Ongoing bird flu crisis is expected to raise the prices of eggs
In a public health briefing, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul said markets must undergo a state inspection before reopening and disinfecting the marketplaces impacted.
- New York has shut down live poultry markets in response to detected bird flu cases.
- The outbreak has resulted in the culling of millions of birds nationwide.
- While human infections are relatively low, the CDC has reported 67 cases.
Bird flu continues to devastate poultry farms in the U.S., forcing poultry market closures and, more dead dead birds and higher egg prices.
On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the closure of live poultry markets in New York City and three counties.
“Over the last week, inspectors have detected seven cases of bird flu in poultry during a routine visit to live bird markers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens,” Hochul said during a virtual public health briefing.
Bird flu has also caused egg prices to skyrocket, and an outlook from the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicting egg prices will increase about 20% within the year, compared with a predicted 2.2% increase for overall food prices.
More than 156 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other fowl have been slaughtered across the United States since the outbreak began in January 2022. As for humans, 67 people have been infected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Maps of bird flu cases show the spread of the virus across the United States.
Where has bird flu been seen in humans?
How have people become infected by bird flu?
What are the symptoms of bird flu?
Most people infected with bird flu in the U.S. have had mild symptoms.
Symptoms of H5N1 birth flu infection in humans may include pink eye, fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose and shortness of breath, according to the Cleveland Clinic
While data is limited, experts from the College of American Pathologists said that farmworkers might have different symptoms than others infected either because of different strains of the virus or because they were infected in different ways.
Farmworkers, for instance, may have rubbed their eyes after touching a cow that was contaminated with the virus and then developed red eyes, which is the most common of their symptoms. Someone who came into contact with a backyard chicken or wild bird may have inhaled the virus and therefore became sicker.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for . Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
