 "A sign for customers shopping for eggs at Trader Joe's hangs by cartons of eggs in Merrick, New York, US, February 10, 2025. File Image/Reuters")
The US government is planning to import eggs from South Korea and Turkey amid a shortage caused by raging bird flu across the country, which is driving up prices.
While announcing the plan, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “We are talking in the hundreds of millions of eggs for the short term.” The Trump administration is trying to combat bird flu, which has affected millions of hens forcing farmers to cull them to prevent the spread of the disease, with a budget of $1 billion.
The costs of eggs have surged more than 65 per cent over the past year despite US President Donald Trump’s promise to cut down prices.
“When our chicken populations are repopulated and we’ve got a full egg laying industry going again, hopefully in a couple of months, we then shift back to our internal egg layers and moving those eggs out onto the shelf,” Rollins added.
US reaches out to foreign exporters
According to a report by AFP, Polish and Lithuanian poultry associations have said that authorities from the US have reached out to them for the supply of eggs. Katarzyna Gawronska, director of the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers said, “Back in February, the American embassy in Warsaw asked our organisation whether Poland would be interested in exporting eggs to the US market.”
In February, the US Department of Agriculture introduced a $1 billion, five-part initiative aimed at addressing egg prices. The plan allocates approximately $500 million to enhance biosecurity, around $100 million for the research and development of vaccines, and $400 million to support farmers through financial relief programs.
Can eating eggs infect humans?
Researchers are still investigating whether consuming food or beverages contaminated with avian influenza can transmit the virus to humans. In the United States, the majority of the 66 reported cases since 2024 have been linked to direct contact with infected animals.
The virus mostly sickens hens and experts have suggested that infected flocks can be culled to stop the transmission of the flue.