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January 11, 2003 to January 19, 2002
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The Press-Enterprise
Egg prices seen as climbing higher
01/18/2003
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/business/local/PE_BIZ_neggs18.a150c.html
The anticipation of more slaughter to combat exotic Newcastle disease will make egg prices jump next week, according to a company that surveys the national egg market.
On Monday, the price that California farmers are paid for large eggs will increase by 15 cents a dozen to 63 cents, according to a report published for egg producers by Urner Barry Publications of New Jersey. The U.S Department of Food and Agriculture concurred in its weekly market survey.
Jack Brown, president and chief executive officer at Colton-based Stater Bros., said that means that the retail price of eggs also will rise at Stater Bros. stores.
"If costs go up to the supermarkets, some part, if not all, will be passed on to the customers," Brown said.
Brown said Stater Bros. buys all of its eggs from an Inland Empire cooperative. He said he had been told that the price would go up, but not by how much. He said Stater Bros.' retail price for a dozen USDA Grade AA eggs on Friday was $1.99.
Representatives of other supermarket chains were unavailable for comment.
However, Richard Brown, vice president of Urner Barry Publications, said he expected that retail egg prices will generally increase.
"All of this move started with Newcastle in California," Richard Brown said. He said he has observed excitement among farmers nationwide who think that the death toll so far in the fight to eradicate the disease in Southern California is "a tip of the iceberg."
He said the Newcastle scare that is pushing prices higher converges with the post-holiday season, when some hens are normally taken out of production to reflect temporarily slackening demand.
Just as psychology can roil the stock market, it can sharply jostle egg prices, Richard Brown said. No matter that the 1.6 million chickens to be killed in California are a smidgen of the country's 283 million egg-laying hens.
"It is tremendous speculation that is fueling the market," Richard Brown said. "If the outbreak is contained, the market will fall rather sharply."
Meanwhile, Richard Brown said, egg farmers are getting some relief after four unprofitable years.
"They are making money now," he said.
Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com
Record-Searchlight, CA
Fairs poised to pluck poultry from lineups
Bill Choy
Record Searchlight
REF: http://www.redding.com/news/stories/20030118lo007.shtml
"The last thing we want is to have the disease spread. We don't want to take any chances."
Trish Sciarani, Shasta District Fair CEO
January 18, 2003 — 2:18 a.m.
The Shasta and Tehama district fairs plan to suspend their poultry exhibits this year due to Exotic Newcastle Disease, a fatal ailment that has recently struck poultry in Southern California and Nevada.
Shasta fair CEO Trish Sciarani said Friday that the fair board will likely vote Tuesday to cancel the exhibits. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has asked California fair boards to suspend all poultry shows in 2003.
"The last thing we want is to have the disease spread," Sciarani said. "We don't want to take any chances."
Exotic Newcastle Disease is a contagious viral disease affecting all species of birds including chickens, turkeys and ducks. It's so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said. The death rate is nearly 100 percent.
The disease cannot spread to humans and does not affect the safety of meat or eggs.
Mark Eidman, CEO of the Tehama District Fair, said it will also cancel its poultry exhibit this year.
He said the poultry exhibit gave children who didn't have larger animals a chance to participate.
"They could have a poultry project in the back yard," Eidman said. "It's going to be disappointing for them."
The disease was first confirmed in October in Southern California. The disease has been reported in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
It has appeared in Nevada as well.
On Friday, the federal government imposed a quarantine on birds in southern Nevada, as the number of chickens believed affected in the Las Vegas area doubled.
"It's very, very, severe," Sciarani said. "They were depopulating about a million birds a day" last week in Southern California.
Sciarani said 31 poultry exhibitors were at the fair last year. About 80 percent brought chickens.
She said only children from organizations such as the 4-H Club had participated in poultry exhibits.
Sciarani said fair organizers plan to have other events for the youngsters, including an egg and poultry poster contest.
"We want to make sure the kids will still be able to participate," she said.
The Shasta District Fair will be June 18-22 at the fairgrounds in Anderson. The Tehama District Fair will be Sept. 26-28 at the fairgrounds in Red Bluff.
Eidman said the Tehama fair will also have alternative events for the children.
"We don't want to exclude them," he said. "We want them to be involved."
Reporter Bill Choy can be reached at 225-8217 or at bchoy@redding.com.
Saturday, January 18, 2003
Modesto Bee, CA
Poultry disease shakes valley fair shows
January 18, 2003 Posted: 04:45:11 AM PST
REF: http://www.modbee.com/local/story/5920541p-6882695c.html
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
A bird disease that turned up in Southern California is starting to knock off poultry shows at county fairs to the north.
The board of the Stanislaus County Fair on Wednesday will consider canceling its show this summer because of concern that the ailment, known as exotic Newcastle disease, could spread among the gathered live birds. About 75 young people in 4-H have planned on entering, adviser Ken Willmarth said.
The San Joaquin County Fair canceled its June poultry show this week. Directors of the Mother Lode Fair in Sonora and the Merced County Fair might do the same next month with their July shows.
State agriculture officials urged the cancellations as part of the fight against the disease, which is harmless to humans but could devastate commercial flocks that produce meat and eggs.
"This disease is so dangerous that we're trying to take every precaution that we can to try and contain it," said Bill Lyons Jr., the state's secretary of food and agriculture.
The virus-caused disease was detected in October in backyard poultry flocks in Southern California. Eight counties there are under a federal quarantine, which put tight limits on moving chickens and other susceptible birds. Southern Nevada came under a similar order Friday.
Willmarth said it is unlikely that birds from affected areas would end up under the care of Stanislaus County 4-H'ers, but state officials are wary nonetheless.
"The Department of Food and Agriculture is just adamant about not moving poultry at all," said Cheryl Davidson, manager of the Merced County Fair.
Her board will consider the matter Feb. 5, but she said she already has told 4-H leaders to expect no live-bird show at this year's fair. The Mother Lode Fair board may take action Feb. 18.
At this point, the cancellations are voluntary, but state officials could shut down shows suddenly if the disease becomes apparent.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns that the virus can spread in many ways, such as in the air, on the shoes of people tending coops, and on manure, feathers, egg crates and trucks.
Poultry meat and eggs bring about $3 billion a year to California farmers. The region between Bakersfield and Sacramento accounts for about 95 percent of the chickens raised for meat and about 40 percent of the laying hens.
The state recommends suspending shows that involve chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, partridges, pheasants, quail, doves, pigeons and several other birds.
Willmarth said the number of Stanislaus County 4-H members with poultry projects is relatively low compared with, for example, rabbits, raised by about 340 members. He said most of the bird-raisers have not yet started work on their entries for the fair, set for July 25 to Aug. 3.
Davidson said some Merced County 4-H members might turn to rabbits or other small animals in place of poultry.
State officials urge county fair managers to still have poultry exhibits even without the showing of live birds. Willmarth said the youngsters can learn citizenship -- one of the hallmarks of 4-H -- by educating visitors to the fair about the disease.
"We don't want to leave these kids out," Davidson said, "so we'll find some way to have them participate in the fair this year -- just not with live birds."
The Stanislaus County Fair board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the administration office at the fairgrounds, 900 N. Broadway, Turlock.
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 667-1227 or jholland@modbee.com.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Friday, January 17, 2003
Disease confirmed in LV flock
By JOELLE BABULA
REVIEW-JOURNAL
REF: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jan-17-Fri-2003/news/20495161.html
An exotic bird disease that has wiped out thousands of chickens in California was confirmed in about 30 Las Vegas chickens Thursday, the Nevada Department of Agriculture reported.
The highly contagious and fatal Exotic Newcastle disease was found in a small backyard flock of chickens in northeast Las Vegas, near Nellis Air Force Base. The disease cannot infect humans, but it can infect all species of birds.
"If your birds are exposed to the virus, you're going to lose your flock," said Tom Smigel, regional manager for the Department of Agriculture. "If your birds are ill, you need to notify us. We'll pay you for the birds we take and disinfect your site."
Birds with the disease will be destroyed to prevent spreading to other flocks. Bird owners and pet store owners also are being asked not to move their birds anywhere or to sell them until inspections are complete.
The strain of the disease found in Las Vegas is most likely the same strain that has been plaguing poultry farms in Southern California, Smigel said. He said the virus probably made its way to Southern Nevada through cockfighting birds brought to the state.
Poultry prices in Las Vegas should not rise because of the disease, as the local chicken industry is very small, said Kirsten Cannon, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management.
"The major poultry producers are in California," she said.
Ventura County Star - CA
Feathered friends in danger, too
Caged, backyard birds can catch deadly disease
By Marjorie Hernandez, mhernandez@insidevc.com
January 18, 2003
REF: http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/county_news/article/0,1375,VCS_226_1682639,00.html
Juan Meza, of Oxnard, often worries about the health of 10 feathery members of his "family."
Like any devoted pet owner, Meza took precautions to safeguard his exotic birds from the recent outbreak of the deadly exotic Newcastle disease.
"I don't take my birds anywhere," said Meza, who owns two blue and gold macaws, three African greys and five conures. "I don't let anybody bring other birds to the house. You just have to be very careful."
The disease is not fatal to humans, but it is deadly and highly contagious among the bird population. Although there has only been one reported case of the disease in Ventura County to date, representatives from the California Department of Food and Agriculture warn pet owners the disease also can affect caged or backyard birds.
Backyard birds include all species kept in noncommercial poultry operations. So far, about 58,000 backyard birds from quarantined areas throughout Southern California have been euthanized, Food and Agriculture spokesman Larry Cooper said.
Exotic birds that enter the United States legally are first quarantined and tested for Newcastle disease by the United States Department of Agriculture. Illegally smuggled birds, however, might unknowingly carry and spread the virus, thus posing a threat to the caged-bird industry.
Feed vendors and pet-store owners are trying to get the word out to their customers about the dangers Newcastle could have to their exotic and other caged birds.
"Even though it has been in the news, a lot of people have not heard about it or they didn't think that it can affect their pet bird," said Pat Wood, owner of The Trading Post Inc., a feed store in Oxnard. "Customers often say, 'Well, it's a pet and it doesn't leave the house.' But I tell them that they leave the house and that it can affect anything that has feathers."
The highly contagious viral disease was first discovered in Southern California in October when backyard chicken flocks were diagnosed with the disease. Ventura County was officially placed under the quarantine zone after a veterinarian determined that a dead chicken had died of the disease.
An outbreak of Newcastle among caged birds in Florida in 1980 caused the deaths of about 8,000 birds and the euthanization of 30,307 birds in 23 states, costing the U.S. Department of Agriculture $1.16 million.
A cooperative project between the state's Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide owners monetary compensation at a fair-market value for every bird euthanized, Cooper said.
The money, however, brings little comfort to bird lovers.
"Some of these birds live for 60 years," Meza said. "We are attached to these birds. They're more like a family."
