As bird flu outbreaks continue to affect animals, experts answer questions about keeping pets and their owners healthy

Feb. 25 The Department of Agriculture released an updated food price outlook report for the year predicting that egg prices would increase 41.1% in 2025 as they continue to experience “volatile month-to-month changes” because of the ongoing bird flu outbreak—up from the 20.3% increase the USDA predicted in January.

A lot goes into the production of eggs — and with the Trump administration’s tariff policies potentially affecting costs for chicken feed and equipment, bird flu isn’t the only reason U.S. consumers may continue to pay high prices for eggs at the grocery store.

Bird flu is sweeping through egg-laying chickens in the United States at an unprecedented rate. So far in 2025, 30 million layers, as they’re known, have been culled, close to the 38 million killed throughout all of last year: Nearly 10 percent of the country’s annual number of egg-layers have been wiped out.

Vaccines could prevent bird flu and the mass slaughter of chickens that currently leads to high egg prices. The USDA plans a $100 million study on bird flu vaccines, but concerns about chicken exports slow the process.

European Union wholesale egg prices have climbed to the highest level in more than a decade as bird flu outbreaks continue to roil the industry across the world.

With record high egg prices, should the U.S. vaccinate chickens against bird flu? Any such program would be expensive and logistically difficult.

Egg producers blame the ongoing bird flu outbreak for driving prices up to record highs. But some believe giant companies are taking advantage of their market dominance to profit handsomely at the expense of egg buyers.