July marked a third straight month that egg prices rose on an annual basis, a reversal from a year of relative decreases. The culprit was a continued battle against the highly pathogenic avian influenza, known in short as HPAI or the bird flu. Inflation in egg prices became a focus for consumers during the pandemic given their ubiquity in everyday cooking. The bird flu had a historic outbreak in 2022 and surged once again at the end of 2023. That can underscore the impact of any bird flu outbreaks on the prices customers see on grocery store shelves.

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Persons: Luke Sharrett, Caitlinn Hubbell, Hubbell, resurgences Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Purdue University's Center, Food, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: West Lafayette , Indiana, Colorado, California