Bird flu forces McDonald’s Australia to cut breakfast hours

Bird flu forces McDonald’s Australia to cut breakfast hours

The H7 avian influenza outbreak affects egg supplies on nearly a dozen poultry-infected farms.

McDonald’s halted breakfast orders at 10:30am instead of noon, adjusting egg supply amid challenges from the bird flu outbreak. (McDonald’s pic)
SYDNEY:
McDonald’s fast-food outlets in Australia have cut breakfast service hours as bird flu outbreaks around the country hit egg supplies.

“We are carefully managing (the) supply of eggs due to the current industry challenges,” McDonald’s Australia said in a message to customers this week.

As a result, breakfast orders will stop at 10:30am instead of midday, it said.

“We are working hard with our suppliers to return this back to normal as soon as possible,” it said.

Australian authorities say H7 avian influenza has emerged at nearly a dozen poultry farms across Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The government said chickens at the infected farms have been “depopulated” — a euphemism for extermination.

Scientists say the bird flu strain is genetically related to viruses detected in Australia’s wild bird population and is not the H5 strain spreading elsewhere in the world.

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