--- title: 6 Crazy Facts About the Bird Flu Outbreak description: The bird flu outbreak of 2015 has resulted in 47 million dead chickens and turkeys—and record-high egg prices will hit grocery shoppers in the wallet by the end of the year. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2015-06-11T15:43:13.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:16:32.000Z' section: Business tags: - Budget - diseases - groceries word_count: 355 canonical: https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A notice that the price of eggs will be rising soon is seen on June 4, 2015, at a Giant grocery store in Clifton, Virginia.](https://img.money.com/2015/06/150610_em_eggprices.jpg) *Egg prices are expected to hit a record high due to the bird flu outbreak of 2015.* "Why Aren't We More Scared of the Bird Flu?" a [*New Yorker* headline](http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-arent-we-more-scared-of-the-bird-flu) wonders this week. As early as mid-May, some were referring to the spread of avian influenza in early 2015 as the ["worst bird flu outbreak in U.S. history."](http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2015/05/post_71.html) Back then, roughly 30 million chickens and turkeys had been killed. The toll is now up to 47 million birds and counting. And there is much uncertainty about how or when the danger will dissipate. “If there is any disease that’s incredibly humbling, it’s influenza,” Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota, explained to the [Minneaspolis *Star Tribune*](http://www.startribune.com/scientists-race-to-decode-secrets-of-deadly-avian-flu-strain/306436121/) recently. “Every time you think you know it, you are reminded that Mother Nature is in charge.” According to the [CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5/index.htm), the bird flu virus has been detected in chickens and turkeys in 15 states. "No human infections with these viruses have been detected at this time," the CDC notes, and that is the simplest answer to the question posed above by the *New Yorker*. Nonetheless, there is still cause for concern about the bird flu, if for no other reason than its impact on your grocery bill. Consider the following: • More than [47 million chickens and turkeys](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/us-health-birdflu-eggs-idUSKBN0OQ2EG20150610) have died as a result of the bird flu. • For the first time since 2008, domestic egg production will [decline this year](http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-arent-we-more-scared-of-the-bird-flu). • The bird flu has already caused egg prices to soar this spring. In some cases, supermarket prices for a dozen eggs have more than doubled since May. And the USDA forecasts that prices will hit an [all-time high in the fourth quarter](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/green-fields/2015/06/10/usda-eggs-prices-record/71025210/) of 2015. • American consumers will wind up spending roughly [$8 billion extra](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-03/u-s-egg-prices-reach-record-as-bird-flu-toll-nears-45-million) on eggs this year, a 75% increase over last year. • U.S. companies will soon be [importing eggs](https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/) from Europe for the first time in more than a decade as a means of coping with the domestic egg shortage • The U.S. government budgeted $410 million to battle the bird flu and compensate farmers for their losses, and it looks like that won't be enough—it's likely that more than [$500 million](http://www.agweb.com/article/cost-to-fight-bird-flu-could-climb-to-500-million--blmg/) will be spent. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retail", "item": "https://money.com/retail/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "6 Crazy Facts About the Bird Flu Outbreak" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/", "name": "6 Crazy Facts About the Bird Flu Outbreak", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-06-11T15:43:13.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:16:32.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "6 Crazy Facts About the Bird Flu Outbreak", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/06/150610_em_eggprices.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1270, "caption": "150610_EM_EggPrices" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-06-11T15:43:13.000Z", "description": "The bird flu outbreak of 2015 has resulted in 47 million dead chickens and turkeys—and record-high egg prices will hit grocery shoppers in the wallet by the end of the year.", "abstract": "The bird flu outbreak of 2015 has resulted in 47 million dead chickens and turkeys—and record-high egg prices will hit grocery shoppers in the wallet by the end of the year.", "@id": "https://money.com/bird-flu-egg-prices/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:16:32.000Z", "wordCount": 355, "keywords": [ "Budget", "diseases", "groceries" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retail", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail" ] } ] } ] } ```