Eggs are available -- but pricier -- as the holiday baking season begins

abcnews.go.com:

Egg prices are on the rise again as a lingering outbreak of bird flu coincides with high demand during the holiday baking season

Egg prices are rising once more as a lingering outbreak of bird flu coincides with the high demand of the holiday baking season.

But prices are still far from the recent peak they reached almost two years ago. And the American Egg Board, a trade group, says egg shortages at grocery stores have been isolated and temporary so far.

“Those are being rapidly corrected, sometimes within a day,” said Emily Metz, the Egg Board's president and chief executive officer.

The average price for a dozen eggs in U.S. cities was $3.37 in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down slightly from September, and down significantly from January 2023, when the average price soared to $4.82. But it was up 63% from October 2023, when a dozen eggs cost an average of $2.07.

Metz said the egg industry sees its highest demand in November and December.

“You can’t have your holiday baking, your pumpkin pie, your stuffing, without eggs,” she said.

Avian influenza is the main reason for the higher prices. The current bird flu outbreak that began in February 2022 has led to the slaughter of more than 111 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens. Anytime the virus is found, every bird on a farm is killed to limit the spread of the disease.

More than 6 million birds have been slaughtered just this month because of bird flu. They were a relatively small part of the total U.S. egg-laying flock of 377 million chickens. Still, the flock is down about 3% over the past year, contributing to a 4% drop in egg production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The latest wave of bird flu is