Birds, eggs and things such as cages, feeders and any equipment they've come in contact with are not allowed outside of quarantined areas, which, among other Southern California areas, include Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties. Another quarantine was enforced Thursday when a flock of chickens near Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada also was diagnosed with the disease.
Birds can become infected with the disease through fecal matter or contact with other infected birds, humans, insects, rodents and anything they've touched that might carry the virus.
Classic symptoms of the disease in caged birds vary and can include involuntary sneezing, shaking and tremors, diarrhea, paralysis, eye fluid discharge, weight loss, depression and sudden death.
Although there is no treatment for the disease, state Food and Agriculture officials recommend that owners discuss vaccination for their pets with their veterinarians. Owners should take extra precaution when entering areas where the disease might exist such as pet and feed stores, aviaries or even a neighbor's home. Upon visiting such areas, bird owners should clean the soles of their shoes and launder any articles of clothing that might have been contaminated.
Humans also can carry the virus in their nasal cavity and should clean their ears, blow their nose and shower to prevent their exotic birds from getting contaminated, Cooper said.
The Department of Food and Agriculture plans to talk with some feed-store owners in Oxnard and Ventura beginning later this month.
On the Net:
www.cdfa.ca.gov or call (800) 491-1899.
Copyright 2003, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
Las Vegas Sun - NV
January 17, 2003
Spread of deadly bird disease wider than thought in Las Vegas
By KEN RITTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
REF: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/2003/jan/17/011710366.html?newcastle
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The federal government imposed a no-movement quarantine on birds in southern Nevada on Friday as state officials doubled the number of chickens believed infected with a deadly avian virus in the Las Vegas area.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman signed an order expanding a federal quarantine from Southern California over the state line into Nevada, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force in Los Alamitos, Calif.
"No birds can be moved out of that area," Cooper said, "Birds that have been exposed have to be euthanized."
Even as Nevada and federal agriculture officials said they hoped to stem the spread of the highly infectious Exotic Newcastle Disease, they increased the number of chickens believed infected in two backyard flocks near Nellis Air Force Base from 30 to 78.
"This disease is highly infectious, there is no treatment and no vaccine," said David Thain, the Nevada Department of Agriculture veterinarian heading a response and eradication effort he said should grow within days to about 200 people.
The disease poses no harm to humans, and the sale of dressed chicken and other poultry products will continue in southern Nevada, unaffected by the quarantine order.
"The sparrow in the back yard is not going to infect somebody's 3-year-old," Thain told about 40 animal control and wildlife officials in a morning briefing in Las Vegas.
But he said the discovery of the disease in Nevada increases the threat to a $3 billion California-based international poultry industry.
Within hours of Thursday's discovery in Nevada, Utah slapped a quarantine on eggs, poultry and birds from Nevada, Thain said.
Nevada has no commercial poultry industry.
Thain and Paul Ugsted, the federal Department of Agriculture veterinarian overseeing California and Nevada, said the virus might have spread from Southern California, where more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered as a precaution.
State and federal quarantine orders had expanded to cover eight counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego after Exotic Newcastle Disease was first discovered in a backyard flock in September.
The discovery northeast of Las Vegas means that all birds in Clark County and neighboring Nye County south of Amargosa Valley will be quarantined at least for the next few weeks - and perhaps for up to a year.
"Pet stores cannot sell birds," Thain said. "No bird movement, period. At least until we get a handle on this."
Thain and Ugsted said it takes two to 15 days for infected birds to show symptoms, which include lethargy, tremors, gaping beaks, coughing and runny discharge around the eyes and beak. Owners might also notice sudden bird deaths.
Thain said officials think the Nevada outbreak started in a flock that neighbors another owned by a man who reported the deaths of about 30 chickens to health officials last week. Tests returned Thursday confirmed the chickens had been infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease.
Thain and Ugsted said plans call for the deployment of 50 two-person diagnostic and surveillance teams, and five "depopulation" teams that will euthanize birds and pack them in disinfected barrels for shipment to a landfill.
They said the virus can spread easily from bird to bird, and clings to droppings, feathers, and coops, as well as human clothing, shoes and vehicles. The wild bird population is also at risk.
Areas with infected birds must cleaned and disinfected.
Cooper said that after Veneman signed the quarantine order, the task force dispatched crews to help in the southern Nevada eradication.
County, state and federal agriculture workers were to go door-to-door in the neighborhood around the infected flocks, searching for other infected birds.
Thain said that a federal declaration of extraordinary emergency will allow for owners of birds to be compensated for their birds, at fair market value.
North County Times - CA
Farmers whacked by Mother Nature
Eric Larson
Commentary
REF: http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030117/52716.html
Recently a letter appeared in the North County Times from a reader who found fault with the idea that the California Department of Agriculture should be engaged in the eradication of the Mexican fruit fly infestation in Valley Center as well as the suppression of the exotic Newcastle disease outbreak that is plaguing Southern California chickens and birds. The writer stated that these outbreaks are the fault of farmers from "their own carelessness" and "just plain negligence."
Unfortunately, the writer does not understand the source of these scourges, or the critical need for intervention by state and federal agricultural agencies.
As a normal course of business, farmers carry the burden of preventing and curing insect and disease infestations. Any farmer who fails to maintain insect-free crops or disease-free livestock will fail ---- and should.
However, there are insects and diseases in other parts of the world that do not exist in this country and if they became established here they could destroy an industry.
Unfortunately, both Mexican fruit flies and Newcastle's disease could do that. The important fact to acknowledge is that both of these blights may have been brought into this country by criminal activity.
Either for profit or for personal desire, insect-infested fruit and disease-infected birds may have been smuggled into this country from a foreign source. Through no action or negligence by any farmer, we now face the potential of devastating consequences.
If Mexican fruit flies were to become established in this country, our ability to produce and ship fruit would be curtailed forever. A foothold by Newcastle's disease could end poultry farming in this country. In both cases, the cost of eradication is way beyond the means of any one farmer or farming community.
Farmers are not merely beneficiaries of government action on this front. Just 170 of the estimated 1,000 growers in Valley Center so far have reported losses because of the Mexican fruit fly quarantine. Losses so far have come to $12.7 million.
Those same growers report that they have laid off 77 employees. The largest losses may not have yet been reported because it is unknown whether the avocados in the core area will ever be allowed to reach the market.
The cost of treating the groves so fruit can be brought to market is borne entirely by the grower, as are any losses from unmarketed fruit.
As for Newcastle's disease, through Jan. 13 there have been detection and eradication projects at only three commercial poultry farms and at 1,203 nonfarm sites. Those sites include public parks, private homes and bird collections. The commercial poultry producers have no protection for their loss of income, which could stretch out for a year or more.
Protecting agriculture in California means protecting jobs and the economy, as well as a way of life and an important part of our state's fabric. With a value of $27 billion a year, California agriculture's contribution to the economy is indisputable, with one in every 10 jobs related to agriculture.
Allowing new pests and diseases to become established here would surely lead to a loss of groves on the hillsides and crops in the valleys that are important to every Californian.
Eric Larson is executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau in Escondido.
1/17/03
Penn Live, PA, Times Picayune, LA, Contra Costa Times, CA
Deadly bird disease leads to Oregon quarantine
The Associated Press
1/17/03 9:59 PM
REF: http://pennlive.com/newsflash/topstory/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?o0107_BC_OR--NewcastleDisease&&news&newsflash-topstory
REF: http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstory/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?o0107_BC_OR--NewcastleDisease&&news&newsflash-topstory
REF: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/4975047.htm
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- The state Department of Agriculture issued an emergency ban on the importation of birds from areas affected by Exotic Newcastle Disease.
The disease, which is fatal to birds but harmless in humans and other animals, was diagnosed in domestic poultry in Southern California. It has since spread to a few counties in Nevada.
If the disease hits Oregon, it could devastate the state's poultry industry and backyard flocks, said Dr. Andrew Clark, the state veterinarian.
"Bringing the disease to Oregon has no profit," Clark said. "It is highly contagious and highly fatal."
Agriculture officials have asked poultry industry groups, domestic poultry owners and pet-bird enthusiasts to be on the lookout for signs of the disease, such as a drop in egg production.
"We are not testing for the disease because we have no reason to," Clark said.
Birds from disease-ridden areas are barred from Oregon during the 180-day quarantine, even a pet parakeet. Birds can enter the state if they're from counties that haven't been hit by the disease and receive a clean bill of health from a veterinarian without 24 hours before entry.
Exotic Newcastle Disease is caused by a virus found in the droppings, breath and eggs of birds. An infected bird can pass the disease onto another bird by being in proximity.
Since the disease turned up in Southern California in September, more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered there. State and federal authorities are conducting an intensive eradication campaign and have imposed a quarantine throughout Southern California to try to protect the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
In the 1970s, an outbreak of the disease in California threatened the nation's poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
DVM
Texas aids California in battling avian outbreak
January 17, 2003
DVM Newsmagazine
REF: http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=43619
Austin, Texas-Texas officials have answered California's call for assistance in eradicating an outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease (END), a viral disease of poultry and many other avian species.
The outbreak, which was first detected in October 2002, has spread to three commercial poultry operations in Southern California, and could spread to other states threatening poultry production and international trade.
"The first step is to help stop END in California, which ranks first in the nation for egg production and fourth for turkey production," says Dr. James Lenarduzzi, acting executive director for the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state's livestock and poultry regulatory agency.
Additionally, state officials are urging Texas bird and poultry owners to immediately report signs of disease or unexplained death losses to their veterinarian or the TAHC at (800) 550-8242.
Caused by a highly contagious virus, END does not affect human health or the safety of food products, but it can cause nearly 100 percent death loss in susceptible birds.
Currently, more than 400 veterinarians from the California Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies are working on a task force in Southern California.
Reuters AlertNet, UK
17 Jan 2003 22:01
Mexico deciding on extent of U.S. poultry ban
(Updates in second paragraph to say disease now detected in Nevada.)
By Pav Jordan
REF: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17253639
MEXICO CITY, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Mexico was expected to decide on Friday, after three days of meetings with U.S. officials, whether to ban imports of all U.S. poultry amid concerns the United States will not be able to contain a deadly virus.
The United States says the outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease, one of the most feared poultry diseases in the world, can be controlled.
The disease was first detected in California late last year and on Thursday was detected in Nevada, prompting Canada on Friday to extend its ban on U.S. poultry to include the western desert state.
Mexico, which has already banned poultry imports from California, was hearing arguments from U.S. government experts on Friday. Mexico Deputy Agriculture Minister Javier Trujillo said late on Thursday that a decision would follow.
"Basically the group is meeting to try to create satisfactory technical requirements that would show the government of Mexico that the spread of Newcastle is under control and they don't need to have a total ban," a U.S. government official in Mexico told Reuters on Friday.
