As the largest bird flu outbreak in a decade continues to send egg prices through the roof across the United States, Waffle House customers will now have to pay more for their breakfast.
The Georgia-based 24-hour diner chain announced it is now placing a temporary 50 cent surcharge on every egg sold at all of its more than 2,000 locations across 25 states. The decision is in an attempt to offset the rising cost of eggs due to the avian flu.
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“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” the company said, according to The Associated Press.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts egg prices will increase by more than 20% this year because of the bird flu outbreak. The average price for a dozen of eggs in the U.S. was about $4.15 in December, according to most recent government data.
Nearly 119,000 birds in the U.S. have been culled since early December to prevent the spread of the H5N9 strain, as well as the more common H5N1 strain.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to contain the outbreak by working closely with state and local agencies to monitor and manage the situation. The culling of birds is a precautionary measure to prevent any potential spread of the virus to other farms or regions.
The Centers for Disease Control maintains that the public health risk remains law. However, officials say they are remaining vigilant and closely monitoring the situation as at least 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, including one person who died.
