March 12 Despite consumer prices increasing just 2.8% compared to last year and the index for food increasing just 0.2% in February, the Consumer Price Index revealed egg prices continue to rise, increasing 10.4% from January to February (with seasonal adjustments) and 58.8% year-over-year.

That was Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, discussing the avian-flu crisis in the U.S. in a recent op-ed in STAT, a publication that specializes in health and medicine.

The USDA’s latest weekly report on the egg market noted, however, that retail prices do not yet reflect these trends and demand is expected to remain under pressure until that happens.