Any new ban would go into effect on Saturday.
Mexico is the third largest market for U.S. poultry and U.S. livestock traders have expressed concern that a drop in exports would keep more poultry in the United States and hurt prices for all meats.
The current outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease was discovered in October in backyard flocks of southern California and has since spread to five commercial chicken farms, resulting in the slaughter of more than 1 million birds.
The virus is contagious and fatal for fowl but harmless to humans. The Newcastle disease is a silent killer. Many birds die without showing any signs of infection and the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
A group of six U.S. government experts on the disease arrived in Mexico earlier this week to discuss controls on the outbreak in the United States.
Only the European Union has banned all U.S. poultry products.
A major outbreak of the disease in southern California in 1971 prompted the destruction of 12 million birds and cost $56 million to eradicate over three years. (Additional reporting by Randy Fabi in Washington)
Reno Gazette Journal, NV
Spread of deadly bird disease wider than thought in Las Vegas
Associated Press
1/17/2003 11:55 am
REF: http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/01/17/32248.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News
The federal government imposed a no-movement quarantine on birds in southern Nevada on Friday as state officials doubled the number of chickens believed infected with a deadly avian virus in the Las Vegas area.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman signed an order expanding a federal quarantine from Southern California over the state line into Nevada, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force in Los Alamitos, Calif.
"No birds can be moved out of that area,"Cooper said,"Birds that have been exposed have to be euthanized."
Even as Nevada and federal agriculture officials said they hoped to stem the spread of the highly infectious Exotic Newcastle Disease, they increased the number of chickens believed infected in two backyard flocks near Nellis Air Force Base from 30 to 78.
"This disease is highly infectious, there is no treatment and no vaccine,"said David Thain, the Nevada Department of Agriculture veterinarian heading a response and eradication effort he said should grow within days to about 200 people.
The disease poses no harm to humans, and the sale of dressed chicken and other poultry products will continue in southern Nevada, unaffected by the quarantine order.
"The sparrow in the back yard is not going to infect somebody's 3-year-old,"Thain told about 40 animal control and wildlife officials in a morning briefing in Las Vegas.
But he said the discovery of the disease in Nevada increases the threat to a $3 billion California-based international poultry industry.
Within hours of Thursday's discovery in Nevada, Utah slapped a quarantine on eggs, poultry and birds from Nevada, Thain said.
Nevada has no commercial poultry industry.
Thain and Paul Ugsted, the federal Department of Agriculture veterinarian overseeing California and Nevada, said the virus might have spread from Southern California, where more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered as a precaution.
State and federal quarantine orders had expanded to cover eight counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego after Exotic Newcastle Disease was first discovered in a backyard flock in September.
The discovery northeast of Las Vegas means that all birds in Clark County and neighboring Nye County south of Amargosa Valley will be quarantined at least for the next few weeks _ and perhaps for up to a year.
"Pet stores cannot sell birds,"Thain said."No bird movement, period. At least until we get a handle on this."
Thain and Ugsted said it takes two to 15 days for infected birds to show symptoms, which include lethargy, tremors, gaping beaks, coughing and runny discharge around the eyes and beak. Owners might also notice sudden bird deaths.
Thain said officials think the Nevada outbreak started in a flock that neighbors another owned by a man who reported the deaths of about 30 chickens to health officials last week. Tests returned Thursday confirmed the chickens had been infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease.
Thain and Ugsted said plans call for the deployment of 50 two-person diagnostic and surveillance teams, and five"depopulation"teams that will euthanize birds and pack them in disinfected barrels for shipment to a landfill.
They said the virus can spread easily from bird to bird, and clings to droppings, feathers, and coops, as well as human clothing, shoes and vehicles. The wild bird population is also at risk.
Areas with infected birds must cleaned and disinfected.
Cooper said that after Veneman signed the quarantine order, the task force dispatched crews to help in the southern Nevada eradication.
County, state and federal agriculture workers were to go door-to-door in the neighborhood around the infected flocks, searching for other infected birds.
Thain said that a federal declaration of extraordinary emergency will allow for owners of birds to be compensated for their birds, at fair market value.
Morningstar Canada, Canada
Canada Extends Poultry Import Ban to Nevada
17 Jan 03(2:23 PM)
By Roberta Rampton
REF: http://www.morningstar.ca/globalhome/industry/News.asp?articleid=MTFH16150_2003-01-17_19-23-03_N17229257
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canada has extended its ban on poultry imports to cover both California and Nevada, states where a deadly and highly contagious disease has been killing birds, an official said on Friday.
Canada issued a 14-day ban on California poultry and poultry products on Dec. 31 after an outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease spread from backyard flocks to five commercial chicken farms.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has extended that ban and added poultry from Nevada to the list on Friday, after the disease was detected in a backyard flock in Las Vegas on Thursday, an official said.
The viral disease, one of the most feared by the worldwide poultry industry, is both contagious and fatal for fowl but harmless to humans.
Newcastle Disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any signs of infection. The U.S. Agriculture Department says the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
The outbreak of the disease has led several countries to ban the import of poultry from the United States. Earlier this month, California Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency, saying the disease could potentially wipe out the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
Canada is not currently considering banning poultry imports from the entire United States, as the European Union has done, said Debbie Barr, a senior veterinarian with the agency.
"The U.S. is working on eradicating (the disease), and they're making every effort to contain it, and we see no reason at the moment to extend restrictions to the East Coast," Barr told Reuters.
Mexico will decide on Friday whether to ban imports of all U.S. poultry products because of concerns the disease could spread further.
The Canadian government will lift its ban when U.S. officials can prove the disease has been eradicated, Barr said.
Wyoming News, WY
Spread of deadly bird disease wider than thought in Las Vegas
krtt1
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
REF: http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=61350
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The federal government imposed a no-movement quarantine on birds in southern Nevada on Friday as state officials doubled the number of chickens believed infected with a deadly avian virus in the Las Vegas area.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman signed an order expanding a federal quarantine from Southern California over the state line into Nevada, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force in Los Alamitos, Calif.
''No birds can be moved out of that area,'' Cooper said, ''Birds that have been exposed have to be euthanized.''
Even as Nevada and federal agriculture officials said they hoped to stem the spread of the highly infectious Exotic Newcastle Disease, they increased the number of chickens believed infected in two backyard flocks near Nellis Air Force Base from 30 to 78.
''This disease is highly infectious, there is no treatment and no vaccine,'' said David Thain, the Nevada Department of Agriculture veterinarian heading a response and eradication effort he said should grow within days to about 200 people.
The disease poses no harm to humans, and the sale of dressed chicken and other poultry products will continue in southern Nevada, unaffected by the quarantine order.
''The sparrow in the back yard is not going to infect somebody's 3-year-old,'' Thain told about 40 animal control and wildlife officials in a morning briefing in Las Vegas.
But he said the discovery of the disease in Nevada increases the threat to a $3 billion California-based international poultry industry.
Within hours of Thursday's discovery in Nevada, Utah slapped a quarantine on eggs, poultry and birds from Nevada, Thain said.
Nevada has no commercial poultry industry.
Thain and Paul Ugsted, the federal Department of Agriculture veterinarian overseeing California and Nevada, said the virus might have spread from Southern California, where more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered as a precaution.
State and federal quarantine orders had expanded to cover eight counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego after Exotic Newcastle Disease was first discovered in a backyard flock in September.
The discovery northeast of Las Vegas means that all birds in Clark County and neighboring Nye County south of Amargosa Valley will be quarantined at least for the next few weeks - and perhaps for up to a year.
''Pet stores cannot sell birds,'' Thain said. ''No bird movement, period. At least until we get a handle on this.''
Thain and Ugsted said it takes two to 15 days for infected birds to show symptoms, which include lethargy, tremors, gaping beaks, coughing and runny discharge around the eyes and beak. Owners might also notice sudden bird deaths.
Thain said officials think the Nevada outbreak started in a flock that neighbors another owned by a man who reported the deaths of about 30 chickens to health officials last week. Tests returned Thursday confirmed the chickens had been infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease.
Thain and Ugsted said plans call for the deployment of 50 two-person diagnostic and surveillance teams, and five ''depopulation'' teams that will euthanize birds and pack them in disinfected barrels for shipment to a landfill.
They said the virus can spread easily from bird to bird, and clings to droppings, feathers, and coops, as well as human clothing, shoes and vehicles. The wild bird population is also at risk.
Areas with infected birds must cleaned and disinfected.
Cooper said that after Veneman signed the quarantine order, the task force dispatched crews to help in the southern Nevada eradication.
County, state and federal agriculture workers were to go door-to-door in the neighborhood around the infected flocks, searching for other infected birds.
Thain said that a federal declaration of extraordinary emergency will allow for owners of birds to be compensated for their birds, at fair market value. ---
Access North Georgia, GA
Updated Friday, January 17 at 6:54 PM
Ag commissioner asks for vigilance against deadly bird disease
By Derreck Booth
REF: http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=68230
GAINESVILLE - Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin Friday asked all bird owners in the state, from poultry growers to pet owners, to help keep Exotic Newcastle Disease out of Georgia.
The deadly bird disease cost California poultry growers millions of dollars and now has been discovered in a backyard poultry flock in Nevada. The disease is highly contagious. All bird species are susceptible.
"Well I don't know if there's any way you can totally give total insurance, but we put in all the necessary quarantines that are necessary to bring birds from the West into the deep south," Irvin said.
Irvin said Georgia is not allowing any birds that have been in southern California at any time since October first or from affected parts of Nevada.
Irvin said the main fear is smuggling.
"The thing we have to be very carefull of, somebody trying to smuggle some tame birds or pet birds and try to smuggle them into here from an area where they may be exposed," Irvin said.
Irvin plans to discuss the spread of the disease with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. She's expected to visit Georgia mid next week.
"Alert her that she needs to make sure that she gives us the protection we need to keep it in California and Nevada," Irvin said.
Signs of Newcastle vary but can include coughing and sneezing, circling and paralysis, high mortality and decreased egg production.
Anyone with birds that show signs of the disease or birds that may have been transported from California or Nevada is asked to call the Georgia Department of Agriculture at 1-800-282-5852.
Exotic Newcastle Disease has not been detected in Georgia.
Reuters AlertNet, UK
17 Jan 2003 18:30
Canada extends poultry import ban to Nevada
By Roberta Rampton
REF: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17169147
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Canada has extended its ban on poultry imports to cover both California and Nevada, states where a deadly and highly contagious disease has been killing birds, an official said on Friday.
Canada issued a 14-day ban on California poultry and poultry products on Dec. 31 after an outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease spread from backyard flocks to five commercial chicken farms.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has extended that ban and added poultry from Nevada to the list on Friday, after the disease was detected in a backyard flock in Las Vegas on Thursday, an official said.
