An outbreak of avian flu is sweeping North America, threatening birds in zoos, farms, and forests. Millions of birds have already been killed at farms to slow the spread, and the outbreak is driving up the wholesale price of staples like eggs.
The H5N1 strain of the avian flu, which originated in Europe in fall 2020, has been detected in wild birds in 31 U.S. states and in commercial and backyard poultry in 25, per data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It’s also spreading across Canadian poultry farms, and, per CTV News, has been reported in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
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The H5N1 viruses currently migrating through the U.S. and Canada are a brand of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that spread across Europe and into Africa, the Middle East and Asia throughout 2021, before reaching the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak is the worst since 2015, when the flu swept across 21 states between December of 2014 and June of the following year. Already this year, 22 million poultry birds have been killed to mitigate the outbreak, the Associated Press reported.
H5N1 has already wreaked havoc on bird populations in the UK, the Netherlands, and France. It was first detected in North America in Newfoundland and Labrador, in eastern Canada. Analyses suggest it was brought across the Atlantic by migratory birds en route from northwestern Europe via the Arctic.
The current strain is notably distinct from previous ones, the CDC notes. Among wildlife, the flu is “behaving differently” than what Bryan Richards, emerging disease coordinator at the United States Geological Survey Wildlife Health Center, normally sees, he said. It’s hard for the agency to get a real sense of exactly how many birds have died from H5N1, but he estimates that the numbers are in the thousands, at a geographic scope that’s much larger than typical. Nonetheless, he cautions that the virus is far from having population-level impacts.
“For the most part, the individual species impacts at this point in time are fairly low,” Richards said.
At zoos, keepers are taking extra precautions to slow the spread both to and within their facilities, adding mesh wiring on top of enclosures to limit droppings from wild birds, updating boot- and uniform-changing protocols to stop the spread of disease between birds and other animals, and preparing for the worst-case scenario of euthanizing disease carriers.
Avian flu is spread through bird droppings, saliva, and nasal discharge, and in contained facilities like farms and zoos, can be spread through contaminated equipment and supplies. That can mean entire flocks get wiped out in a relatively short period of time, from viral infection and from farmers culling birds to stop the spread of disease.
Across the country, the cost of wholesale eggs is already spiking due to the outbreak.
“When I’m talking to producers, sometimes they’ll say things to me like, ‘Gosh, the next time I talk to you, I could not have any chickens,’” Karyn Rispoli, egg market reporter at market insights group Urner Barry, told Motherboard. “They don’t know what the next day is going to bring.”
The wholesale price of eggs in the U.S. reached a record high at the end of March, surpassing $3 for a dozen, up from prices that typically hovered around a dollar, according to Urner Barry. Eggs are also de-shelled and used in industrial food production for goods like ice cream, baked goods, and salad dressings, meaning strain on the egg industry could be felt across a range of grocery store shelves.
It’s still early in the spring migratory period, Rispoli noted—how H5NI will spread in coming weeks is yet to be seen, but remains a point of stress for farmers. The viruses also have yet to show threat of transmission to humans, though: Only one person has been identified as infected with H5N1 in the world, they live in the United Kingdom and raise birds that became infected with the virus. For everyday poultry and egg consumers, the current strain is no reason for alarm, the CDC cautions.
Rispoli, for her part, says the timing of an egg shortage right before Easter and Passover offers at least one reason for alarm.
“It’s certainly got people’s nerves running a little bit high,” she said. “And, as we saw, caused the market to respond accordingly.”
