The ongoing bird flu epidemic in the US has led to widespread egg shortages and sky-high prices. Public health agencies are struggling to cope with the crisis, while the Trump administration’s purge of government departments adds to the challenge. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that turkey, chicken, and especially laying hen farms have been forced to cull 158 million birds over a three-year period.
The shortage has resulted in 18 million birds being euthanized in December and another 23 million in January, according to the US Department of Agriculture. With no signs of abatement, supermarkets are now rationing egg sales, limiting consumers to just one dozen eggs per purchase at Trader Joe’s stores, while Costco is restricting purchases to three cartons.
A preliminary agreement has been reached with Turkey, however, to import 15,000 tons of eggs by June in an attempt to alleviate the shortage.
Source: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/02/17/bird-flu-as-the-epidemic-worsens-the-us-will-import-eggs-from-turkey_6738234_19.html