Are eggs safe to eat as bird flu spreads?

Bird flu is striking chickens across the country, causing shortages and pushing up prices at retailers and restaurants. Last week, one of the nation's largest egg producers said that hens at one of its Indiana farms had tested positive for avian influenza.

Researchers have stressed that bird flu still poses a minimal risk to the general public, though that may change as the virus continues to circulate and potentially mutate. But the many empty shelves in stores and higher prices on the eggs that people can find have raised concerns among consumers about the safety of the egg supply.

At this point, experts say it's unlikely that an egg contaminated with bird flu would make it to grocery stores. Federal regulations require that commercially packaged eggs be washed and sanitized, which helps remove virus particles from the outside of the shell.

The virus itself also rapidly sickens hens. Egg producers, noticing the first infected birds, can respond by culling the rest of the flock. And any birds that are infected would likely die of their illnesses before they could produce contaminated eggs.

"Dead birds don't lay eggs," said Dr. Gail Hansen, a veterinary public health expert and consultant in Washington, D.C. When the virus does affect a flock, its eggs are typically removed from the food supply.

Scientists are still trying to figure out whether humans can contract bird flu by eating or drinking products contaminated with the virus. Most of the at least 66 people infected in the United States since 2024 contracted the virus through contact with sick animals.

Still, it seems likely that the virus can be transmitted through certain foods: Monkeys have fallen ill after drinking raw milk that contained the virus. Cats have died after consuming tainted milk and uncooked pet food.

The virus is especially prevalent in the udders of cows, which means that unpasteurized milk can contain high concentrations of the virus, said Stacey L. Schultz-Cherry, a virologist and influenza expert at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Less of the virus may end up in eggs, although it's hard to say for certain without comparative studies, said Matthew Moore, an associate professor of food science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But "even provided that you somehow did a 'Rocky' type thing and just ate it raw," the probability of contracting bird flu from an egg "is still pretty low," he said.

If you want to be extra cautious, pasteurized egg products -- like liquid egg whites that come in cartons -- are considered safe, since pasteurization inactivates the virus.

And cooking eggs thoroughly kills the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends cooking eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, meaning that yolks should be firm, and that scrambled eggs should not be runny.

"The bottom line is that if people are using good food-handling practices and fully cooking their eggs as recommended, then the risk is extremely low," said Dr. Meghan Davis, a veterinarian and environmental epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Experts also recommend common-sense food safety measures: If you're handling raw eggs, thoroughly wash your hands and clean any cooking surfaces or pans with soap and water after use.

And resist the temptation to grab a spoonful of raw cookie dough or cake batter -- not just to minimize any potential risk of bird flu, but to avoid far more common pathogens, such as salmonella, that can cause food poisoning. These infections can be especially serious for young children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised, but they can make anyone feel miserable for a few days.

"Those are really strong reasons to still remind people to handle eggs properly," Moore said. "Especially if you're going to spend a lot of money for them -- don't get diarrhea from it."