Why Australia bird flu outbreak is forcing McDonald’s lovers to make big sacrifice

Residing in Australia and relying largely on late-morning McMuffin breakfast from McDonald’s? Then you should either change your meal timing or look for other options.

Wondering why? McDonald’s outlets across Australia have cut breakfast service hours by about 1-1/2 hours.

But why? In a post on Facebook, McDonald’s said the decision to “temporarily” reduce breakfast serving until 10:30 pm (local time) which usually is available until midday has been done after a shortage of eggs caused by bird flu outbreaks that have led to the slaughter of about 1.5 million chickens.

‘Managing supply of eggs’

In its post, McDonald’s said: “Like many retailers, we are carefully managing supply of eggs due to current industry challenges.”

“We are working hard with our Aussie farmers and suppliers to return this back to normal as soon as possible,” the fast food company further said.

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Bird flu outbreak in Australia

According to a report by Reuters, Since May this year, Australia has been struggling outbreaks of several strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza that have struck 11 poultry facilities, most of them egg farms.

Also Read: Top virologist explains: Can bird flu among humans become like Covid or long Covid?

None of the strains are the H5N1 variant of bird flu that has spread through bird and mammal populations worldwide, infecting billions of animals and a small number of humans, the report said.

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‘Refrain from purchasing eggs’

Rowan McMonnies, the managing director of industry body Australian Eggs, said in the short-term, the consumers can expect to see some empty shelves. Egg supplies are being re-directed to areas with short supply.

“Consumers can be assured there’s still over 20 million hens under the care of hundreds of egg farmers across Australia that will continue to work hard to ensure there’s eggs on shelves,” McMonnies further said.

Meanwhile, a report by BBC quoted the Australian government as saying that “Consumers should refrain from purchasing more eggs than required.”

Bird flu has affected less than 10 per cent of Australia’s egg-laying hens. Authorities say they are successfully containing the virus, but several retailers have imposed limits on the number of eggs customers can buy.

The bird flu outbreak, which spreads to farmed animals from wild birds, has led to the culling of nearly 1.5 million chickens in Australia.

The outbreak in Australia is the 10th since 1976, each contained and eradicated, the government said.

The Australian government, however, said that there has been no impact of the supply of chicken meat.

With inputs from agencies