Cost of the Avian Flu: High price of eggs, loss of wild birds

In two rural Maryland backyards, 50 vultures die from the same disease killing egg-laying hens

Trump blames Joe Biden for the rise in the price of eggs, but the real cause of the spike in egg prices is scarcity, and the cause of the scarcity has been falling from the trees in Kurt Kolaja’s backyard.

Kurt, a friend who lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, shared photographs of some of the dozens of dead vultures he’s found on his property and his neighbor’s since December.

Click to see the full array of photos.

The cause of death was avian flu, the same disease that has killed millions of egg-laying hens on poultry farms across the country.

“Bird flu, for me, is not an exotic disease far removed,” says Kurt, who resides near the Chester River in rural Queen Anne’s County. “It is smack outside my door, represented in vivid detail by vultures dropping from the trees.”

And some died while perched in trees.

Kurt did as the state government instructed: He contacted the Maryland Department of Agriculture. In the meantime, he bagged the birds, taking precautions suggested in a government advisory.

“I’ve been very careful,” Kurt says. “To bag the birds, I pick them up by putting a long plastic bag over my hands and arms. Plastic grocery bags, bread bags, that sort of thing and drop the entire works into a garbage bag. When I get home I put all my clothing in the laundry to wash and dry. Cold does not kill the virus but heat does, thus the dryer is my friend. Then I spray down my boots with a sterilizing solution.

“The first batch was taken by the Maryland Department of Ag, tested positive and promptly incinerated. That was a pile of about 20 birds. Since then, I've gathered up another heap of them but, as the task has become repetitive, I've stopped counting.”

He estimated that at least 50 vultures died on his property and his neighbor’s over the last two months. He reported the second group to a federal agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (APHIS) and, despite Kolaja’s concerns about the federal response under Trump, an inspector was willing to come out and collect the birds.

Turkey vultures are large, carrion-eating birds native to Maryland. Black vultures have become more common in recent years, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Government scientists have been sounding warnings about avian flu since 2022. The air-borne respiratory disease has killed millions of domestic and wild birds and, as anyone who’s gone grocery shopping recently would know, the effects on poultry operations have led to a long spike in the cost of eggs.

Commercial duck farms in New York and California euthanized more than 200,000 ducks in December and January after birds tested positive for the viruses, according to Reuters.

In January in Pennsylvania, bird flu was suspected to have caused the death of 200 snow geese in Northampton and Lehigh counties, according to the state game commission.

The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) spreads easily among wild and domestic birds but can also transmit to cats, dogs and, in rare cases, humans. Earlier this month, a variant of H5N1 bird flu was for the first time detected in dairy cattle. It was found in a herd in Nevada.

The flu has been killing wild birds across North America. The day Kurt shared his photographs, Texas wildlife officials reported 19 dead vultures in New Braunfels, with three more euthanized.

Last month in Maryland, the HPAI strain was found in seven dead snow geese in Worcester and Dorchester counties.

On Feb. 2, the state reported the first case of H5 avian influenza in a commercial broiler farm, in Worcester County. It was the fifth case on a commercial poultry farm on the Eastern Shore and sixth in the state. (The state recorded a confirmed case in a backyard flock in Montgomery County.)

Avian influenza, says Maryland DNR, “should be considered endemic throughout Maryland’s wild bird populations, especially waterfowl and raptors. Risk to human health is considered low.”

Last month, Maryland expanded its long-term contract with APHIS to provide more wildlife technicians to dispose of dead waterfowl, raptors and other birds that could be carrying HPAI. Here’s hoping that APHIS survives the Elon Musk purge of the federal government

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