The price of eggs is rising once again as the ongoing bird flu epidemic coincides with the holiday baking season.

While prices are climbing, they’re still far from the peak they reached nearly two years ago. Meanwhile, the American Egg Board says egg shortages at grocery stores have been isolated and temporary, thus far.

However, a tour of eight Turlock grocery stores Friday afternoon showed that egg stocks are, indeed, running low.

Of the grocery stores surveyed — Cost Less, Costco, Food Maxx, Raley’s, Safeway, Save Mart, Walmart — only Costco was totally out of eggs Friday afternoon, while Food Maxx seemed to have the most in stock. All other stores had eggs, but their selections were thin, with some varieties sold out. 

Three stores — Costco, Raley’s and Save Mart — had signs posted that alerted customers that the store reserves the right to limit the amount sold to a particular customer. In other words: no egg hoarding.

“I do have some eggs out there, but right now we’re only getting about half our usual shipment,” said Cost Less store manager Oscar Avila, who plans to retire next week after 48 years in the business. “But we do have some eggs out on the shelves right now.”

Millions of laying hens have been slaughtered by growers this year in response to the bird flu. The bird flu has been around for decades, but the current outbreak of the virus began in early 2022 and prompted officials to slaughter millions of birds, mostly egg-laying chickens, in 47 states, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Whenever the disease is detected, the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit the spread of the virus.

On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to the bird flu epidemic.

The declaration comes as bird flu — Avian influenza A (H5N1) — has been detected in dairy cattle on farms in California. The virus has spread throughout 16 states among dairy cows, following its first confirmed detection in Texas and Kansas in March.

“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “Building on California’s testing and monitoring system — the largest in the nation — we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information.”

Two months ago, neighboring Merced County reported its first human H5N1 avian flu case, which involved a person who had direct exposure to sick cattle on a dairy farm.

Newsom stressed that the risk to the public remains low.

(Jeff Benziger contributed to this article).