Bird Flu Drives Egg Prices to ₹535/Dozen in the U.S.

In addition to the chaos President Donald Trump’s tariffs have caused in the United States and the world over, another concern has been burdening citizens for the past few months: skyrocketing egg prices.

Despite promising to control grocery prices, Trump has not fully succeeded. Frequent bird flu outbreaks have triggered the surge in egg prices. According to a New York Times article, while wholesale egg prices have seen a month-on-month dip, the relief has not been extended to consumers as retail prices remain high.

President Trump has said egg prices have dropped 79% since he took office. The drop was reflected in wholesale prices as a dozen eggs were marked at $3.26 (roughly Rs 280) last Friday, down from $6.55 (Rs 563) on January 24, as per data from the Agriculture Department. Wholesale egg prices are also down from a peak of more than $8 (Rs 688) a dozen at the end of February.

However, the average retail price for a dozen large eggs reached $6.23 (Rs 535) in March, up from $5.90 (Rs 507) in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Economists believe that it will take at least a few weeks before the drop in wholesale prices is reflected in retail prices.

While there is an indication of relief for consumers, Christopher B. Barrett, an agricultural economist at Cornell University told the New York Times, “Retailers don’t have to lower it all the way to reflect how much the price really fell in the wholesale market.”

Allaying fears of the consumers, White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly assured the citizens last month that biosecurity assessments have been expanded to prevent further outbreaks of Avian Influenza. She added, “The administration’s work to combat bird flu has paid off and officials are carrying out their mandate to ‘Make America Wealthy Again.’”

Bird Flu outbreaks have caused panic in India as well, specifically in Andhra Pradesh, where a two-year-old girl died due to the virus.

Cases of deaths due to the H5N1 Avian Influenza have also been recorded in Mexico, Cambodia and the U.S. this year.