One hundred forty-five million birds, mostly egg-laying hens, were euthanized during the Biden administration to mitigate the spread of bird flu. Consumers nationwide are now seeing price increases and shortages at the grocery store.
Pennsylvania shoppers are spending between $4 and $7 for a dozen eggs these days with cage-free and organic costing even more thanks to the ongoing bird flu. Some shoppers are even faced with empty shelves in the egg section of their grocery store.
The number of bird flu cases among poultry flocks has intensified in recent weeks with outbreaks in North Carolina, Georgia, and Iowa. These outbreaks have affected 30 million birds, about 10% of the nation’s egg-laying population. There are no live cases of bird flu among poultry flocks in Pennsylvania.
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is primarily spread by wild birds like ducks and geese as they migrate. The virus can be spread through droppings or any interaction between farm-raised poultry and wild birds and is easily tracked onto a farm on someone’s boots or by vehicle. Since 2022, more than 145 million chickens, turkeys, and other birds have been euthanized to stop the spread of the virus, the vast majority of which were egg-laying chickens. Thirteen million were killed in December 2024 alone, resulting in the spike in egg prices at stores shoppers are now seeing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has spent at least $1.14 billion compensating farmers for the birds they have had to kill.
Instead of dying out in the summer of 2022 like in previous outbreaks, the 2022 bird flu virus infected dairy cattle, allowing it to linger and spread again. Unlike poultry, cattle are not slaughtered when they get sick because they rarely die from bird flu. Infecting cattle allowed the virus to mutate and thrive.
The Labor Department’s December inflation report showed that one dozen Grade A eggs rose from $3.30 in October 2024 to $4.15 in December 2024. This is 37% higher than in December of 2023. Some Pennsylvania ShopRites have been charging $7.79 a dozen for Grade A large eggs.
Scott Karns, the CEO of Karns Foods, emphasized his stores are not making a profit on egg sales. The chain is buying eggs wholesale for $7.25 a dozen and charging shoppers $6.90. “It is the most extreme we have ever seen. I have never seen a commodity go up so fast,” he said. To maintain inventory, Karns is turning to outside suppliers when their local supplier can’t provide them with enough eggs.
Darmayne Robertson, the owner of Sweet Confections Cakes in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania, has had to explain to her customers that her prices have increased because of the high cost of ingredients, with eggs being the worst. “It definitely impacts the sales because you know you have to make up the cost somehow, so therefore your cakes and everything else, the price increases, which is a turnoff to the customer base. They don’t want to pay the cost, but we can’t eat the cost,” she said. She is paying about $8 a dozen for eggs.
Cage-free egg laws, which set minimum space for chickens or cage-free requirements for egg-laying hens, may also be responsible for some supply disruptions and price increases. These laws have already gone into effect in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Michigan.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, told CNN Business. Projections from the Agriculture Department have prices rising another 20% by the end of 2025. It can take months to dispose of the infected carcasses, disinfect barns, and bring in new birds.
A Vice President at New Jersey wholesaler Eggs Unlimited, Brian Moscogiuri, told the New York Times that the market could take six months to stabilize. “We need to see outbreaks of avian influenza stop. We need a period of time when the farms aren’t being impacted and can repopulate their chickens and we need to see demand start to slow down.”
When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned on how the Trump administration will address the rising egg prices during her first briefing on Tuesday, she said, “There is a lot of reporting out there that is putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs. I would like to point out to each and every one of you that in 2024, when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office or upstairs in the residence sleeping – I’m not sure – egg prices increased 65% in this country. We also have seen the cost of everything, not just eggs, bacon, groceries, gasoline have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration.”
According to FDA guidance, the chances of buying eggs with contaminated eggshells are “low” and proper storage and preparation further reduce the risk. There is no evidence that the bird flu virus can be transmitted to humans through properly prepared food. Cooking meat to 165 degrees kills bird flu, E. coli, and salmonella. Pasteurization kills the virus in milk.
Five dozen people have become ill with bird flu, nearly all of whom worked around sick animals. Health officials have found no evidence of the disease spreading from one person to another.
