Between January 2022 and November 2024, 1,200 bird flu outbreaks were identified across 48 states, according to a Wildlife Management Institute report.

Egg farms are still recovering from the 2022 outbreak but now there’s also the cage-free law, mutations and competition as bird flu devastates other states.

“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” Waffle House said in a statement. “We are continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”

Waffle House customers are unhappy with the restaurant chain, after it put a 50 percent surcharge on eggs as a result of the current bird flu outbreak. Newsweek has reached out to Waffle House via email for comment.