Love your Egg McMuffin in the morning? McDonald’s fans in Australia might be out of luck for a late-morning breakfast. A recent outbreak of bird flu has disrupted egg supplies in the country, forcing the fast-food chain to ration egg-based menu items and cut breakfast times. Keep reading to learn more about this new development in the bird flu situation in the Land Down Under that has left both consumers and the fast-food industry scrambling to adapt to the unexpected disruption in their morning routines.
Limits on Egg-based Menu Items and Shorter Breakfast Hours
McDonald’s Australia has cut its breakfast hours by one and a half hours due to a shortage of eggs caused by bird flu outbreaks that have led to the slaughter of about 1.5 million chickens in the country.
“Like many retailers, we are carefully managing the supply of eggs due to current industry challenges,” McDonald’s said in a post on Facebook, revealing that starting Tuesday, July 2, its breakfast service timings would end at 10:30 a.m. instead of the usual time of 12 p.m.
While the restaurant chain didn’t say when its breakfast hours would be back to normal, it assured customers that they are closely monitoring the bird flu situation in the country. “We are working hard with our Aussie farmers and suppliers to return this back to normal as soon as possible,” McDonald’s said.
Bird Flu Outbreaks in Australia
Since the month of May, Australia has been battling outbreaks of several strains of avian influenza that have already hit 11 poultry facilities across the country. Most of these poultry facilities are egg farms.
Fortunately, none of the strains are the H5N1 variant of bird flu that spread through bird and mammal populations around the globe. To date, the H5N1 variant of bird flu has infected billions of animals and a small number of humans worldwide.
Although only less than 10% of egg-laying hens in Australia have been affected by the bird flu outbreaks and authorities claim they have successfully contained the virus, several retailers have still set limits on the number of eggs customers may purchase.
Last week, Rowan McMonnies, the managing director of industry body Australian Eggs, said (via Reuters) that there has been some disruption to egg supply in the country, with store shelves emptying towards the end of the day,
“Consumers can be assured there’s still over 20 million hens under the care of hundreds of egg farmers across Australia that will continue to work hard to ensure there’s eggs on shelves,” McMonnies added.
This year’s infections are the 10th outbreak in Australia since 1976. Authorities said previous outbreaks in the country were contained and eradicated.
What is Bird Flu?
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a viral respiratory disease that primarily affects poultry and other bird species, including migratory waterfowl. The most common and deadly form is the H5N1 virus subtype.
Bird flu is caused by influenza A viruses that can infect not only birds, but also humans and other animals that come into contact with infected birds.
Symptoms in humans include fever, cough, diarrhea, respiratory difficulties, and in severe cases, organ failure. The mortality rate for H5N1 bird flu in humans is over 50%.
Transmission to humans typically occurs through direct contact with infected birds or their bodily fluids, such as saliva, nasal secretions, or feces. Consuming properly cooked poultry or eggs does not transmit the virus.
Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strains like H5N1 can spread rapidly through poultry flocks, leading to mass culling efforts to control the disease.
While human-to-human transmission of bird flu is rare, experts are concerned about the potential for the virus to mutate and become more easily transmissible between people, which could trigger a deadly pandemic.