Avian Influenza Has Surfaced Again in North America; Energy Information Admin. Predicts Gas Prices to Drop
Avian influenza is again popping up across North America as USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed an eighth case of H5N2 avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock of 30,000 turkeys in Minnesota on Tuesday. The site has been quarantined. Birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent further spread of the disease and will not enter the food system. The risk to people from these infections in wild birds, backyard flocks and commercial poultry is low. Canadian officials also confirmed the disease in Ontario.
The Energy Information Administration predicts gasoline prices will average two-dollars and 45-cents this summer. It’s expected the current average price of 2-50 per gallon will fall to 2-43 in September - which is below last year’s average of 3-59 per gallon. EIA says the average U.S. household is expected to spend about 700-dollars less on gasoline this year compared to 2014 - with annual motor fuel expenditures on track to fall to their lowest level in 11-years. Crude oil is expected to average 58-dollars per barrel this summer compared to 106-dollars per barrel last summer.