The viral disease, one of the most feared by the worldwide poultry industry, is both contagious and fatal for fowl but harmless to humans.
Newcastle Disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any signs of infection. The U.S. Agriculture Department says the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
The outbreak of the disease has led several countries to ban the import of poultry from the United States. Earlier this month, California Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency, saying the disease could potentially wipe out the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
Canada is not currently considering banning poultry imports from the entire United States, as the European Union has done, said Debbie Barr, a senior veterinarian with the agency.
"The U.S. is working on eradicating (the disease), and they're making every effort to contain it, and we see no reason at the moment to extend restrictions to the East Coast," Barr told Reuters.
Mexico will decide on Friday whether to ban imports of all U.S. poultry products because of concerns the disease could spread further.
The Canadian government will lift its ban when U.S. officials can prove the disease has been eradicated, Barr said.
Californina Farm Bureau Federation
Poultry disease toll mounts
Friday, January 17, 2003
REF: http://www.cfbf.com/ffn/2003/ffn-01_17_03.html
Exposure to exotic Newcastle disease has led to the deaths of nearly 680,000 birds in California so far. Officials fighting the poultry disease said yesterday that another 920,000 birds will be put to death, at commercial farms where the disease has been discovered. A total of five commercial flocks have been hit: two in San Bernardino County, two in Riverside County and one in San Diego County.
Wisconsin Ag Connection, WI
Newcastle Disease Spreads to Nevada Poultry
USAgNet Editors - 01/17/2003
REF: http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.cfm?Id=71&yr=2003
The Newcastle disease has apparently spread to poultry in Nevada. It was detected in a backyard poultry flock in Las Vegas, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Agriculture said Thursday. USDA and state officials were working on a surveillance program to test the flocks in the area for the disease, including about a dozen commercial poultry operations nearby, said Ed Foster, a spokesman for the state agriculture department.
An immediate quarantine was imposed in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and Nye County, Foster said. The outbreak of the disease has led several countries to ban the import of poultry from the United States. Earlier this month, California Governor Gray Davis declared a state of emergency, saying the disease could potentially wipe out the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
LA Times - CA
January 17, 2003
CALIFORNIA
Mexico Warns of Import Ban on U.S. Poultry
Prohibition would go beyond California unless officials assure that efforts will contain Newcastle disease.
REF: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chicken17jan17.story
By Melinda Fulmer, Times Staff Writer
Mexico has threatened a ban on all U.S. poultry products on concerns that the current outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease, a deadly avian virus that is harmless to humans, could spread to commercial poultry operations outside California.
A ban would shut off the third-largest export market for U.S. poultry producers. Mexico bought 123,000 tons, or $63 million, of leg quarters in the first 10 months of last year, according to the National Chicken Council.
Mexico, which already has a prohibition on California poultry, may expand the ban as early as Friday unless the United States can persuade Mexican agriculture officials that it is taking enough precautions to contain the disease.
"We hope that they can avert this," said Toby Moore, spokesman for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council. "It would be troublesome" for the industry, he said.
Officials at the Agriculture Department said they have animal-health officials in Mexico City working to persuade the Mexican government that such a ban is unnecessary.
"We don't feel there is any compelling reason for them to ban our products from the entire U.S.," USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison said.
However, the disease appears to have moved beyond the Southern California quarantine area.
It was detected in a backyard poultry flock in Las Vegas, a spokesman for the Nevada Agriculture Department said Thursday.
Nevada imposed an immediate quarantine in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and neighboring Nye County.
U.S. agriculture officials said Thursday that they consider the risk of the disease spreading to commercial facilities beyond California as "negligible."
Mexico is the only major U.S. poultry buyer mulling over a ban on all such U.S. imports. Two other big buyers, Russia and Canada, have limited their bans to California.
Newcastle disease was first spotted in Southern California last fall and has since caused government officials to order the destruction of more than 1.5 million chickens in Southern California, primarily hens used in egg production. It has not been found in the state's commercial poultry meat operations.
Orange County Register, CA
Friday, January 17, 2003
O.C. hasn't been immune to bird-disease response
Many fowl-related programs have been canceled, including those at two zoos.
By JOEL ZLOTNIK
The Orange County Register
REF: http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=20949&year=2003&month=1&day=17
The outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease has forced state officials to euthanize more than 600,000 birds in Southern California and grounded plans for agriculture enthusiasts throughout Orange County.
One bird in the county, under quarantine since Jan. 8, has been exposed to the highly contagious virus but hasn't shown signs of infection, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
The virus has infected a total of 1.5 million chickens on five commercial farms in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Cooper said.
Locally, the quarantine has closed exhibits at the Santa Ana Zoo and the Centennial Farm at the Orange County fairgrounds, and the Orange County Fair Board is expected to cancel all poultry exhibits for this summer's event. It's also dealt a blow to youth agricultural programs.
Mike Mann, 4-H youth development coordinator for the county, said the 1,200 club members understand the need to deal with the disease.
"I know some of the children will be disappointed, but they understand the quarantine has to be done, and they'll be able to live with it," Mann said.
Kimberly Miller, adviser to Mission Viejo High School's Future Farmers of America program, said about a dozen students planned to raise poultry this year but instead will get involved in other ways at the fair. "We're kind of bummed, but we'd rather see the fair handle it that way to get the problem under control because we could easily bring birds to the fair and get them infected," Miller said.
Fair General Manager Becky Bailey-Findley is high on the list of those saddened by the effect the quarantine will have on the fair. Not only are the chicken and turkey events some of the most popular at the fair, she said, but her husband, Gary, regularly buys the livestock auction's Grand Champion turkey.
Last year, Gary Findley paid $800 for the winning bird, raised by Luis Martinez of the Buena Park Future Farmers of America. "It was marvelous. We cooked it in a deep-pit barbecue and invited fair employees and friends," she said. "He or she, I can't remember which it was, was delicious."
Cooper said state officials don't believe the quarantine will impact the price or availability of eggs or poultry meat.
People who have birds as pets need to be cautious, said Cooper. Birds affected by the quarantine cannot be moved out of the area, and owners should check to ensure that visitors to their homes haven't come in contact with the virus. Exotic Newcastle is not harmful to people, but it can get on their clothes or shoes, or they can even inhale it, and it can spread from there.
"The uncertainty here is this virus can be carried so many ways (that) all a bird has to do is be exposed, and within two days, it can die," Cooper said.
Dr. Walter J. Rosskopf, co-owner of Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital in Hawthorne, said people have stopped bringing birds in.
"So far (exotic Newcastle disease) hasn't been a problem with pet birds, but as a rule of thumb, everyone is scared to death," he said.
He stressed that no enforcement official can force a pet bird's owner to kill the pet if it catches the virus. Although authorities can shut down chicken farms if the disease is present, a private bird can be quarantined and checked periodically. Both the Santa Ana Zoo and the Orange County Zoo in Orange have adhered to the quarantine. The Santa Ana Zoo has canceled its bird shows and closed its walk-through aviary, officials said. They have also ceased letting certain fowl (chickens, peafowl, guinea fowl, etc) wander the zoo grounds. A program in which employees walk the grounds carrying birds with which the public can interact has also been canceled.
CONTACT US: (714) 445-6696 or jzlotnik@ocregister.com
Orange County Register, CA
Disease clips wings of fair's fowl
Friday, January 17, 2003
By JOEL ZLOTNIK
The Orange County Register
REF: http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=20950§ion=LOCAL&year=2003&month=1&day=17
There will be pigs and lambs and cows, but when the Orange County Fair opens its barn doors this year chickens will not be welcome. A Southern California outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease, which affects all forms of poultry, has forced the state Department of Food and Agriculture to recommend that poultry be excluded from fairs this year.
The disease, a highly contagious bird virus, doesn't pose a threat to humans, and state health officials have said the safety of eggs and poultry products sold to consumers is not in jeopardy.
A poultry quarantine was put into effect in the county Jan. 8. The Orange County Fair Board, which meets Jan. 30, is expected to cancel events like the egg-laying contest and the junior poultry show, and 4-H and Future Farmers of America clubs won't be bringing birds to the annual auction.
Jessica Whitmore, 16, a member of the La Habra High School FFA, supports the cancellations. "It scares me because I could lose my whole flock that I've worked on for three years," she said.
School agricultural programs, the bird exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo and the fairgrounds' educational Centennial Farm, which has 80 birds, are among the 5,000 poultry sites under a state quarantine.
The disease
Exotic Newcastle disease is a highly contagious bird virus. A 1980 outbreak in Florida killed 40,000 chickens, costing $1 billion.
•Mortality rate: 90 percent for chickens.
•Symptoms: Vary greatly, include tremors, shaking of bird's head and body.
•Information: (800) 601-9327 or (800) 491-1899 or www.cdfa.ca.gov
Exotic Newcastle disease outbreak in California
•Quarantine area: Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial counties. More than 5,000 sites have been quarantined.
•What's safe: Humans are not affected. Eggs and poultry meat are safe.
•Species quarantined: Chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peacocks, doves, pigeons, swans and ostriches.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
Salt Lake Tribune, UT
Outbreak: Utah Bans Imports of Birds
January 17, 2003
BY SHERRI C. GOODMAN
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
REF: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01172003/business/business.asp
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is blocking the importation of all poultry and other birds originating in or passing through areas of Nevada and Southern California.
The ban, implemented Wednesday, seeks to prevent the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease, which was recently diagnosed in backyard poultry in the Las Vegas area and has created a state of emergency in California.
The restrictions also apply to shipments of eggs, game birds, hatching eggs and birds used for household pets, such as parrots, cockatiels and love birds.
"We're asking pet stores and consumers to not purchase these types of birds without checking [to make sure they have not been in the affected areas]," department spokesman Larry Lewis said. Violators of the ban could face fines up to $5,000.
No cases of the extremely contagious and deadly avian disease have been reported in Utah, Lewis said.
"This is more of a safety measure to protect our poultry industry -- meaning egg-laying chickens -- and our turkey industry," he said.
The ban will not affect the state's egg supply because most of the eggs sold here are produced in Utah, Lewis said.
Booth Wallentine, chief executive of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, said the ban also will not dramatically affect poultry owners' ability to get hens.
"There are other places we can get [chickens]," he said.
The bureau completely supports the ban, he said, and will do everything it can to prevent the disease from affecting state fowl operations.
"This disease is something to be feared," Wallentine said.
A federal quarantine already exists in the California counties of Los Angeles, San Bernadino, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Ventura and Santa Barbara, as well as Clark County, Nev.
The disease typically does not affect humans. However, some people who have handled infected birds may catch conjunctivitis, or pink eye, Lewis said.
The department is asking poultry and bird owners to watch for and report symptoms of the disease, which include greenish watery diarrhea, respiratory symptoms, sudden declines in egg production, drooping wings, dragging legs, circling and paralysis. There is no cure for the disease.
