NATCHEZ — Even though the bird flu hasn’t made its way into the region, local consumers are starting to feel its effects.

“Egg pricing and some capability of getting (egg-based) products is getting harder,” said Barry Loy, vice president of operations for The Markets.

“We have also seen some price increases in bakery products that have eggs in them.”

The H5N2 avian flu virus began showing up in Midwest commercial turkey and chicken farms this spring. To date, 48 million turkeys and chickens — including egg layers — have died or were euthanized to prevent the virus from spreading further.

 

Because of the crisis, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its forecast for table egg production this year to 6.9 billion dozen, a 5.3 percent drop from 2014. By late May, the price for a dozen Midwest large eggs had soared 120 percent from their mid-April, pre-bird flu prices to $2.62.

Eggs sold at The Markets are regionally sourced, but the overall situation has driven prices up, Loy said.

“The egg producers we buy from are all southeastern producers, but the impact is when you take away the whole northern part of the country’s producers, it puts stress on all the other producers,” he said. “They took a pretty immediate price jump, but it seems like they are leveling off.”

Prices began falling last week, but officials say it could take up to two years to return to normal production.

Chicken meat prices have not been subject to change because of the national situation, Loy said.

“Just about all the chicken we sell is Sanderson Farms, which is a Mississippi company,” he said. “They pretty much control the southeastern market, and they have not been affected.”

Loy said getting turkey products and pricing, however, have also been difficult.

“They are telling us new products, new flocks, take an actual 24-month cycle to fully recover,” he said. “At least we know we have turkeys for Thanksgiving this year.”

But while the shortage may affect some prices, the food itself is OK, Loy said.

“This doesn’t have any impact on humans at all,” he said. “There is no human health hazard risk at all.”

Brenda Honeycutt, assistant manager at Cash Saver, said the store has not had to adjust prices because of the crisis at this time.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.