Despite high egg prices across the country, Washington consumers are paying less than those in states like Hawaii and Florida.

Bird flu is causing egg prices to soar, costing restaurants more, especially those that focus on brunch. Some restaurant owners say they are already raising prices.

Photos of bare grocery refrigerator cases and tales of egg prices gone wild have been rampant on social media this winter. The scenes aren’t manufactured drama. The U.S. Department of Agriculture noted last week that some grocery stores have been limiting the number of cartons customers can buy and hanging signs announcing shortages where cartons of eggs would normally be stacked.

With more than 133 million poultry birds affected by avian influenza across the U.S., some states are experiencing egg shortages.

But one way that food safety experts say they shouldn’t be consumed is raw. In recent years, another nasty bug has been afflicting poultry and, in turn, egg production. A type of highly pathogenic avian influenza known as H5N1 has been circulating in wild birds and poultry,

Easter is still months away, but grocery shopping could soon become an egg hunt as the impact of the bird flu outbreak is affecting supplies of eggs in Florida. Some outlets of grocery chains in the Tampa Bay area,

"We are experiencing shortages of eggs due to the ongoing Avian Bird Flu (HPAI) situation," said Lindsey Willis, media relations manager for Publix. "As a result, the availability of these products is limited,