Are Eggs Safe to Eat as Bird Flu Spreads?

Bird flu is striking chickens across the country, causing shortages and pushing up prices at retailers and restaurants. Last week, one of the nation’s largest egg producers said that hens at one of its Indiana farms had tested positive for avian influenza.

Researchers have stressed that bird flu still poses a minimal risk to the general public, though that may change as the virus continues to circulate and potentially mutate. But the many empty shelves in stores and higher prices on the eggs that people can find have raised concerns among consumers about the safety of the egg supply.

At this point, experts say it’s unlikely that an egg contaminated with avian influenza would make it to grocery stores. Federal regulations require that commercially packaged eggs be washed and sanitized, which helps remove virus particles from the outside of the shell.

The virus itself also rapidly sickens hens. Egg producers, noticing the first infected birds, can respond by culling the rest of the flock. And any birds that are infected would likely die of their illnesses before they could produce contaminated eggs.

“Dead birds don’t lay eggs,” said Dr. Gail Hansen, a veterinary public health expert and consultant in Washington, D.C. When the virus does affect a flock, its eggs are typically removed from the food supply.

Scientists are still trying to figure out whether humans can contract avian influenza by eating or drinking products contaminated with the virus. Most of the at least 66 people infected in the United States since 2024 contracted the virus through contact with sick animals.