At the moment, egg prices in America are soaring, and it’s due to the return of bird flu. This horrible disease killed millions of chickens, resulting in fewer eggs and prices rising through the roof. How many you may ask? Well, as of the last estimate, more than 20 million chickens were wiped out by bird flu. The disease did not care how the chickens were raised either – whether organic or mass-farmed, the bird flu ravaged all major production systems equally.
How Bird Flu Spread
While chickens are typically confined to one place, wild birds aren’t bound geographically in the same manner, especially migratory birds. Additionally, unlike chickens, these birds don’t get sick from the disease and fly from one region to another as if nothing is wrong. While they don’t experience any symptoms, migratory birds end up spreading to vulnerable species, like chickens. Cold weather worsens the situation and this past winter has been particularly rough for the American agricultural industry. California, in particular, was hit very hard, forcing the state to declare a state of emergency!
Egg Shortages Worsened By Culling
Unfortunately, the only way to control the disease is to kill every single bird in an infected flock. This includes the healthy birds that don’t show any symptoms yet. It may seem harsh and excessive, yet it’s the only way to prevent the bird flu from spreading any further and infecting other flocks. It’s a disease that can easily bring a small farm to its knees as they typically don’t have the resources to deal with such large-scale devastation to their stock. Even farms with biosecurity measures in place can’t always prevent an infection from occurring in their flocks.
Read More: The 11 Deadliest Diseases to Watch for in 2025, According to Experts
Prices Of Eggs Are Through the Roof
All of this has resulted in the prices of eggs skyrocketing. Unfortunately, this typically affects households in the lower-income bracket the most. Eggs used to be a relatively cheap source of protein and are regularly consumed with many meals. However, this is no longer the case in many households. According to the USDA, it will still be months before there is any improvement in egg prices. This not only affects households, but also other industries that utilize eggs daily, such as restaurants, bakeries, and processed foods manufacturers. Farmers are being affected too and the government has allocated $1.25 billion in an effort to help. However, for many of them, it’s not just about the money, many have built their lives around these farms for decades.
The Public Health Risks of Bird Flu
While the disease has mostly been contained within the bird population, there have been cases of humans having contracted the virus too. In fact, 66 human cases were reported in 2022, however, these were mostly farmers. However, there was also one death recently reported in Louisiana that was linked to a strain that has been spreading in wild birds – the D1.1 strain. The real issue arises if the bird flu virus mutates and begins to spread among the human population. This is why scientists are working on finding ways to use technology to improve outbreak detection methods. Using artificial intelligence, these scientists are tracking mutations and predicting where the next outbreak will occur.
The Bottom Line on Bird Flu
Farmers are currently striving to improve their biosecurity in an effort to minimize the chances of further spread. However, Bird flu likely won’t disappear unless there is an effort globally to deal with it. After all, this isn’t just an American issue – migratory birds don’t require passports and are free to travel wherever they wish. Meanwhile, they are potentially spreading the disease in the process. Unless methods are found to handle this issue, the virus will keep destroying chickens and causing egg prices to soar.
Read More: U.S. Reports First Backyard Bird Flu Case as Emergency Declared in Multiple States