Egg inflation | Consumers and businesses see egg prices skyrocket due to bird flu shortages, chicken culling

It’s not just your imagination, your grocery bill is really going up. That’s because prices have risen substantially, and inflation isn’t the only reason.

One example of a product whose prices have risen significantly is eggs. Egg prices jumped nearly 50 percent in 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index.

In addition to inflation, eggs faced significant challenges in 2022 that hurt the national supply.

Consumers and businesses are seeing rising egg prices and shortages in grocery stores. That’s because farms and other suppliers of the eggs you buy at your local grocery store are reporting limited supplies due to bird flu.

Farmers across the country and in North Carolina had to cull entire flocks of chickens when one or more tested positive for bird flu.

Back in October 2022, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services warned the public and farmers that backyard a chicken flock in Wake County tested positive High Path Bird Flu (HPAI).

The positive sample was identified by the department’s laboratory in Raleigh and was the first confirmed positive in a backyard herd in the state.

To prevent the spread of the disease, a flock of less than 100 birds had to be destroyed.

HPAI was found at nine poultry farms in Johnston and Wayne counties in the late spring and early summer of 2022, according to the department.

CDC officials said this type of HPAI virus is considered a low risk to humans, but is highly contagious to other birds, including commercial flocks and backyard birds.

The virus is also not considered a food safety threat, and infected birds do not enter the food supply.

There was a similar spike in egg prices in spring 2022 due to shortages caused by bird flu.

Check food prices, consumer goods here at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics