Bird flu outbreak raises questions about the safety of store-bought eggs

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – The eggs you buy at the store are probably more expensive, but are they safe to eat?

Cases of avian flu, commonly known as bird flu, have caused mass euthanizations of chickens in large egg farming operations.

Livestock and poultry researchers at Clemson University said a large chicken farm can have anywhere from 100,000 to as many as 4 million chickens. If any are infected, they said all of those birds have to be depopulated for the risk of exposure.

And, the millions of lost eggs are being felt by consumers at the cash register.

“It doesn’t make any sense like it just went up sky rocket,” Columbia resident, Biyanka Moore, said. “I just got Eggland’s Best today. It was like $14.89. Its usually like $6.99, $7.99.”

Kenny Raines was surprised to see a surcharge for eggs at his favorite restaurant in Columbia.

“I usually get the ham and cheese omelette and now everything’s going up,” Raines said. “I don’t know what it’s gone come down to.”

Clemson Livestock and Poultry health expert, Julie Helm, said prices are spiking because of bird flu.

She said the virus is spread by wild ducks and geese.

She said the 3-year stretch of bird flu infection is the largest animal disease outbreak in American history, with a reported 23 million chickens infected since January.

“When one complex gets infected, all the birds at that complex need to be depopulated to stop the spread of the virus to other farms,” Helm said.

Experts with the USDA are now weighing the idea of vaccinating chickens at larger egg operations, but Helm said the risk may not be worth the reward.

“Vaccination is not 100% protection, as we all know with our flu vaccine this year, and it costs a lot. You’d have to handle each and every bird,” Helm said. “And who’s going to get vaccinated? So it’s not like a vaccine will come out and backyard flocks will get vaccinated.”

As a note of caution, Helm urged people with yard chickens to closely monitor their flock. She said they are most likely to come into close contact with wild birds carrying the disease.

Helm said the eggs being sold in stores are not from infected chickens.

But, Helms said it could be at least a year before depopulated egg farms are even close to replacing the amount of chickens they lost.

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