Inspectorate, the occurrence of an HPAI outbreak triggers strict administrative disease-control procedures. These include ordering the culling of poultry and disposal of animal carcasses in rendering plants, establishing restricted areas within a radius of at least 10 km around the outbreak, where bans on the movement of animals and animal products apply, and identifying the source of infection.
Farmers are required to follow strict biosecurity rules on their farms. These include protecting poultry from contact with wild birds, securing feed, water and bedding against access by rodents, domestic animals and wild animals, placing disinfection mats at farm entrances and exits, and at entrances and exits to buildings where poultry is kept.
As the number of outbreaks increases, so do the costs of measures carried out by the Veterinary Inspection and the amount of compensation paid.
“We have to apply for further tranches from the reserve for combating infectious diseases. Fighting the disease in areas where there are many outbreaks requires enormous commitment of personnel and resources on site, as well as very hard work by the Veterinary Inspection. We are sending epizootic investigation teams from other districts or voivodeships to help district veterinary officers, because the workload is huge,” stresses Karolina Florek.
