Sajia Athai, Class of 2026

Eggs can be made in many distinct ways–poached, sunny side up, scrambled, fried, or boiled. With a recent frenzy of fighting for cartons of eggs in supermarkets, there have been concerns raised about the food safety of eggs amid the bird flu epidemic. From Costco recalling eggs on its shelves to increasing prices for cartons of a dozen, research about the influenza virus continues to grow more integral to the food safety of eggs. A group of researchers in the Food Standards Agency of the UK collaborated in order to explore the risk of possible contraction of avian influenza from commercial poultry products and eggs. 

Avian influenza virus (“bird flu”) has been associated with the consumption of foods containing raw, contaminated poultry blood. However, the main risk factor associated with human transmission indicates occupations where direct exposure to contaminated flocks is prominent, such as slaughtering, feathering, or managing poultry. Through a set of hazard identifications and risk characterization techniques, the researchers delved deeper into a possible correlation between the virus and human transmission of the virus.

The study, focused more on sociological perspectives based on existing scientific information, aimed at increasing risk management during an outbreak.  One specific approach involved the analysis of research studies where different strains of the virus–split into high pathogenicity (HPAI) or low pathogenicity (LPAI)–were expressed in chickens. Using this data, the researchers explored how HPAI symptoms manifest in an organism. Experimental chickens with an HPAI strain quickly developed illness with depression that led to death around four days after infection. LPAI-infected birds, on the other hand, had detectable viral loads in several organs beginning between 4 and 8 h post inoculation, but by day 7 only the lungs still contained detectable viral RNA. The LPAI-infected chickens are extremely restricted, often not occurring or manifesting in very low numbers and severity. Turkeys often succumb to high mortality rates when infected with an LPAI strain. The researchers concluded from this assessment that the infection is less likely to transmit from one species to another due to general differences in virus replication. 

Through the analysis of viral infection in tissue models, the researchers have delineated that there is no epidemiological evidence suggesting that the bird flu virus can be contracted or transmitted through food that is fully cooked. It’s usually suggested to avoid raw eggs to be safe, but there seems to be little concern for consumption of thoroughly cooked eggs.

Figure 1: Chicken Farm

Work Cited:

[1] Kintz, E., Trzaska, W. J., Pegg, E., Perry, W., Tucker, A. W., Kyriakides, A., Antic, D., Callaghan, K., & Wilson, A. J. (2024). The risk of acquiring avian influenza from commercial poultry products and hen eggs: A qualitative assessment. Microbial Risk Analysis, 27, 100317.

[2] Image retrieved from: https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2024/05/24/bird-flu-arrives-in-australia-expert-reaction/