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As bird flu spreads, Missourians pay the price at the grocery store

Published

2 months ago

February 14, 2025

Staff Editor

missouriindependent.com – Meg Cunningham – 2025-02-14 07:00:00

As bird flu spreads, Missourians pay the price at the grocery store

by Meg Cunningham, Missouri Independent
February 14, 2025

For some people in rural Missouri, soaring egg prices have little impact on their shopping habits. They have backyard chickens that save them the trouble of dealing with a nationwide shortage.

But for those who don’t have access to a homegrown grocery store in their backyard, rising prices mean changes to their weekly shopping list.

“I’m going to have to stop buying eggs,” said Margaret Bunch, a Callaway County resident who relocated to the area over a year ago from Brookfield, Missouri.

“Back in Brookfield… I knew people who had chickens,” Bunch said. “I would have tried to buy (eggs) if they had plenty. But I’m not that well acquainted with people here.”

Bunch is feeling the pain of rising egg prices in central Missouri, where one dozen can run upwards of $6. A form of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, picked up in October and began spreading quickly through the country toward the end of the year. It’s deadly for birds, who usually pick the disease up from wild birds traveling through their farm, but it can infect mammals, like livestock and humans.

In the last 30 days across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 23 million birds have been tested and confirmed for avian influenza.

It’s putting poultry farmers across the country on edge as they try to respond to what epidemiologists call an endemic. Georgia this week lifted a statewide ban on poultry sales and auctions that it imposed after bird flu was detected in the northeastern part of the state. Poultry from 103 commercial farms in the area are still subject to quarantine, but the mechanisms that get chicken and eggs to our grocery stores are allowed to resume.

While there is little risk of bird flu spreading to the general public, the effects on consumers are widespread.

In December alone, retail egg prices were up 8.4%. From December 2023 to December 2024, egg prices rose 36.8%, USDA said. The average price of one dozen grade A eggs went up nearly 50 cents from November to December last year.

Egg prices aren’t expected to drop anytime soon. The USDA predicts prices will increase about 20% over the course of the year, compared to just over 2% for other food products.

How Missouri factors in

Missouri has been subject to similar outbreaks, just not on such a large scale.

At least 4 million of the 23 million birds infected in the last 30 days have been in Missouri. Southwestern Missouri counties like Newton, Lawrence, McDonald and Jasper have been the most affected, but few of those farms produce the eggs we buy. Many farms affected in Missouri produce turkey or chickens raised for meat, and prices for poultry other than eggs are expected to rise slightly throughout the year.

Reported cases in Missouri started picking up in mid-December, USDA data show.

Missouri officials responded by pausing swap meets and auctions — where farmers buy, sell or trade animals — in the impacted southwest Missouri counties.

It’s the state’s first line of response when addressing the spread of the disease, which came to the U.S. in 2022 and has been spreading among birds since.

“There’s not an end,” said Steve Strubberg, the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s chief veterinarian. “We are just working towards an end and trying to keep it contained in these smaller areas. We don’t want it to affect anything statewide.”

Although the virus has been spreading throughout the country for years, this particular outbreak has affected hens that lay eggs, Strubberg said.

How the bird flu spread changed in 2024

The virus typically spreads between birds through their feces and saliva. It’s usually picked up by wild birds, which may stop off at a farm during their winter migration because it has a water source. Then, poultry at that farm may visit the water source and contract bird flu due to the illness that wild birds left behind.

The types of land that are optimal for dairy or meat production are also attractive for migrating birds like ducks and geese, according to Maurice Pitesky, a specialist at the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“Overlapping of wild animals and domesticated farm animals — it’s created a higher probability of transmission,” Pitesky said in a briefing with reporters. “It’s not the only way the virus is transmitted, but it certainly makes it a riskier scenario.”

Large commercial operations are likely better positioned to deal with an outbreak before it spreads too far, because those chickens are typically kept indoors and don’t come into contact with wild birds.

“The risk is harder on those smaller operations,” Strubberg said. “Their birds stay outside and are often exposed to migrating waterfowl.”

Consumers in Missouri may have noticed that during the current shortage it has been more difficult to find cage-free or pasture-raised eggs in stores. A handful of states have laws in place that ban the sale of eggs that are not raised through those methods, and national grocery chains like Whole Foods have done the same.

Bird flu is having a disproportionate impact on cage-free egg layers. About one-third of hens used for eggs were cage-free, but accounted for 60% of bird flu cases for 2024.

Can you get bird flu from eggs?

This week, Nevada confirmed its first human case of bird flu in a dairy farm worker who was exposed through cattle. A total of 78 cases were confirmed in humans in the U.S. last year, primarily people who work on poultry or dairy farms.

Human symptoms include a fever, sore throat, body aches and fatigue, similar to a typical flu virus.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends those who are in close contact with animals wear personal protective equipment to prevent coming into contact with disease particles.

“One of the real challenges, especially in agriculture, is you have a lot of workers that are undocumented,” Pitesky said.

