• Americans haven't seen this big of a monthly increase in egg prices in 10 years.
• The 15.2% jump brought egg prices to a record high in January.
• Gas and housing were two other pain points in January's 3% year-over-year increase in inflation.

The last time egg prices spiked this much in one month, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar's "Bad Blood" dominated the airwaves.

Egg prices rose by 15.2% from December to January, the biggest month-over-month increase since June 2015. The average price of a dozen Grade A large eggs hit an all-time high of $4.95.

Egg prices contributed to overall inflation rising to 3% year over year in January and were a major driver of a jump in grocery prices. Eggs weren't the only category with a price spike — the Bureau of Labor Statistics said rising housing costs were responsible for almost a third of total inflation last month, and gas and energy prices crept up as well.

Still, a worsening bird flu crisis continues to hit shoppers in the egg aisle.

"The H5N1 bird flu sweeping through the U.S. agriculture industry is forcing farmers to cull infected birds and sending egg prices soaring, a big supply-side shock to food prices," Bill Adams, the chief economist for Comerica Bank, said in a statement.

To prevent hoarding, some grocery stores are cracking down on how many eggs a shopper can purchase at once. A Trader Joe's spokesperson recently told Business Insider that its limit was one carton per customer per day.

"We hope these limits will help to ensure that as many of our customers who need eggs are able to purchase them when they visit Trader Joe's," the spokesperson said.

Restaurants are also struggling with high prices. Waffle House recently added a temporary surcharge for egg orders.

"The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices," Waffle House told CNN. "Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions."

Fresh whole milk and white bread are also more expensive than they were before the pandemic. The average price of coffee is higher than it was just a few years ago, too.

In a statement to BI, Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, described coffee and eggs as outliers that "can aggravate many consumers who sometimes mistakenly see the anecdotal cases of inflation as an indication of general inflation." He added that that's not always true.

"There are specific reasons why eggs and coffee have been moving up on their own, issues that are not easily resolved," Hamrick said.

• Australia is facing similar egg shortages to the US due to bird flu and industry shifts.
• Sales have been rationed in some stores since June.
• Egg production recovery is slow, taking upwards of six months.

More than six months after some Australian stores restricted the sale of eggs, some shelves are still empty.

As US consumers start to feel the same pinch, Australia's example could show such shortages don't end fast.

This week, multiple US stores, including Costco, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's, began limiting the number of cartons customers could buy.

It's not unfamiliar to Australians. In June last year, the chains Coles and Woolworths began limiting egg-carton purchases to two per shopper.

As of January, supermarkets were still limiting sales, some shelves were bare, and the industry body Egg Farmers of Australia noted a "lower supply."

The causes have much in common with the US.

1) Avian influenza — albeit different strains — in both cases wipes out some 7% of the national flock.

2) Demand went up over the holidays, further pressuring supplies.

3) A long-term trend away from caged birds' eggs toward barn-laid or free-range.

That resulted in a 11.5% price spike in Australia last year — steep, but pretty minor compared to the 65% hike in the US.

If Australia's seven-month egg shortage is anything to go by, US consumers could be waiting a while to get easy access to eggs again.

Australia is looking at several months before egg production returns to normal while it repopulates its flocks, even after its government declared its bird flu outbreak over.

Emily Burton, a professor in sustainable food production who focuses on poultry at the UK's Nottingham Trent University, told BI that it takes around six months from losing a flock to getting back to full-throttle egg production.

With US officials still reporting sporadic outbreaks in commercial flocks as recently as Friday, supply chains may remain scrambled for some time yet.