THE US agriculture ministry is trying to rescind letters firing health and safety inspectors amid an ongoing bird flu outbreak that has already led to the slaughter of 160 million chickens and sent the price of eggs through the roof.

Thousands of federal employees have been sacked in sweeping orders issued by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) controlled by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, but the US Department of Agriculture said some of those told they had been fired were essential to its “response to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).”

“Although several Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation,” a department spokesperson said.