Professor Sarah Michaels, a medical entomologist, began a recent class at Tulane University with a discussion about the cheapest eggs in town.
Once an affordable source of protein, a dozen eggs — if you can find them on Louisiana shelves — now averages around $7, according to a price tracker.
File photo of farm fresh eggs from Double K Farm are some of the fare at the Covington Farmers Market on Jan. 25, 2017.
The soaring price of eggs is a ripple effect of an ongoing outbreak of avian influenza, also known as H5N1 or bird flu, which has spread from wild birds to dairy and poultry farms, infected cats, and caused at least one human death in Louisiana — the only recorded fatality from bird flu in the U.S. to date.
As the outbreak worsens, concerns about its impact on agriculture and public health continue to grow. The virus has devastated poultry farms, spread to dairy cattle, and raised alarms among infectious disease experts over its potential to mutate. On Friday, poultry processing plants in New York shut down due to outbreaks among flocks, bringing the total death toll to 156 million chickens, turkeys, and other birds.
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