After a summer respite, bird flu is back
Source: NBC News
Oct. 9, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT
It was a quiet summer for bird flu: Egg prices fell a bit, fewer sick poultry flocks were culled on farms, and officials took a breath. “It was lovely,” said Shauna Voss, the assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. But it didn’t last. Bird flu is spreading again, now that wild water fowl — geese, ducks and cranes — have begun their seasonal migrations. As the birds travel, they mingle at lakes and ponds and share viruses.
In poultry, bird flu cases are spiking earlier than expected. More than 4 million poultry birds have been culled in the last month, in states including Minnesota and Iowa, after members of their flock tested positive for the virus, called H5N1. The trend corresponds to a spike in infections detected among wild birds in northern states.
Some state officials are bracing for a challenging autumn, which is when cases have typically spiked in past years. “Last week, we had our first confirmed positive,” Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said. The case was on a turkey farm in Calhoun County. “The question for us then is how extensive will it be and what kind of fall will we have.”
It’s too early to say what effect the outbreaks will have on egg prices, he added.“The only honest answer to that is we will have to see. I wish I could give you more than that,” Naig said.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/bird-flu-cases-spiking-rcna235519
They still haven't brought the price of eggs below $3 a dozen where I am (last check this a.m. and they are $3.79/dozen). And even if it doesn't spread into the poultry farms, the criminal wholesalers will still up the price again to gouge and will blame "bird flu".
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