China reports first human case of bird flu strain, egg prices jump in US

China’s National Health Commission reported the first human case of the H3N8 strain of bird flu. According to a Tuesday statement from the commission, the strain was found in a four-year-old boy from the central province of Henan who showed fever and other symptoms on Apr. 5. The child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home.

The announcement came less than a year after China reported it first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, and just over two years after COVID-19, which originated in China, became a worldwide pandemic. The commission’s statement came on the same day America’s top infectious disease expert said the United States is “out of the pandemic phase” of COVID-19.

“Namely, we don’t have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now,” Dr. Fauci said on the PBS “NewsHour” Tuesday. He added that it appeared the U.S. is making a transition to COVID-19 becoming an endemic disease that occurs regularly in certain areas.

While COVID-19 seems to be dying down in the U.S., the bird flu issue appears to be getting worse. A recent outbreak of the virus has resulted in the deaths of about 28 million poultry birds across the country.

The bird flu concerns, combined with ongoing inflation, have caused the prices of all kinds of eggs to jump. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prices for organic eggs increased by 74 cents per dozen last week. Prices for conventional eggs increased by 40 cents per dozen, and prices for cage-free eggs increased by 3 cents per dozen.