Bird flu outbreaks at two egg-producing farms in Maricopa County are being called an "animal disease emergency" by the state Department of Agriculture. A supply-chain expert and egg industry watcher agrees there is a crisis.
State officials say eggs for sale in stores are safe to eat.
Bird flu symptoms appeared at unidentified commercial farms six days apart. The outbreaks affected an unknown number of egg-laying hens.
“It is an emergency at this moment. And all hands on deck need to be there because eggs go as a raw material into many, many, many products,” said Professor Hitendra Chaturvedi at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.
Chaturvedi said consumers are likely to feel the impact in the next few weeks.
“So you are going to see some shortages because a lot of our eggs come from Arizona,” said Chaturvedi.
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