“Especially because a lot of these workers live in multi-generational, multi-familial homes, the virus can spread really quickly in those environments and spread even further before any kind of detection is made,” he added.

The Jasper County Health Department is working closely with poultry farmers to monitor employees who may start showing symptoms.

“We’re recommending they seek testing through a local facility and take Tamiflu or an antiviral as needed,” said Debbie Darby, the county’s health department administrator. They recommend workers wear personal protective equipment while interacting with animals or in spaces they occupy.

Poultry and meat products sold on the shelves of grocery stores are safe to consume. Unpasteurized dairy products can result in a person contracting the virus, said Taylor Nelson, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Missouri. But the risk of the virus spreading from person to person is very low, she said.

“Monitoring for any changes in transmission patterns of avian influenza is very important, so if viral mutation does happen, we can identify it and try to stop the spread,” she said in an email. “For now, the risk of catching avian influenza from another person is very low.”

This article first appeared on Beacon: Kansas City and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/02/12/missouri-bird-flu-egg-prices-2025/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } }

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

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Remarkable Women: Ashley Swip honored for work with Three Little Birds 4 Life

Published

7 hours ago

April 1, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – FOX 2 St. Louis – 2025-04-01 09:20:21

SUMMARY: Ashley Swift has been honored as this year’s Remarkable Woman by Fox 2 in St. Louis for her impactful work with her nonprofit, Three Little Birds 4 Life, which she founded after her brother’s death from melanoma in 2010. The organization aims to support cancer patients and their families by providing meals and care packages, while also launching a new peer-to-peer mentoring program. Their major fundraising event, the Jam Down Rockets, will take place on April 11th in Edwardsville, Illinois. Proceeds will support their community center and enhance services for families in need. Individual and table tickets are available for the event.

Ashley Swip was honored as the 2015 Remarkable Woman for Fox 2 and St. Louis 11, celebrated for her work as the founder of Three Little Birds 4 Life.

The non-profit organization, inspired by Swip’s late brother Tyler, aims to grant wishes to young adults with cancer in the St. Louis area. Tyler’s battle with melanoma and his love for the Bob Marley song Three Little Birds inspired the creation of the organization, which seeks to provide hope and memorable experiences for those facing similar challenges.

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News from the South - Missouri News Feed

Missouri House backs return to presidential primary

Published

11 hours ago

April 1, 2025

Staff Editor

missouriindependent.com – Shane LaGesse – 2025-04-01 05:55:00

by Shane LaGesse, Missouri Independent
April 1, 2025

The Missouri House on Monday advanced legislation that would reinstate state-run presidential preference primaries and extend the no-excuse absentee voting period from two to six weeks.

Supporters of House Bill 126 cited a widespread positive response to the recently enacted no-excuse voting period as a motivating factor. They also noted negative feedback on the 2024 party-run caucuses, which replaced the state-run primaries after they were eliminated as part of a law passed in 2022.

The no-excuse absentee voting period has been in effect since August 2022 and allows voters to cast their ballot in elections in person or by mail starting two weeks before Election Day.

Supporters of the bill said they hoped that extending the no-excuse voting period would further alleviate stress on election workers and encourage voters to cast their ballot.

The state of Missouri ran March presidential primaries from 2000 until 2020. A 2022 law signed by former Gov. Mike Parson eliminated them. In 2024, the Republican Party held in-person caucuses in Missouri to select their delegates, while Democrats opted for a hybrid caucus with in-person voting and a mail-in ballot.

Low participation in these caucuses, alongside vocal blowback from residents who preferred the state-run primaries, were cited as motivators for reinstating the primaries.

“I believe it’s a lot simpler for our residents of our state going to cast a ballot like they do it in every other way for their preference for the presidential primary,” said state Rep. Brad Banderman, a Republican St. Clair.

Under the bill primaries would be held on the first Tuesday of March during presidential election years. The estimated cost to the state for conducting the primaries is $8 million.

The bill’s supporters also noted that unlike previous years, where the primary results have not been binding to party delegates, both political parties have agreed to adhere to the results for the first ballot at their respective party conventions.

The House needs to approve the legislation one more time before it heads to the Senate.

This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.

The post Missouri House backs return to presidential primary appeared first on missouriindependent.com

News from the South - Missouri News Feed

Ballot language for Missouri anti-abortion amendment doesn’t mention abortion ban

Published

23 hours ago

March 31, 2025

Staff Editor

missouriindependent.com – Anna Spoerre – 2025-03-31 17:28:00

by Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent
March 31, 2025

A revamped constitutional amendment moving forward in the Missouri House would ban nearly all abortions in Missouri. But most voters likely wouldn’t know that just by reading the drafted ballot language.

The Republican-backed amendment, if passed out of the legislature and approved by voters, would outlaw abortion with limited exceptions for medical emergencies and survivors of rape and incest prior to 12 weeks gestation.

The amendment seeks to overturn an abortion-rights amendment approved by voters in November that legalize abortions up until the point of fetal viability. This made Missouri the first state to overturn an abortion ban after lawmakers enacted a trigger law in 2022 that banned the procedure with exceptions only for medical emergencies.

