Silent Bird Flu Infections Send Egg Prices Soaring

February 17th, 2025

Azzy Xiang

H5 bird flu is a disease widespread in wild birds worldwide, causing outbreaks in poultry and cows, although no person-to-person risk has been detected. However, its dynamic nature is posing a major threat regarding pandemic potential, and on January 6, the Louisiana Department of Health had announced the first US death from the virus. In addition, as of last week, a new study has found that bird flu silently spreads from animals to veterinarians, with none of the veterinarians recalling any symptoms. This hints at the possibility that the 68 cases officially reported in the US may have been very severely under-reported. A virologist commented that the extent of the outbreak could be entirely unknown, especially since one of the diagnosed veterinarians worked with cows in states that did not report any infected herds. An issue of concern is that the study from the CDC revealing the potential case under-reporting was going to be released several weeks prior, but was delayed after Trump's pause on public communications.

In response to the outbreak last year, the US Department of Agriculture had announced a national program to test large samples of milk, with 40 states enrolled and testing as of February 7. Recently, the process revealed that dairy herds were infected with a new version of the virus different from last year's. This suggests that bird flu can adapt very quickly and could find a human-to-human transmission route, which could be the catalyst making infection far more dangerous.

Moreover, on the economic side of things, the bird flu outbreak has led to egg prices soaring due to chicken depopulation. For example, Legare Farms has increased its prices by 50 cents per dozen for the first time in years, and shoppers noted dramatic price increases of roughly $11 for a dozen eggs. This is particularly problematic because eggs are a staple food for many people in the United States. While Nevada had advocated for animal welfare and cage-free eggs when prices were low in 2021, it has taken severe measures to suspend the law temporarily as an attempt to get more eggs, although nearly 159 million birds have been slaughtered since the origins of the outbreak in 2022. Dropping these laws may not have a significant effect on egg prices because farmers have already invested billions of dollars in switching to cage-free environments and it is not practical to quickly return to packing chickens in massive barns.

However, organic farmers in states like Wisconsin are seemingly less impacted by the price increase, intentionally not raising their prices due to long-term relationships with customers. Bird flu hasn't struck many organic flocks, because they tend to live in smaller groups with more spacious conditions, and their pricing practices do not change quickly to market demands because organic brands partner with retailers to set a more long-term pricing decision. Advocacy groups fighting agriculture monopolies urged federal antitrust enforcers to stop egg producers from raising prices, claiming they are trying to inflate profits and consolidate market power. Democrats, including Elisabeth Warren, are also urging Trump to use his executive authority to tackle high food costs.