BALTIMORE — The price of eggs is up just as people are shopping to fill their Easter baskets, stock an Easter egg hunt, or prepare for Passover.
A lot of people are shopping for eggs for the holidays but there are fewer eggs on the market because of a national outbreak of bird flu.
Egg producers with affected flocks have destroy all of their birds to prevent the disease from spreading.
The USDA lists 24 states including Maryland where cases of the H5N1 avian flu has been detected in commercial and backyard flocks.
And that's causing a shortage of eggs being available for Easter.
The latest Consumer Price Index shows egg prices were more than 11 percent higher in February than they were a year ago.
Inflation combined with a shorter supply of eggs because of the bird flu and a higher demand during Easter and Passover is causing prices to go up at the grocery store.
In Maryland, an outbreak of avian flu already has been detected in Cecil and Queen Anne's counties, affecting more than 1.6 million egg laying, broiler, and young chickens.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture has quarantined the affected locations.
State officials said avian flu is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus which spreads quickly among birds, through nasal and eye secretions, as well as manure.
It’s why the Maryland Secretary of Agriculture issued an executive order in March to stop the movement of poultry litter in Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties.
The virus also can spread from flock to flock, through contact with infected poultry by contaminated equipment, even on the clothing and shoes of caretakers. Wild birds also can spread the virus.
Avian flu affects poultry like chickens, ducks, and turkeys as well as wild birds such as geese and shorebirds.
State officials said birds from the affected flocks will not enter the food system, so shoppers don't have to worry if the eggs or chicken they buy at the grocery store are safe enough to eat.
