1890 on NPR: An Outbreak of Bird Flu is Pushing Poultry Prices Higher
1890 on NPR: An Outbreak of Bird Flu is Pushing Poultry Prices Higher
From NPR …
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with professor Kathleen Liang at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University about how bird flu is driving up the price of poultry.
FADEL: So how are these new bird flu outbreaks affecting what are so far a few commercial flocks?
LIANG: The - according to the scientists' report and other tracking system that people observe, right now, the poultry - the commercial flocks was affected. The number was about 22 million birds and then 24 in 24 states. And based on the evidence that it started with the wild bird and the mobility of the wild bird being in contact with domestic flock, and that was the situation based on all the reports.
FADEL: So what role is the - are these outbreaks playing in the high prices at the grocery store?
LIANG: That's a great question because, first of all, we have to euthanize the sick birds. Those birds will never come to the market. So the demand of the chicken remains high. The USDA also has data to show that chicken consumption is actually a little bit higher than the beef and the pork over the time.