The UDAF also is asking the public to take these precautions to lessen the risk of introducing the disease:
* Do not accept, purchase or transport birds, eggs or equipment from nonapproved or unknown sources. A certificate of veterinary inspection and a prior entry permit is required for interstate movement of all poultry to Utah.
* Do not visit poultry premises in the quarantine area.
* Implement biosecurity measures for your farm including visitor restrictions, disinfection procedures and screening of employees who may have contact with other types of poultry.
* Avoid events where co-mingling of birds will take place such as swap meets, exhibitions, fairs and cock fights. Do not bring birds home from such events.
sgoodman@sltrib.com
The Press-Enterprise - CA
Residents grapple with losing chickens, culture
NEWCASTLE: Crews kill birds they find in Muscoy, where many have a history of raising poultry.
01/17/2003
By MATT SURMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/PE_NEWS_nachick17.a17fb.html
MUSCOY - In Muscoy, where chickens have long clucked and roosters crowed, the neighborhood is getting steadily, sadly quieter -- back yard by back yard.
Inspectors have been going door-to-door in this primarily Latino neighborhood west of San Bernardino all week, killing every bird they find in hopes of keeping exotic Newcastle disease from wiping out entire flocks.
In doing so, they also are ending a tradition brought by Latino residents from their rural roots in Latin America.
"Everybody has chickens. That's the reason you live here," said Maria Ramirez, who sat and chatted with friends at her husband's great-aunt's house, which was now marked with a quarantine sign. "It's going to change the neighborhood a lot. It's already really quiet."
The killings are part of a concerted state and federal effort to eradicate the highly infectious disease before it decimates the state's egg industry.
The four women at Juana Garcia's house have lost 98 chickens this week. Even the parakeet cage was empty. When inspectors arrived, the women considered hiding their birds, but they soon learned that keeping them would only mean that the infection could spread even further.
They don't know when they'll be able to raise chickens again.
"It's devastating, because that's the way you live here," Ramirez said.
It means no chickens as pets. No eggs. No home-grown chicken dinners: "We used them for everything," she said.
Backyard chickens
Muscoy, because of its large number of backyard chickens, is one of the places where every bird is being killed, regardless of whether it has Newcastle disease, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
Cooper did not know how many backyard birds there are in Muscoy, but said there were an estimated 55,000 in the state's entire quarantine area.
Residents -- who are being compensated market rates for their chickens -- will not be allowed to raise new birds until the state is sure that the disease has been eradicated. That could take a year or two, Cooper said. Anyone bringing in a bird that results in an infestation could be fined as much as $25,000.
The search is ongoing, and will continue until the department is convinced that the disease is completely out of the area, Cooper said.
And that's disheartening for residents who grew up with chickens in their back yards.
"You become attached to some of these chickens. It's human nature," said Armando Navarro, an ethnic studies professor at UC Riverside who raised chickens growing up in Rancho Cucamonga.
Raising chickens offers a connection to their rural roots, and is also simply a part of the economic necessity of life, Navarro said. Many of those who live in Muscoy are poor, squeezing several families into a house, or sleeping in converted garages and sheds. Chickens are relatively cheap.
"It's true of any community that has a history of coming from a rural experience," he said. "My father came from Mexico in 1926, from a ranch where he had pigs and chickens. I grew up with that mindset."
Explaining to residents
Sergio Rivera stood in his doorway as inspectors left his house, taking with them the bodies of his seven chickens. They hosed down their truck at the side of the road, to keep the disease from spreading with them as they continued their rounds.
Rivera was informed about the situation in Spanish, and handed a pamphlet printed in both Spanish and English. He understood it was necessary, and spoke just enough English to say why: "They sick."
Arnoldo Lopez's rooster was enjoying his last days of freedom, having avoided death so far. Lopez and his brother, who owns the house, had been gone all week.
The rooster hopped on a table in the back yard and let out a series of crows, unaware of his precarious position in the world. It was only a matter of time before the inspectors would track him down.
Lopez has raised the rooster, and nine female chickens, since they were little chicks a year ago. He sometimes gets as many as six eggs a day from them. But, ultimately, he said, he's not really worried about them -- even if it means the end of a tradition.
"It's like you say in Spanish: 'Ni modo' -- 'What can you do?" he said. "They're only chickens, just 'pollos.' "
Reach Matt Surman at 890-4454 or msurman@pe.com
KLAS-TV
Carol Wilkinson, Reporter
Hard Times For California Chickens
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1076640&nav=168XDQKH
(Jan. 8) -- A devastating disease in California is wiping out that state's supply of chicken. Five counties have declared a state of emergency because of the outbreak, and the effects of the crisis are already being felt on supermarket shelves.
The outbreak of exotic Newcastle Disease threatens California's $3-billion poultry industry, and although quarantine is in full effect in California, some Nevadans as they sit down to dinner tonight might wonder how the disease will affect our state.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say that a very small percentage of poultry or poultry products make their way from California to Nevada but, they add, although Nevadans may not face a direct threat from the tainted chicken, we could see higher chicken prices and the possible shortage of poultry products.
Tom Smigel, of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture says, "I called one of the major suppliers of wholesale chicken and he says the market certainly has tightened up in the last 2-weeks, and his wholesale price has gone up about 30%."
And that cost will likely be passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, health officials say that while exotic Newcastle Disease poses no threat to humans, there is the concern that the disease could spread from California to other states, if affected birds are smuggled out for purposes of cockfighting or breeding.
Tuscaloosa News, AL
Deadly Bird Disease Found in Nevada
By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press Writer
January 16, 2003
REF:http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030116&Category=APA&ArtNo=301161213&Ref=AR
A bird disease that forced the quarantine of Southern California's poultry and the mass slaughter of birds there has now popped up in Nevada, state health authorities confirmed Thursday.
Officials said Exotic Newcastle Disease - which is harmless to humans but fatal in birds - was found in a flock of chickens near Nellis Air Force Base. They immediately imposed a quarantine.
The discovery means all birds from Amargosa Valley in Nye County to Clark County will be quarantined from four months to a year, said Kirsten Cannon, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management.
"The greater issue is stopping it before it spreads to major poultry markets and affects international trade," Cannon said.
Since the disease turned up in backyard poultry flocks in Southern California in September, more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered there. State and federal authorities are conducting an intensive eradication campaign and have imposed a quarantine throughout Southern California to try to protect the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
Exotic Newcastle Disease is caused by a virus found in the droppings, breath and eggs of birds. An infected bird can pass the disease onto another bird by being in close proximity.
In the 1970s, an outbreak of the disease in California threatened the nation's poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. Eradicating the disease cost $56 million.
Reno Gazette Journal, NV
Deadly bird disease found in Las Vegas
Associated Press
1/16/2003 06:35 pm
REF: http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/01/16/32169.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News
State health authorities confirmed Thursday that the deadly Exotic Newcastle Disease has been found in a flock of chickens near Nellis Air Force Base and immediately imposed a quarantine.
The discovery means that all birds from Amargosa Valley in Nye County to Clark County will be quarantined from four months to a year, said Kirsten Cannon, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management.
The outbreak of the highly contagious disease and its implications are serious, officials say, though Exotic Newcastle Disease does not harm humans.
"The greater issue is stopping it before it spreads to major poultry markets and affects international trade,"Cannon said. The wild bird population is also at risk.
Since the disease turned up in backyard poultry flocks in Southern California in September, more than 1.7 million chickens have been slaughtered there. State and federal authorities are conducting an intensive eradication campaign and have imposed a quarantine throughout Southern California to try to protect the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
Exotic Newcastle Disease is caused by a virus that's found in the droppings, breath and eggs of birds. An infected bird can pass the disease onto another bird by being in close proximity.
In northeast Las Vegas near the Nellis base the owner of about 30 chickens found that some of the birds had died about a week ago and reported it to the health department. Results Thursday showed the chickens had been infected with the disease.
Workers with local and federal departments of agriculture plan to canvass neighborhoods around the military base Friday searching for other infected birds. Poultry flocks south of Amargosa also will be tested. All birds in the quarantined area cannot be sold or transported.
Dr. David Thain, a state veterinarian with the Nevada Department of Agriculture said flocks testing for positive for Exotic Newcastle Disease will be destroyed and owners will be compensated at fair market value. All areas with tainted birds must cleaned and disinfected.
Pet stories and other such businesses will be notified Friday that they can't sell any birds, but word is already out.
"We haven't brought any birds in for months,"said Angela Mauk, an employee of Sly Parrot Bird Company in Las Vegas."We heard rumors about it in California. We knew it was here a while back."
Mauk said there is more at stake than money.
"It's not a matter of hurting business, it's a matter of keeping our birds clean,"she said."It's a very, very devastating disease. It wipes out whole populations. These are our little pets."
KOLO, NV
01/16/03 -Fatal Poultry Disease Found In Nevada
By: Terri Russell, Trussell@kolotv.com
REF: http://www.kolotv.com/index.php?link=readmore&sid=4472
A disease that's responsible for euthanization of more than 400,000 chickens, has been confirmed here in Nevada. Today Nevada's Department of Agriculture says two chickens in Clark County have tested positive to Exotic Newscastle Disease.
People first have to wonder if they are at risk for developing this disease - which is always fatal is birds. Second they'll wonder if their flocks or even caged birds are at risk.
First, people do not get this disease!
Their backyard flocks can however, as can their family pet bird.
Its important to remember these two cases have been confirmed in Southern Nevada and there is a quarantine on Southern California's poultry.
The confirned cases here in Nevada means there is now a quarantine on poultry flocks. The transportation or sale of poultry or other birds as well as their transportation materials is forbidden in Clark and Southern Nye Counties.
While the spread of Exotic Newscastle Disease means economic hardship as well as a public perception nightmare for the poultry industry in Califorina, the latest development that the disease has been confirmed here in Nevada is tougher to predict.
The poultry industry is so small here it doesn't even register with the state Agricuture Department. Officials there say they know of 203 farms total, but that doesn't begin to include those who like to raise chickens in their own backyard.
Ed Foster of the Nevada Department of Agriculture says its easier to calculate the man power and response that going to take place tomorrow in Las Vegas to keep the disease confined.
As for both people and their chickens or other birds here in Nothern Nevada, Foster says its best just to stay alert. The quarantine may help stop the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease here. I the meantime he says look for warning signs like discharge, drooling, diahrrea.
While people cannot get this disease from poultry. They can be carriers if they come in contact with the infected bird or the bird's bodily fluids. You can carry the bacteria on your skin, your clothing and transport the disease unknowingly to other birds.
The question is asked if they know how this bacteria got here?
An interesting theory by the Agriculture Department is perhaps individuals involved in illegal cock fighting who make a lot of money in the sport but don't report that they are in fact raising chickens. They may have been able to clear the quarantine in Southern California and made there way to Southern Nevada.
