Egg supply dwindles due to Bird Flu outbreaks
Jan 15, 2025
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - The price of eggs keeps going up, reaching record highs of nearly $9 a dozen in certain parts of the U.S.
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It's all due to outbreaks of Bird Flu. The virus has killed millions of poultry, driving up the price of eggs, and even causing some shortages.
"They're killing off all the chickens and that's why you're having a hard problem of getting eggs in the supermarkets everywhere," said Larry Katz, owner of Arnold's Meats in Chicopee.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, more than 100 million birds have been affected since 2022.
Some locally-owned stores, however, are yet to feel the effects.
"We lucked out," said Katz. "We have a broker that's going to cage-free farms for eggs and we're not having any problem getting them so far. But we might later on but right now, we're getting our orders every week."
But, as Katz says, these stores could see supply issues later if the outbreak doesn't slow.
And public health officials say, it's not expected to.
In fact, as the Biden and incoming Trump Administrations prepare to tackle the outbreak, public health officials and infectious disease experts are warning that a lack of coordination between the two groups would have huge consequences.
They worry that the H5N1 virus could evolve enough to set off another human pandemic.
Conversations between the two groups did begin this week, and officials say the Trump administration will need to ramp up efforts to prevent the virus from spreading.
Meanwhile, it's eggs that are consistently impacted. Supply issues will lead to an uptick in prices, and while CNBC says prices are expected to ease from late 2024 highs, they will likely stay above pre-outbreak levels through 2025.
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