jan 11 reuters  shares of leading us egg producer calmaine foods calmo dipped to their lowest level in over five months on wednesday extending declines after the deadliest bird flu outbreak in us history drove the stock to record highs last year the jackson mississippibased companys stock has now tumbled 15 since its quarterly report in late december which showed record profits that still missed analysts expectations a daily pricing report from the united states department of agriculture usda on wednesday showed wholesale egg prices steady to lower while a recent usda egg market review indicated consumer demand was dipping following the busy holiday season but remained higher than at the same time last year calmaine shares were last down 18 to 5265 after dropping earlier to as 5222 their lowest since last september avian flu has wiped out nearly 58 million birds in the united states since the start of 2022 according to the centers for disease control and prevention driving up prices for chicken eggs and other poultry products wild birds transmit the virus and infected birds often die entire flocks which can top a million birds at egglaying chicken farms are culled to control the spread of the disease after a bird tests positive surging egg prices helped drive calmaines stock up almost 50 last year even as the sp 500 spx tumbled 19 calmaines revenue more than doubled to 850 million in the quarter ending in november as it more than doubled its averagcalmaine shares fall from record highs in wake of avian flu outbreak e selling price of a dozen eggs but its 199 million net profit fell short of analyst estimates with the company pointing to higher costs for feed due to weather the war in ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic detection of the virus in commercial and backyard flocks has fallen sharply from highs of over 10 million birds last march and april calmaine also said in its quarterly report that no bird flu had been detected at any of its facilities