HONOLULU (KHON2) — Avian Influenza, which has killed millions of egg-laying hens is causing a major nationwide egg shortage. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You According to Waialua Fresh Eggs, the U.S. required about 340 million egg-laying hens to feed the country. Avian flu has reduced that number to 300 million and more are dying every week. Cats can get sick with bird flu. Here’s how to protect them "It's not like you can just start producing eggs right away," said Avery Barry, Waialua Fresh Eggs general manager. "To repopulate a barn and get them back into production, it takes about a year. So, this will be kind of an ongoing thing." Local egg farms like Waialua Fresh Eggs produce about 300,000 eggs a day, but it's still not enough to meet the demands of residents, restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores. "Everyone is fighting for eggs right now, so we may not get eggs for a couple shipments, but we try to. That's why we try to order more," said Carrie Huang, owner of Egghead Cafe. Prices of eggs have surged due to high demand concerning those in the food industry. "The prices are just outrageous, sky high," stated Kimo Muraki, D. Otani's produce buyer. "The prices have increased anywhere from 200% to 300%. It's been the worst. We've had it in the past a few years back, but not as bad as this one." Businesses hope the shortage won't last long while local egg farms have taken precautions to keep their own birds healthy. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here "We've bolstered our biosecurity. No visitors to the farm, shower in, shower out. We're spraying tires, doing everything we can to keep it off of our farm," said Barry.