With avian flu wiping out chicken populations and driving up egg prices, people have been struggling for solutions. US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr has suggested that instead of culling birds that are affected, farmers should consider letting the disease run through the flock to identify and preserve birds that are immune to it.

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain emphasizes the terrible impact that would have on the industry thusly: “There might be two chickens left when it’s over.”

There isn't anybody who's been in the grocery store in the past few months that hasn't dealt with the exorbitant cost of eggs.  Or maybe it's the 'eggsorbitant' cost of eggs. Sorry, trying to inject a little humor into a basically humorless situation.

But the crisis hasn't gone unnoticed by Louisiana state officials.  Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain recently met with Brooke Rollins, Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, about how to get a handle on egg prices, and what to do about the effects of Bird Influenza.

As the nation combats high egg prices due to viral chicken deaths, Louisiana officials say the state's poultry farmers remain unaffected. The virus is in the state, killing wild bird populations. The key, experts say, may be Louisiana cattle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending $1 billion in a five-pronged approach to combat this year's predicted 40% increase in egg prices.

Bird flu has been detected in a backyard flock in Southwest Louisiana after a person exposed to the flock tested positive for the illness.

The SWLA resident was the first person in the state diagnosed with H5N1 and became the first person in the U.S. with a severe case of the disease in the current outbreak. They are hospitalized in Louisiana in critical condition, health officials said Wednesday.

Testing has confirmed a case of avian influenza in a backyard flock in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. The backyard flock owner alerted the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry of increased mortality in the backyard flock. Following an investigation by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the non-commercial backyard flock (non-poultry).