The ongoing bird flu outbreak in the U.S. has killed nearly 60 million birds since January 2022, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a viral respiratory disease mainly of poultry and other birds, including migratory waterbirds, and can be transmitted to humans. The first known cases of avian influenza in humans were reported in 1997, according to Britannica.
Avian influenza viruses are classified as highly pathogenic or low pathogenic.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) outbreak was first identified in wild birds in the U.S. in January 2022, the same month the virus was reported globally, according to a Feb. 15, 2023 CDC article.
The virus continues to be mostly an animal health issue and is highly contagious among birds and especially deadly in domestic poultry, according to the same CDC article.
Avian influenza viruses are more likely to be spread by migratory birds and waterfowl. The virus spreads from bird to bird through feces and mucus, but the current public health threat to humans from A(H5N1) virus is low, according to a Jan. 28, 2015 CDC article.
Since 2003, avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) has led to high mortality in poultry and wild birds in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to the same CDC article.
While most bird viruses are low pathogenic avian influenza and cause few signs of disease, highly pathogenic avian influenza can cause severe disease and high mortality rates in infected birds and poultry, according to a March 9, 2022 CDC article.
“Since 1997, more than 880 human cases, nearly all from previously circulating H5N1 virus clades, have been reported from 21 countries with high mortality, but very few cases have been identified worldwide since 2016,” according to a Jan. 23, 2023 CDC article.
“For the general population in the Bay Area, I would say [bird flu is] probably not as much of a concern,” said Scott Shaffer, San Jose State ecology and evolution professor.
Shaffer’s research focuses on seabirds from nearby islands where he collects bird bacteria, tracks their flight paths and takes blood samples.
Shaffer said since there are no large-scale farms with domestic birds in the Bay Area, the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza is low and probably won’t be a major issue.
He said it is mostly common sense procedures that help people protect themselves from highly pathogenic avian influenza.
“If you go visit a potential place that has livestock or domestic poultry, wash your hands and change your clothes afterwards,” Shaffer said. “Maybe don’t touch your pets when you come back.”
He said SJSU’s efforts to limit the exposure of the coronavirus has helped students keep routine sanitary practices.
“I would imagine a lot of those things that were drilled into us from COVID would apply and keep the general population safe,” Shaffer said.
For the animal husbandry industry, biosecurity is a growing concern as farmers have to implement a series of management practices to prevent the introduction of the virus into a flock.
Providing clean clothing and disinfection facilities for employees, avoiding the visitations of other poultry farms and keeping poultry flock from coming in contact with wild or migratory birds are some of the measures being implemented to prevent the spread of the virus, according to an article by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
But it only takes one infected bird to infiltrate a farm and contaminate the food, water or breeding grounds, according to a Q&A by the National Chicken Council.
In 2022, more than 43 million egg-laying hens died from highly pathogenic avian influenza or were killed to prevent its spread, according to a Jan. 11, 2022 USDA’s Economic Research Service report.
“Because of the avian influenza, our egg supply is really limited,” said business and administration sophomore Mikayla Lillie.
Lillie works full time at Trader Joe’s.
She said during Christmas time last year, the store would run out of eggs by 10 a.m.
“People don’t understand the chain of supply for eggs I think,” Lillie said. “They are confused about how we don’t have any more eggs and ask, ‘Isn’t the bird flu over?’ ”
She said she reassures customers who complain about the egg shortage that workers do not control the inventory that arrives each day. She recommends customers come earlier to buy eggs before they sell out.
Lillie said she struggles to keep up with the complaints of customers who decided to take matters into their own hands.
“I see customers open the egg cartons and switch the cracked eggs out so they get all the good eggs,” she said.
Art history junior Celeste Orlosky said her local Trader Joe’s only sells pre-broken egg products, like egg whites or hard-boiled eggs.
Orlosky works at a small cafe in Santa Cruz where the top selling sandwich has a frittata – an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelet – on it.
“We usually buy eggs in bulk but our distributor has just been out,” Orlosky said. “We’ve been getting them from the grocery store next door, which is okay – they’re just a lot more expensive.”
She said her team at the cafe had a discussion about whether or not to raise the price of the cafe-favorite sandwich in response to the rise in egg prices.
Orlosky said she had a customer who offered her co-worker an alternative source of eggs.
“He had a hookup for eggs,” Orlosky said. “I don’t think it’s to the degree of a black market, but it’s almost low-key – people are dealing eggs.”
Eggs are also being smuggled across the Mexico-United States border to meet the egg demands of businesses and communities.
Bringing poultry, including chickens, other animals and their byproducts into the U.S. is prohibited and can be penalized for up to $10,000, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection webpage.
Smuggling chickens and eggs into the U.S. increases the risk of spreading highly pathogenic avian influenza dramatically, while undermining the biosecurity measures of animal farming companies across the nation.
