The ongoing bird flu outbreak in the United States is having a growing impact on communities in Massachusetts, from closed parks to skyrocketing food prices.
There may be a shortage of eggs at your local grocery store, and you’re going to pay more per carton. Egg prices have soared 65% over the past year - and that's if you can even find them on the shelves of your local market.
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“They are bare, today they are very bare,” said shopper Doris Reuters.
Some stores, like Wegmans, are warning customers in their app that avian flu will cause the supply to fluctuate and prices to rise.
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Reuters said, “Today I looked for eggs, but I don’t look at the price.”
“Oh my gosh, it’s a staple, it really is, for breakfast and baking, everything,” said shopper MaryAnn Cugini.
That means it’s also affecting restaurants, especially diners that have mostly egg-based meals. That means either they have to pass the cost increase onto the consumer or absorb it – neither of which is a great option.
“You’re really at the mercy of whoever’s controlling these commodity markets and it’s difficult, because we can’t just reprint our menus every day. We have to kind of absorb the cost," Tim Burke from In A Pickle Restaurant said.
Avian flu has infected 67 people over the past year in the United States, causing one death. But experts say the disease has an almost 100% mortality rate in animals.
“We are dealing with a lot of dead birds out on the ponds,” said Brockton Park Commission Chairman Charles Studenski.
Concerns over birds possibly being infected with the virus have even led to shutting down D.W. Field Park in Brockton and Avon – after 20 to 30 dead birds suspected to be infected with bird flu were found there last week.
“We are dealing with a lot of dead birds out on the ponds," Brockton Park Commission Chairman Charles Studenski said. "And we’ve had the guys out, animal control’s been up here and it’s a shame but we really don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Officials caution people to not touch any injured or dead birds, but to report them to authorities.
