Amid the plummeting supply of eggs and soaring prices in the U.S., debate has erupted on social media about suspicions of intentional tampering to create a shortage. The debate was spurred by a 2021 study which suggests that a certain protein in egg yolks protects against COVID-19 in humans. Social media posts include claims that chicken feed is being altered to reduce egg production and that random fires at food plants are intentional acts. Conversely, professor of poultry medicine at the University of California Dr. Rodrigo Gallardo asserts that the current egg shortage is the result of tens of millions of poultry deaths caused by an outbreak of the Avian Influenza H5N1.