The Department of Agriculture says if you have any questions or concerns here are the numbers to call.
In Reno 1-888-228-5239, in Rural Nevada 1-800-992-0900
Goleta Valley Voice, CA
Zoo aviaries closed
REF: http://www.goletavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/county/readarticle.cgi?article=419
The Santa Barbara Zoo has closed its aviaries because of a Southern California outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease (END), which kills birds.
Zoo authorities joined the Los Angeles and San Diego zoos by closing Wings of Asia, Tropical Aviary and Lorikeet Aviary. At press time, no cases of END had been discovered in Santa Barbara County. The closures were to prevent the introduction of the virus, which can be spread on the clothing and shoes of people who have come in contact with it.
A chicken infected with the disease has been found in Ventura County. The virus is fatal to all domestic and wild birds, but cannot be contracted by humans. This helped motivate the Santa Barbara Zoo to act.
The disease surfaced in September in Los Angeles County chickens, according to the Associated Press. Since then, the state has quarantined all of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, San Diego, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Poultry and poultry products may not be moved from quarantined counties.
Richard Block, director of the Santa Barbara Zoo, said this week that the local zoo will conform to the other counties’ closures and await a decision from federal and state agencies about when it is safe to reopen the aviaries.
Forbes
Reuters, 01.16.03, 4:03 PM ET
USDA says little risk of poultry virus spreading
REF: http://www.forbes.com/personalfinance/retirement/newswire/2003/01/16/rtr850038.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The risk of the highly contagious Newcastle bird disease spreading beyond Nevada and California flocks is "negligible," a U.S. Agriculture Department official said Thursday.
The Nevada Department of Agriculture earlier Thursday reported the first case of Exotic Newcastle outside southern California.
"Certainly this is a setback," said Ron DeHaven, deputy administrator for USDA's Veterinary Services. "We think the risk is still negligible."
Exotic Newcastle disease was first discovered in October in backyard flocks in California. It has since spread to five commercial chicken farms.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
Forbes
Deadly poultry virus spreads to Nevada-official
Reuters, 01.16.03, 3:55 PM ET
REF: http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/01/16/rtr850022.html
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A deadly avian virus that threatens to ravage California's poultry population has spread to neighboring Nevada, where it was detected in a backyard poultry flock in Las Vegas, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Agriculture said Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and state officials were working on a surveillance program to test the flocks in the area for the Exotic Newcastle disease, including about dozen commercial poultry operations nearby, said Ed Foster, a spokesman for the state agriculture department. Nevada imposed an immediate quarantine in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and Nye County, Foster said.
The outbreak of the disease, which is fatal to fowl but harmless to humans, has led several countries to ban the import of poultry from the United States. Earlier this month, California Governor Gray Davis declared a state of emergency, saying the disease could potentially wipe out the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
"With both states testing positive, this could have some serious international trade impacts on the United States," Foster said.
The disease, considered by the USDA to be one of the most infectious poultry diseases, kills birds without showing any sign of infection. More than 1 million birds have been destroyed to stop its spread.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
KGTV, CA
Poultry Shows Scrapped For County Fair
Exotic Newcastle Disease Outbreak Has Sparked Quarantine
POSTED: 11:57 a.m. PST January 16, 2003
UPDATED: 12:20 p.m. PST January 16, 2003
REF: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/1913806/detail.html
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Fair will suspend all poultry shows and competitions this year due to the recent outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease in Southern California, it was announced Wednesday.
No domesticated birds will be allowed to enter the Del Mar Fairgrounds because of the quarantine imposed by state and federal agriculture officials, according to Steve Fiebing of the fairgrounds.
That forced the cancellation of the San Diego County Fair's competitive pigeon, poultry and turkey shows, plus educational displays of birds and commercial vendors with birds.
"The San Diego County Fair regrets the loss of these competitions and educational displays at the 2003 fair, and will strive to ensure future competitions once the disease is under control and the quarantine is lifted," Fiebing said.
The fair staff conceded the cancellation was in the best interests of everyone, Fiebing said.
Late last month, exotic Newcastle disease was discovered at a commercial egg ranch in Ramona, prompting a local quarantine banning the movement of poultry and poultry products. Eggs are an exception, but must be sanitized and repackaged.
The local outbreak followed others. Quarantines are in effect in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties.
The disease, which doesn't affect humans, is deadly to chickens and other poultry.
The San Diego County Fair, which previously was known as the Del Mar Fair, is staged each summer at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
CNN, CNN Europe, Europe
Mexico mulls ban on U.S. poultry
Thursday, January 16, 2003 Posted: 1840 GMT
REF: http://europe.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/01/16/trade.poultry.reut/
REF: http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/01/16/trade.poultry.reut/
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Mexico has threatened to ban all U.S. poultry products due to concerns that an outbreak of the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease could spread beyond California, a U.S. industry group said on Thursday.
Mexico, the third largest U.S. poultry market, may expand its ban, now limited to California products, if the United States could not assure officials the disease was under control, said Toby Moore, spokesman for USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
"I am sure our government is making the case to Mexico it isn't necessary to ban any more than California or even the six counties in the quarantine zone in Southern California," Moore said. "We hope the Mexicans will see the logic in that."
The current outbreak of Exotic Newcastle disease was first discovered in October in backyard flocks of Southern California. It has since spread to five commercial chicken farms.
The disease is a contagious and fatal viral disease for fowl but harmless to humans.
USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison said department officials were meeting with their Mexican counterparts this week in hopes of heading off a ban.
"We don't think its necessary to ban the total United States," she said.
Harrison said only the European Union has banned all U.S. poultry products so far. Top U.S. buyer Russia, Canada and other countries have prohibited imports from only California.
Pravda, Russia
20:54 2003-01-16
American Import to be Liquidated Immediately at Border
Russia banned chicken imported from California, Belarus banned all chicken imported from the USA
REF: http://english.pravda.ru/main/2003/01/16/42147.html
Export of chicken meat, America’s largest export, has fallen under an unexpected threat. For unknown reasons chickens in the American state of California are killed with a lethal virus. Over one million of chickens were killed with the virus over the past three months. In this connection, no chicken leg raised in California will be imported in the Russian Federation within the next six months.
Deputy Chief Veterinary Inspector of the Russian Federation, Alexander Ponomarev told the Russian media that all purchases of chicken meat from California would be banned in the country. If such meat is still delivered to Russia, it will be immediately arrested and liquidated right in the ports where it arrives. Alexander Ponomarev says the virus raging in California’s poultry industry is extremely dangerous. That is why the country must avoid this risk, especially that the sanitary services of Mexico and Canada have already imposed a ban on California’s chicken.
As Russia’s newspaper Meditsinsky Vestnik (Medical Bulletin) reports, chickens in California are affected with Exotic Newcastle virus that is lethal for them. The virus is reported as not dangerous for humans.
The disease has been already discovered in three districts of Southern California. Leadership of the California Poultry Federation is afraid that the virus may affect chicken in the central part of the state as well; that is why they offer to declare the state of emergency in the US poultry industry. At the same time American exporters hope that poultry import will be recommenced rather quickly as soon as the disease if liquidated.
According to the information reported by the American mass media, the outbreak of the poultry disease in California was registered last time in 1974. At that time, over 12 million chickens were slaughtered and about 56 million dollars were spent to contain the easily transmitted disease.
By the way, the chicken epidemic in the USA is very much off the point for the commercial relations between the USA and Russia. Currently, a delegation of the Russian Agriculture Ministry carries out a large-scale examination of all of the 450 American agricultural enterprises, poultry processing plants and refrigerating plants that export chicken meat to Russia. Russian officials and veterinary inspectors will focus special attention on the states of North Caroline, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Massachusetts, that produce the most part of chicken exported to Russia. Chicken from California was regularly supplied to Russia.
The USA had to authorize this large-scale inspection right after Russia’s complete prohibition on import of American chicken legs to the Russian Federation. On September 15, 2002, under the pressure from the Russian side, a joint Russian-American veterinary certificate was adopted; this certificate introduced tougher standards for the quality of chicken meat exported from the USA to Russia. As it turned out, Americans didn’t have much to choose from in that situation. Further prohibition of US poultry import might cause a mass bankruptcy of American agricultural enterprises and also might entail unemployment in at least four American states. Now, they may go bankrupt owing to nature.
While the USA and Russia are still bargaining about chicken meat and steel, the former Soviet republic of Belarus decided the moment to be very appropriate to do get rid of American chicken legs. Belarus Ministry of Agriculture Produce decided to suspend import of American chicken. At that, arguments to the measure resemble the arguments previously stated by the Russian Agriculture Ministry.
An official press-release of Belarus’ Ministry of Agricultural Produce says that chicken meat of American origin disagrees with the Belarus standards of quality of chicken meat. At that, officials say that reliable information concerning pathogenic microbes in American chicken meat was provided by the International Epizootic Bureau.
American supplies make up about 80% of the total chicken meat import in Belarus. It is hoped that when the country faces deficit of chicken meat, it may start importing it from Russia.
Kira Poznakhirko
PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Maria Gousseva
Read the original in Russian: http://world.pravda.ru/world/2003/5/16/43/5646_Newcastle.html
Reuters AlertNet, UK
17 Jan 2003 01:19
Mexico mulls ban on U.S. poultry due to disease
REF: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16383442
(Releads with Mexico confirmation in first 3 paragraphs)
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Mexico is deciding whether to ban imports of all U.S. poultry products because of concerns an outbreak of the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease could spread beyond California.
Javier Trujillo, Mexico's deputy agriculture minister in charge of agricultural health, told Reuters by telephone that Mexico would decide on Friday after meetings with U.S. animal health officials whether or not to extend the ban, which is currently limited to California products.
Trujillo said a group of six U.S. experts were in Mexico to discuss the implications of the disease on Mexico. If a decision is made to extend the ban it will go into effect as of Jan. 18.
Mexico, the third largest market for U.S. poultry, may expand its ban if the United States does not assure officials the disease is under control, said Toby Moore, spokesman for USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
The current outbreak of Exotic Newcastle disease was first discovered in October in backyard flocks of Southern California. It has since spread to five commercial chicken farms.
The poultry disease, one of the most feared in the world, is a contagious and fatal viral disease for fowl but harmless to humans.
U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Alisa Harrison said department officials were meeting with their Mexican counterparts this week in hopes of heading off a ban.
"We don't think its necessary to ban the total United States," she said.
Harrison said only the European Union has banned all U.S. poultry products so far. Top U.S. buyer Russia, Canada and other countries have prohibited imports from only California.
TARIFFS DISPUTE
Mexico's threat to ban all U.S. poultry comes as Mexican farmers have been protesting the Jan. 1 elimination of tariffs on a range of U.S. agricultural goods.
