WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department predicts record egg prices could soar more than 40% in 2025, as the Trump administration offered the first new details Wednesday about its plan to battle bird flu and ease costs.

With an emphasis on farms tightening their measures to prevent bird flu’s spread, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA will invest an additional $1 billion on top of the roughly $2 billion it has already spent since the outbreak began in 2022.

The main reason egg prices have climbed — hitting an all-time average high of $4.95 per dozen this month — is that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the virus’ spread when cases are found. Most were egg-laying chickens. Just since the start of the year, more than 30 million egg layers have been killed.

Egg and poultry farmers have already been working since the bird flu outbreak of 2015 to protect their birds by making workers change clothes and shower before entering barns, using separate sets of tools, and sanitizing any vehicles that enter farms. The challenge is that wild birds easily spread the virus.

The USDA is working on identifying the most effective measures farmers can take and helping spot any weaknesses in their plans.

The department has already done biosecurity reviews on about 150 farms and only one had an outbreak afterward, the USDA said, so officials believe more can be done to protect birds and they are going to make those reviews available to more farms. Any farm that has an outbreak now has to undergo a biosecurity audit. And the government will help pay up to 75% of the needed biosecurity improvements.

The USDA now predicts the cost of eggs will go up 41.1% this year. Just last month, the increase was predicted to be 20%.

And the average prices conceal just how bad the situation is, with consumers paying more than a dollar for a single egg in some places.

Prices have more than doubled since before the outbreak began, costing consumers at least $1.4 billion last year, according to an estimate by agricultural economists at the University of Arkansas. Restaurants like Denny’s and Waffle House started adding surcharges to egg dishes.

Egg prices also normally increase every spring heading into Easter when demand is high.