US egg prices have risen over 80 per cent year-on-year to the end of July as avian flu sweeps across the Midwest and Pacific northwest regions resulting in a cull of millions of egg-laying hens.
More than 49m egg-laying hens and turkeys in 15 states have been wiped out — well over 12 per cent of the country’s flock of almost 300m laying hens — by the outbreak which started in December.
This outbreak, which more than doubled the wholesale price for a carton of a dozen eggs to $2.62 in June, dwarfs the size of the last one in the mid-1980s and is believed to be the worst in the history of the industry. The average retail price for a carton of eggs in New York last month was $2.49 — more than double the cost in April and May.
Avian flu caused the cost of chicken eggs to soar from April and to nearly double for producers in June, wholesale prices jumping 84.5 per cent against a backdrop of overall producer prices rising 0.4 per cent in the month. This wholesale chicken egg price surge was the largest increase since the government began tracking costs in 1937 and the price of thousands of household staples could rise as egg prices spiral.
Most Midwest eggs are used for liquid egg products by food producers, bakers and restaurants but the price squeeze is spreading to the retail sector.
The US approved imports of egg products from the Netherlands on June 1 and is expected to begin importing from Spain in coming weeks, further supporting European Union export quantities and prices. The US shortfall due to the epidemic is greater than the UK’s total egg production.
In the UK, a July 12 outbreak which resulted in more than 170,000 birds being culled at a farm in Lancashire, led to egg prices increasing 13 per cent month on month, said Mintec a commodities research firm. In February there was a smaller outbreak in the UK, causing prices to increase 8 per cent at the start of March.
The outbreak, which originated from the droppings of waterfowl carrying the virus, is showing signs of tapering off as temperatures continue to rise in drier conditions across the US.
However, experts predict that the virus will return in the autumn, when cooler, damp weather provides favourable conditions for its spread, and as ducks and other waterfowl complete reverse migration patterns.
The World Health Organisation says avian flu is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The infection can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness, which may pass unnoticed, to a rapidly fatal disease that can cause severe epidemics.
Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans. However, there have been instances of certain highly pathogenic strains causing severe respiratory disease in humans. In most cases, the people infected had been in close contact with infected poultry or with objects contaminated by their faeces. Nevertheless, there is concern that the virus could mutate to become more easily transmissible between humans, raising the possibility of an influenza epidemic.