Egg prices in US rise sharply amid bird flu outbreak

Shell egg prices in the US have climbed to $2.88 a dozen, up about 52% since February 8, Report informs referring to The Wall Street Journal.

It is their highest point since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to market research firm Urner Barry.

A rapidly escalating bird-flu outbreak in the US is contributing to a surge in egg prices and threatens to raise prices on other poultry products in the coming months as deaths continue to mount.

The USDA (Department of Agriculture) confirmed the first case in a US commercial turkey flock in Indiana on February 8.

Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza so far have led to the deaths of more than 17 million birds, according to Agriculture Department data. More than 11 million egg-laying chickens, roughly 3% of the total US flock, have died or been destroyed as a result of the disease, along with more than two million commercially raised turkeys.

Prices are being driven higher by the disease’s spread and the coming Easter holiday, when demand for eggs is high, analysts said. Industry officials aren’t expecting any shortages, but analysts said retailers are buying up eggs in anticipation that supplies could tighten in the coming weeks.

The price of turkey breasts, already at its highest levels since the last major avian influenza outbreak in 2015, has held around $4.45 a pound over the past few weeks, according to Urner Barry.