Expert Blames Bird Flu for Egg Shortage and Price Hikes, Estimates How Many Months Market Will Take to Recover

The recent outbreak of avian influenza is to blame for the shortage of eggs which experts say may not be resolved for months.

The egg market is struggling after 17.2 million egg-laying hens died after contracting the virus throughout November and December of last year, reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That number makes up almost half of all the birds killed by the virus over the course of the whole year.

"We can't begin fixing it the next day. It is really a six-to-nine-month process. It's causing some shortages in certain markets that are intermittent and localized," said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board.

The strain the virus is placing upon the egg supply is resulting in inflated prices for eggs. In December, the average price for a dozen was $4.33, an almost 25% increase from what prices were at the beginning of November, reports Nielsen IQ data provided by the American Egg Board.

Supermarket chain Publix released a statement warning customers of the limited availability of in-store egg selections as a result of the impacts of the virus spreading.

"Items in this section have limited availability. We are working to bring these products back as soon as possible," the company said.

The avian flu has spread rapidly in the past couple of months, even reaching dairy farms allowing for the infection of nearby egg farms. This has been caused by weather changes altering the path of migration taken by wild fowl, which are the most common carriers of the disease.

"Hurricanes in the southeastern United States last year actually picked up those wild birds and repositioned them so that they were flying back over the same territory that they already flew over. And again, that just provides a greater opportunity for virus to spread," said Metz.