Bird flu resurgence drives up egg prices, spurring some to stock up

Bird flu fears are driving up egg prices again.

After having subsided for most of 2023, a recent resurgence of avian influenza in poultry facilities across the U.S., Japan and other nations have caused prices of eggs to jump again.

The virus, commonly referred to as bird flu, is extremely contagious and lethal among birds, has been detected in dairy herds in recent days.

"The reason for the big surge in egg prices is HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) hitting egg farms and killing chickens and cutting egg production," said David Anderson, a professor and food economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University.

In the U.S., more than 14 million egg-laying chickens died in November and December as a result of avian flu. In the last 30 days, more than 8 million birds among America's commercial flocks remain infected, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Two weeks ago, Cal-Maine Foods — the country's largest chicken egg manufacturer in the U.S. — temporarily halted production and culled more than a million of its flock at one of its facilities after a bird flu outbreak.

"Many countries and regions worldwide like the U.S., EU, Russia, South Africa, India, and Nigeria face historically high price levels," Nan-Dirk Mulder, a senior analyst at agribusiness bank Rabobank, told CNBC via email.

A dozen grade A, large eggs now cost $2.41 in the U.S., having risen 10% year-to-date.

In Japan, cases of bird flu were reported in domestic poultry farms across several prefectures, infecting hundreds of thousands of hens.

Japan is the second largest consumer of eggs per capita, and eggs are an important ingredient in Japanese cooking. The country saw prices of medium sized eggs climb over 20%