Bird flu outbreak drives up egg price to record high in US

New York, Jan 10
Egg prices have increased nationwide by around 38 per cent in the last year in the US, bringing the average cost of one dozen up to $3.65 in November versus $3.37 in October and $2.14 in November 2023, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.

"The $3.65 is just an average," USA Today noted the hike on Thursday. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the wholesale price for a carton of large eggs on the New York market rose to $6.06 dollars per dozen, while the Midwest region saw prices around $5.75 and California as high as $8.97, as of January 3.

In other cases, eggs simply are absent from shelves altogether, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The major reasons both experts and consumers are pointing to? The ongoing bird flu outbreak, the rising cost of doing business, and, in some locales, changing laws. When will things start to cool down? That may be a little harder to pinpoint," said the report.

The ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or bird flu, outbreak is the most obvious reason for the country's current egg dilemma.

The USDA AMS said in a January 3 report that grocery stores have seen "record-high prices" in retail markets across the nation, driven by "significant outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial table egg layer flocks through December."

As of January 6, the virus has affected more than 130 million poultry across 50 US states since January 2022, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Because of the massive spread, infected birds are being culled across the United States, with casualties sometimes numbering into the millions at a single location.