U.S. and Mexican poultry industries have been working to avert a full-blown trade dispute.
"Trade has been slowed down to Mexico in recent months as a result of the ongoing discussions on the tariff situation," said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council.
The U.S. industry has proposed a five-year phase out of Mexican tariffs, instead of taking advantage of the zero tariffs now mandated by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The uncertainty in the export market is expected to have a short-term impact on U.S. poultry production.
In a livestock report released on Thursday, the USDA forecast broiler production during the first six months of 2003 at 16.25 billion pounds, down slightly from the same period last year.
The disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any signs of infection. The USDA said the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman declared an emergency to provide additional federal resources to Southern California. The action also allows the department to apply federal authority in the state.
A major outbreak of the disease in Southern California in 1971 prompted the destruction of 12 million birds and cost $56 million to eradicate over three years.
Health officials believe the current outbreak will not be nearly as severe, estimating about 1.2 million birds will be destroyed during the eradication effort.
(Additional reporting by Pav Jordan in Mexico City)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030116&Category=APN&ArtNo=301160846&Ref=AR
Jan 16, 2003
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - The San Joaquin County fair has suspended its poultry show this year to avoid the spread of a dangerous poultry disease after an outbreak in Southern California, fair board officials said.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture sent a memo to fair boards throughout the state this week recommending boards suspend poultry shows after exotic Newcastle disease was discovered in San Bernardino and six other counties.
"We don't want to see this virus spread, especially into Northern California," said Larry Cooper, an agriculture department spokesman. "It can be transmitted through the air, through the dirt on the shoes of someone who's walked through an infected area."
The state fair board also is expected to suspend its poultry show at a meeting later this month, said Mike Bradley, the fair's assistant general manager.
Despite the lack of live birds at the San Joaquin County fair in June, poultry will remain prominent, said Cherie Sintes, poultry barn chairwoman. Sintes hopes to bring educational videos and speakers to the Poultry Pavilion to expose visitors to the science of poultry.
AgWeb
1/16/2003
Mexico To Ban All U.S Poultry
by Jim Dugan
REF: http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?file=AgNewsArticle_20031161140_5012&articleid=94500&newscat=GN
In a move that could have a major impact on the US poultry industry, Mexico's Secretariat of Agriculture has informed USDA that it will ban all imports of raw poultry from the United States.
The move is an expansion of Mexico's poultry ban in California, related to the outbreak of the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease. USDA has placed quarantine on poultry in eight Southern California counties where the disease has been discovered, and already more than a million birds have been destroyed in an effort to wipe out END. The disease is deadly for birds, but does not pose a threat to humans.
"The USDA has a team in Mexico that is trying to resolve this issue, and explain to the Mexican government that the outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease has been limited to those few counties in Southern California," said Toby Moore, a spokesperson for the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council. Moore says he understands the ban is supposed to take effect on Friday.
Moore adds that a nationwide ban of poultry products by Mexico would have a huge impact on poultry producers and the entire industry. Through October of 2002, the value of US poultry exports to Mexico was $70.2 million. Mexico is the number three poultry export market in terms of volume, and it ranks fifth in terms of value.
Canada and Mexico already have bans on poultry imports from California due to the outbreak. The disease was first found in Southern California late last year in small backyard flocks, but it eventually was spread to some commercial flocks in California.
Moore says the industry wants to avoid a widespread outbreak, which could cripple the US poultry industry.
In 1971, a major outbreak occurred in commercial poultry flocks in Southern California. The disease threatened not only the California poultry industry but the entire US poultry and egg supply. In all, 1,341 infected flocks were identified, and almost 12 million birds were destroyed. The eradication program cost taxpayers $56 million, severely disrupted the operations of many producers, and increased the prices of poultry and poultry products to consumers.
Forbes
Mexico threatens ban on US poultry-industry group
Reuters, 01.16.03, 11:38 AM ET
REF: http://www.forbes.com/work/newswire/2003/01/16/rtr849567.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico has threatened to ban all U.S. poultry products due to concerns that an outbreak of the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease could spread beyond California, a U.S. industry group said Thursday.
Mexico, the third largest U.S. poultry market, may expand its ban, now limited to California products, if the United States could not assure officials the disease was under control, said Toby Moore, spokesman for USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
"I am sure our government is making the case to Mexico it isn't necessary to ban any more than California or even the six counties in the quarantine zone in Southern California," Moore said. "We hope the Mexicans will see the logic in that."
Exotic Newcastle disease was first discovered in October in backyard flocks of Southern California. It has since spread to five commercial chicken farms.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
Seafood.com
California Newcastle Outbreak Spreads To New Poultry Flock
REF: http://www.seafood.com/news/current/85482.html
SEAFOOD.COM (Poultry) January 16, 2003 - By Ken Coons - Yesterday USDA reported that the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease has been found in a new commercial poultry flock in California.
According to a Reuters report, the disease, which threatens California's $3 billion poultry industry, was first discovered in October in backyard flocks but has since spread to commercial chicken farms. All affected counties have been quarantined.
The disease is fatal for fowl but harmless to humans. According to Reuters, Exotic Newcastle Disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any signs of infection. The USDA said the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
All contaminated or exposed chickens are being killed, double-bagged and buried.
U.S. poultry is very competitively priced in most world markets and the EU
has taken advantage of the situation to ban all poultry and egg imports from the U.S., despite U.S. protests.
'We are certainly explaining to (the EU) there is no need to ban all U.S. product,' said USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison. Columbia has now also banned all poultry imports from the U.S.
Canada, Mexico and China have limited their U.S. poultry import bans to poultry products originating in California.
Kim Smith, spokeswoman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the new outbreak was located in San Bernardino County. Smith said the department has worked closely with the U.S. Postal Service and commercial airlines to ensure they do not ship any poultry or susceptible products from quarantined areas.
Southern California counties affected are Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.
Seafood.com
Mexico Threatens Ban on U.S. Chicken Imports
SEAFOOOD.COM (Poultry) January 16, 2003 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
REF: http://www.seafood.com/news/current/85469.html
Mexico City --- Mexico has threatened to ban all uncooked chicken imports from the United States beginning Friday if it is not satisfied that sufficient measures are being taken to safeguard against diseases, according to sources close to trade negotiations between the countries.
The threat comes amid mounting tension over free trade and follows the elimination Jan. 1 of tariffs on U.S. chicken imports under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is negotiating with Mexican farm officials 'to assure them that the United States has mechanisms and policies' to deal with diseases, said U.S. embassy spokesman James Dickmeyer.
Tariffs on U.S. chicken imports have been gradually dropping for nine years, but the plunge from 49 percent to zero on Jan. 1 has sparked emotional protests in Mexico by farmers.
Mexico's threat to ban imports complicates a unique deal that Mexican and U.S. trade officials were close to sealing. The proposed agreement would not just restore tariffs on imported chicken legs and thighs --- cuts that Mexican consumers prefer --- but almost double them in an effort to prevent U.S. products from swamping the Mexican market.
Jim Sumner, head of the Atlanta-based USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, said he is optimistic the two governments will work out differences over disease concerns, avert a ban and then move forward with the deal on tariffs.
'We would consider this an excessive action from Mexico because of a problem that's been regional,' said Sumner, contending that Newcastle disease has been found mostly among chickens in California.
Copyright 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030116/53241.html
1/16/03
Poultry disease discovered in San Bernardino commercial flock
CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES ---- More than 400,000 chickens at a San Bernardino County
commercial farm were ordered destroyed Wednesday after testing positive for
a disease that has forced the quarantine of Southern California's poultry.
It was the fifth commercial chicken farm hit by Exotic Newcastle Disease,
which is a threat to the state's $3 billion industry and has required the
slaughter of more than 1.7 million chickens since it was discovered in
backyard flocks in September.
The farm, which was not identified, was near backyard flocks in San
Bernardino County that were infected with the disease, said Larry Cooper,
spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
"It is in close proximity to a large number of backyard finds, which leads
us to believe that's how it spread" to the commercial farm, Cooper said.
Members of a federal and state task force have been going door to door in
the quarantine zone, examining fowl within a two-mile radius of infected
commercial and backyard flocks in an attempt to eradicate the disease.
"The only way to get rid of this virus is to get rid of the birds," Cooper
said.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and
nesting materials in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside,
Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being
sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the
quarantine zone.
No infected birds have been found north of Santa Barbara County, Cooper
said.
Since the outbreak, Canada stopped all shipments of poultry and its products
from California for 14 days. Mexico, the state's leading export market for
poultry, called for a similar ban. In the United States, Arizona and
Massachusetts banned birds that have either come from or passed through
California.
Despite the outbreak, poultry and egg prices have remained stable.
1/16/03
Los Angeles Times, CA
Avian virus hits another ranch
Agriculture officials say ranch, which is near homes with infected flocks, has 400,000 birds.
By Matthew Chin, Inland Valley Voice
January 16, 2003
REF: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ontario/news/la-ivo-newcastle16jan16.story
A deadly avian disease that local, state and federal officials have been trying to eradicate for months has been found at a San Bernardino County egg ranch, state agriculture officials said Wednesday.
Exotic Newcastle disease was found at an unnamed egg ranch with 400,000 birds, state agriculture department spokesman Larry Cooper said. It is the second commercial property in the county where the disease has been found. The ranch is near several homes with infected backyard flocks, Cooper said.
More than 1 million birds were being destroyed at another ranch in San Bernardino County, officials said Wednesday. That removes about one-third of the county's 4 million to 4.5 million egg-laying hens from the production line until they can be replaced, said John Gardner, San Bernardino County's deputy chief agricultural commissioner. Hens cannot be replaced until a ranch is disinfected and tests negative for exotic Newcastle disease, which takes weeks.
"It's getting more significant," Gardner said of the outbreak.
The county's egg production totaled $26.2 million in 2001.
It could be months before the ranches are cleaned of the disease, Cooper said.
In addition to the two San Bernardino County ranches the disease has been found at two commercial properties in Riverside and San Diego counties.
More than 5,800 backyard flocks in Southern California have been quarantined, including 1,215 with birds that have been or will be destroyed.
The disease is not harmful to humans and the outbreak is not considered a public health threat.
A quarantine zone covers Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Officials are trying to prevent the disease from spreading to the San Joaquin Valley, the heart of the state's poultry industry.
Last week the state and federal governments declared a state of emergency to help with financial assistance to ranchers.
Cooper said the state agency will not release names of operations where the disease is found because they are concerned the announcement will result in actions that help spread the disease.
Workers clad in protective jumpsuits were at a poultry ranch in south Fontana on Wednesday in an operation similar in appearance to other Newcastle cleanup operations. Workers declined to answer questions about their presence and the ranch owner did not return phone calls. The ranch is surrounded by homes where state quarantine signs are posted on gates.
It is one of the largest egg ranches in the county, Gardner said.
