Turkey Prices Skyrocket 40% Due to Bird Flu Outbreaks — Just in Time for Thanksgiving

Turkey prices are expected to soar — thanks to a surge in bird flu cases.

More than 2.2 million turkeys have been impacted by bird flu this year, the Farm Bureau reports, with more than 600,000 cases in September alone. This surge, the agency says, comes amid the start of waterfowl migration season — and the Farm Bureau expects more cases as migration continues, with infected wild birds spreading the virus.

As a result, a frozen whole turkey will cost $1.32 per pound — up 4 cents from last month, and up 38 cents from last year, said the agency, citing USDA predictions. It’s a 40% jump from last year’s price of 94 cents per lb.

Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), is caused by a virus that can result in serious illness and death in birds and mammals. However, it’s just one of the illnesses impacting flocks.

The agency also warns of Avian Metapneumovirus (AMPV), a less deadly, but still wildly contagious disease that impacts the number of eggs laid by infected birds, making it difficult to replace birds lost to HPAI.

The National Turkey Federation estimated last year that up to 80% of turkey flocks were infected with AMPV, which complicates the situation with the surge in bird flu.

Meanwhile, farmers are working to protect their flocks with biosecurity efforts.

“It takes just one contact with this virus to sicken or kill your birds,” the USDA warns in its advice to farmers on how to protect their flocks from wild birds that carry and spread the disease. “In a single day, the avian influenza virus can multiply and infect every bird on your premises.”

While risk to humans remains low, the virus can and has sickened humans, killing one Louisiana man at the start of the year. In May, the Trump administration pulled funding for a bird flu vaccine in humans, citing concerns about mRNA technology. Results from Moderna’s bird flu vaccine research were positive and generated “a rapid, potent and durable immune response,” the company said in a statement at the time.