Here’s why eggs may not be in store shelves right now

Bird flu is spreading over the United States, causing egg prices to hover and accessibility to fall.

Cases of bird flu or avian flu have risen among animals – including dairy cows, wild birds, poultry and even pet treasures.

More than 150 million poultry birds have been killed across all 50 states since 2022 in an attempt to fight a strain of bird flu known as H5N1, and these endeavors are now leaving grocery store empty where cartons used to sit.

The number of birds affected by the virus has increased in recent months, by approx. 7 million affected in November, 18 million in December and 23 million in January, according to the latest figures from the US Ministry of Agriculture.

Over the past 30 days, 125 flocks were confirmed to test positively for bird flu, according to the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Of the flocks, 81 were on commercial farms and 44 were the backyard flock.

When a bird is infected, the only way to prevent the virus from spreading further is that de-populage or beating the entire flock. This can affect the price of eggs.

David Ortega, food economist and professor at Michigan State University, told ABC News that when a flock used to lay eggs is cut off, it may take time to get a new flock to start laying eggs again.

“Every time you have a detection, you have to vouch for birds within a given area, and it takes a significant amount of time … that kind of rebuilding that flock and for these layers to become productive again,” he said. “There’s a bit of a biological limitation on this. Manufacturers can’t just start producing eggs again if there’s a lot of a delay.”

Ortega said the significant increase in the price of eggs can be linked to increased demand, especially because there are not many effective compensation for eggs.

However, he said he does not believe that the United States is experiencing a deficiency.

“It’s not that we’ve run out of eggs. That’s just that, because of the influences that bird flu has on the industry, and just like the supply chains for these products are built, there may be stock in certain regions of across the country, ”said Ortega.

Earlier this week, Waffle House, a restaurant chain with over 2,000 locations, implemented an additional fee of 50 cents per day. Eggs considering the unprecedented increase in egg prices.

The limited supply of eggs even leads some to resort to theft. About 100,000 eggs were stolen from the back of a trailer in Antrim Township this past weekend with a retail value of about $ 40,000, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Ortega said he expects to see egg prices continue to rise until the number of cases of bird influza begins to fall.

“As many commercial operations have been affected and we really need a period – as a sustained period of a number of months where we do not see the level of bird flu — impacts that we have seen recently – for things to start for that kind of stabilizing, ”he said.

As consumers watch out for eggs in their local stores, the USDA announced on Wednesday that a tribe of bird flu, which had primarily spread in wild birds, was detected in dairy cattle in Nevada.

This is the first detection of this tribe of bird flu, known as D1.1, in cattle. The detection was a result of the USDA National Milk Testing Program launched in early December.

The USDA did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.

Egg dignity is only one of the concerns that arise in connection with avian influenza’s ongoing wave; Human cases of bird flu have also recently arisen, largely among dairy products and poultry farmers.

Human cases have been diagnosed across the country since April 2024, with 67 confirmed in 10 states from Wednesday, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most human cases have been mild where patients have fully arrived. So far, only one death in Louisiana has been registered in a patient over the age of 65 who had underlying medical conditions. He and a few of the more serious cases had received the D1.1 tribe.

CDC and other public health officials say that there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission and that the risk of the public is low.