While the proposed ballot language would ask voters if they want to repeal Article I, Section 36 of the constitution —the current abortion-rights amendment — it does not directly ask voters if they want to ban or outlaw most abortions.

Instead, it would ask voters if they want to “guarantee access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages,” a right that is already guaranteed under the current constitutional amendment.

Missourians would also be asked if they want to “ensure women’s safety during abortion,” “ensure parental consent for minors,” allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape and incest” and “protect children from gender transitions.”

If approved by both the House and Senate, Missourians could be asked to weigh in on reinstating an abortion ban as soon as a special election the governor could call this year, or during the 2026 midterm election.

The legislation approved by a House committee Monday, is the second iteration of legislation filed by state Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Republican from Springfield.

Stinnett’s initial language included a criticized police reporting requirement for survivors of sexual violence. Two out of every three sexual assaults are not reported to police, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

That requirement was removed in Monday’s version.

Missouri health department rejects Planned Parenthood plan to start medication abortions

On Thursday, House Speaker Jon Patterson, a Republican from Lee’s Summit, said while he anticipates the GOP will continue to refine the exact language to put before voters, he doesn’t foresee the rape and incest exceptions being cut out in later debate.

“That’s something that the people spoke on,” Patterson said. “That’s something that all the legislators recognize is something that we have to keep.”

The new legislation, like its predecessor, proposes a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors. It also seeks to reinstate state regulations on abortion providers and facilities, including admitting privileges at a local hospital, licensing requirements and inspections.

The amendment would allow abortions in cases of fetal anomaly, which the legislation defines as “a structural or functional abnormality in the unborn child’s gestational development that would make life outside the womb impossible.”

The bill specifies that this would include ectopic pregnancies but exclude a fetal diagnosis of a disability.

State Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, raised concerns with this language on Monday. She questioned how the amendment would apply to a fetal diagnosis where a newborn could survive birth, but would die shortly after, including in cases of anencephaly, a fetal birth defect in which part of the brain or skull don’t develop properly.

The new proposal also looks to require that any legal challenges to the state law around reproductive health care be heard in Cole County.

After the abortion-rights amendment passed in November, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri sued the state, arguing several abortion regulations on the books were now unconstitutional. That case is being tried in Jackson County, where one of the state’s several Planned Parenthood clinics is located.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been unable to convince the judge to move the case to Cole County, where a judge last year attempted to remove the abortion-rights amendment from the ballot.

During Monday’s hearing, state Rep. Pattie Mansur, a Democrat from Kansas City, said she found it noteworthy that in Missouri, a 17-year-old girl could be legally married but would still need permission from her parents for an abortion.

The House Committee on Children and Families previously spent four hours debating the initial bill, including testimony from Missourians who accused lawmakers of attempting to overturn the will of the people.

Republicans have continued to defend their decision to spend much of the legislative session on an abortion amendment by arguing that Missourians were misinformed on what they were voting on in November — a reasoning that continues to draw fury from abortion-right supporters both in the legislature and in their districts.

“The most disappointing piece of that is the Republican’s consistent insistence on defying the will of the voters in this state,” House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City, told reporters last week. “Whether it’s on abortion or paid sick leave and minimum wage, the first order of business this year has been to undo what Missourians went to the ballot box to vote for.”

Aune also took notice of how late into session the proposed amendment was making its way out of committee.

“It seems to me that the reason this has been slow rolled is that there simply is not consensus on the other side of the aisle on what language to end up with, how far to go or not, what they think that they can get passed by the voters or not,” Aune said Thursday. “That is likely causing a lot of contention in their caucus right now, and I’m not mad about that.”

But there didn’t seem to be much disagreement come Monday between GOP members of the House Committee on Children and Families who passed the revised language after just a few minutes of discussion.

“It was time to get this moving,” state Rep. Holly Jones, a Republican from Eureka who chairs the committee, told her colleagues Monday.

The Senate version of the legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Adam Schnelting, a Republican from St Charles, passed out of committee in early March but has yet to be heard on the Senate floor.

Abortion within the state remains out of reach for many Missourians, despite voters in November codifying the right to reproductive health care in the state constitution.

This includes the most common type of abortion. Medication abortions remain inaccessible through Planned Parenthood in Missouri after the state rejected complication plans submitted by the clinics outlining continued care for patients in the case they had any adverse effects from the medication.

The rejection notice sent by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services was based on criteria set in an emergency rule published Thursday by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office that included a requirement that clinics must provide the names of any physicians who prescribe abortion medication.

In response, Planned Parenthood on Friday filed a motion asking that a Jackson County judge block the state statute that requires the clinics submit an abortion medication plan. As of Monday, three Planned Parenthood clinics — in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis — had started seeing some patients for procedural abortions again.

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The post Ballot language for Missouri anti-abortion amendment doesn’t mention abortion ban appeared first on missouriindependent.com