Despite the outbreak, Gardner said he doesn't think egg ranches will leave the county. Many ranch owners have invested too much money in biosecurity measures and modern chicken houses to simply pack up and leave, he said.
Exotic Newcastle disease hit the Southern California poultry industry hard in the early 1970s. More than 12 million birds were destroyed at a cost of $56 million.
"We're certainly hopeful that it's not going to be like the 1970s," said Doug Kuney, a poultry specialist with UC Cooperative Extension in Riverside. "We're working very hard in trying to finds holes in our biosecurity methods and correcting them to minimize the spread. Really, we're looking at just about everything."
Several disease task force workers have reported cases of pink eye, a minor infection, but Cooper said the infection is related to working on a poultry farm, not the disease itself.
NOTE: This "pink eye" is END in the Task Force! (LINK)
Press-Enterprise, CA
Chicken toll growing by 400,000
NEWCASTLE: The disease is detected at an unnamed egg farm in western San Bernardino County.
01/16/2003
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nanewcast.58b18.html
Destruction of another 400,000 hens began Wednesday at an undisclosed egg farm in western San Bernardino County, state authorities said, after exotic Newcastle disease was diagnosed in the flock.
It is the fourth commercial farm slated for depopulation, and the second in San Bernardino County. Killing of infected and exposed birds is part of a concerted state and federal effort to eradicate the highly infectious disease that is usually fatal to chickens before it decimates the state's egg industry.
State Department of Food and Agriculture spokesman Larry Cooper declined to disclose the location or ownership of the farm, other than to say it is close to homes where backyard poultry has tested positive for the disease.
Outbreaks of exotic Newcastle disease also have occurred in commercial farms in Riverside and San Diego counties.
In all, 1.6 million birds have been identified for destruction since the current outbreak began Oct. 1 in a few Southern California backyard flocks. Since then, 56,618 backyard birds have been killed.
The federal government has imposed a quarantine that forbids birds from being moved outside eight Southern California counties, although sanitized eggs are exempt.
State officials said they are seeking the origin of infection at the second San Bernardino County egg farm.
Doug Kunney, a poultry farm adviser employed by the University of California at UC Riverside, said it is uncertain if the latest commercial operation was infected by nearby backyard poultry or by links with one of the other infected commercial farms. "We don't know," he said.
Leslie Berkman can reached by email at lberkman@pe.com.
Ventura County Star, CA
LOS ANGELES
Farm must destroy diseased chickens
REF: http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/state/article/0,1375,VCS_122_1677715,00.html
More than 400,000 chickens at a San Bernardino County commercial farm were ordered destroyed Wednesday after testing positive for a disease that has forced the quarantine of Southern California's poultry.
It was the fifth commercial chicken farm hit by exotic Newcastle disease, which is a threat to the state's $3 billion industry and has required the slaughter of more than 1.7 million chickens since it was discovered in backyard flocks in September.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in Ventura, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
Ventura County Star, CA
Chickens will be fairground no-shows
Exotic Newcastle disease forces fair to ban fowl
By Molly Freedenberg, mfreedenberg@insidevc.com
January 16, 2003
REF: http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/county_news/article/0,1375,VCS_226_1677774,00.html
The only chickens that will be at the Ventura County Fair this year will be in your sandwich.
Because of recent outbreaks of the exotic Newcastle disease (END), Gov. Gray Davis has announced that no fairs in California will hold poultry exhibits this year.
Susan White, superintendent of small livestock for the Ventura County Fair, said that the news is disappointing but makes sense. The disease, which she compared to hoof-and-mouth, is so contagious that even one sick bird could infect an entire fair's worth of chickens.
"Then all of the birds that were shown would have to be destroyed," she said Wednesday.
Katie Zacks, poultry leader for the Mupu 4-H Club in Santa Paula, also understands the governor's reasoning. Not only is it important to protect California's poultry industry, she said, but also the state is preserving the feelings of children who raise the animals.
"This isn't just your show project," she said. "This is Henny Penny, your pet. Losing her would be really upsetting."
White said she noticed kids were more concerned with keeping their birds safe than competing with them.
"Though they don't seem like they'd be a nice cuddly pet, evidently kids get attached to them," said White, who is partial to soft, fuzzy bunnies.
That's why the kids in Zacks' club are more concerned with keeping their chickens safe than getting to show them at the fair.
"It's a lot more personal," she said.
Kari Aist of Santa Paula said the news is more upsetting to her than her two daughters, who can still show other animals at the fair. She has been trying to revive a dwindling enthusiasm for poultry within 4-H clubs.
"It's going to fizzle now," she said.
Aist also wanted the poultry show to be a learning experience for her kids, who are home-schooled.
However, Sandy Welcker, of Simi Valley, said the news still can be a teaching tool in the local club. Instead of focusing on showmanship with poultry, she said, maybe the club will use the chance to talk about diseases that affect chickens.
"You've got to make lemonade out of lemons," Welcker said.
That's exactly what White plans to do with this year's fair, she said, by coming up with ways for kids to participate in the show without live birds. There may be a bulletin board where photos of chickens can be displayed.
An avian knowledge bowl can be organized.
For the showmanship part of the competition, handlers may use a stuffed, toy bird to point out physical traits .
"Though they can't walk it, or put it in a cage, or control it," White conceded.
Also, White said, the first annual chicken costume contest will be conducted by photo, rather than on the runway.
Zacks said she doesn't think changes to the costume contest -- which is based on two years of similar competitions with ballerina bunnies and guinea pigs in hula skirts -- will dampen enthusiasm much.
"It's fun for kids to get to do something kind of goofy," she said.
White said she expects chickens to return to the fair next year.
San Bernardino Sun, CA, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 10:48:37 PM MST
400,000 chickens ordered destroyed due to disease
By DAVID BRADVICA, Staff Writer
REF: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1114064,00.html
REF: http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1114111,00.html
A second commercial egg ranch in San Bernardino County was found this week to be infected with the Exotic Newcastle Disease, forcing authorities to order the destruction of more than 400,000 chickens there.
Wednesday's announcement came a little more than two weeks after an outbreak at another county commercial egg ranch, reportedly in the Fontana area, led authorities to order the destruction of more than 1 million birds there.
Workers from a federal-state task force began destroying birds at the second San Bernardino County location Tuesday. The destruction of the entire flock, and the subsequent disinfection of the premises to stem the spread of the Exotic Newcastle virus, will take "a few days,' said Kimberley Smith, a spokeswoman for U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Federal and state agricultural officials have so far declined to identify the five commercial farms, two in San Bernardino County, two in Riverside County and one in San Diego County, where entire flocks have been destroyed in recent weeks because the virus that causes exotic Newcastle was found at those locations.
The outbreak, first discovered in a small backyard flock in Los Angeles County in September, has forced the quarantine of poultry in eight Southern California counties, including Orange, Imperial, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and prompted Gov. Gray Davis to recently declare a statewide emergency.
The joint federal-state task force charged with containing the spread of the virus that is deadly to fowl has so far destroyed more than 580,000 birds infected or exposed to the virus and has operations in place to kill about 1 million more.
The goal is to keep the virus from spreading into Central California, where a majority of the state's 23 million egg-laying hens are raised. A similar outbreak that began in the Fontana area in the early 1970s spread statewide, threatening the entire U.S. egg and poultry industry and causing the destruction of nearly 12 million chickens.
The number of task force workers charged with tracking down infected flocks, and then destroying and disposing of the carcasses in a sanitary manner, has swelled to 699 in recent days and will soon reach 1,000, according to a press release issued Wednesday by Gov. Davis' office.
'At this point, we're definitely making some headway,' Smith said.
Two task force workers recently came down with cases of conjunctivitis, or "pink eye,' as a result of their exposure to the virus. But Smith said that the cases were minor and both employees are back at work.
"There is not a human health concern,' she said.
In late December, USDA vehicles and workers were seen at the E&M Ranch in Fontana, removing dead chickens from a shed on the ranch's property and disposing of them into a container on the back of a large truck.
Officials have never confirmed if the ranch's flock was destroyed because of an outbreak, saying that publicly identifying the affected farms could jeopardize their ongoing efforts to track the spread of the disease and eradicate it.
Officials have said the diseased birds are being killed by either gas or injection before being placed in large containers and then buried in lined containers at local landfills. Such elaborate disposal measures are necessary because the Exotic Newcastle virus is extremely hardy, surviving for several days in bird feces and often spread by humans who step in the feces.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NOTE: They have it wrong. Carbon dioxide is being used and not carbon monoxide.
Wisconsin Ag Connection, WI
Group Blasts USDA for Cruelty in Killing Chickens
USAgNet Editors - 01/16/2003
REF: http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.cfm?Id=68&yr=2003
The Humane Farming Association strongly urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use more humane methods to kill the millions of chickens and other birds whose southern California flocks have become infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease. In a letter to USDA Secretary Ann Veneman, HFA Outreach Director Dena Jones informed the agency that cruelty was neither necessary nor appropriate in eradicating animal disease. The letter also criticized the Department for its actions during a similar poultry depopulation program conducted last summer in Virginia.
More than one million birds have been ordered killed in an attempt to control an outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease in southern California. END is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease with a death rate of nearly 100 percent of infected flocks. The mass chicken euthanasia program is being conducted as a joint project of the USDA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
State and federal officials have indicated that California birds infected with END are being killed by carbon monoxide gas or barbiturate injection. Lethal barbiturate injection is considered by animal protection advocates to be the most humane method of euthanasia. While the American Veterinary Medical Association deems carbon monoxide gas to be an acceptable euthanasia agent, it is subject to misuse and must be properly administered. Concerns regarding administration of the gas prompted the California Legislature in 1998 to prohibit the killing of any animal by carbon monoxide, the group claims.
Bakersfield Californian, CA
Fair to discuss fowl entries in light of disease in Southland
The Bakersfield Californian
Wednesday January 15, 2003, 10:35:03 PM
REF: http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/2469700p-2516909c.html
Children and adults looking forward to displaying fowl at the county fair may want to wait before counting their chickens -- at least until next week.
The Kern County Fair Board is scheduled to discuss Tuesday whether chickens, turkeys and other birds should be allowed to be part of the fair this fall in light of the Exotic Newcastle Disease epidemic in Southern California.
The state's food and agriculture department is asking counties not to include poultry shows in their fairs this year.
"The problem with Newcastle is the ease in which the disease is transmitted from bird to bird," said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "It's a biosecurity measure to make sure the virus does not get carried into Northern California."
Exotic Newcastle Disease is a deadly, flu-like virus that is highly contagious among birds. Although it poses no threat to humans, people can carry it on themselves and their clothing and unknowingly pass it from one bird to another.
Fair board member Brent Dezember said the board usually goes along with health recommendations from the state.
Linda Quinones-Vaughan, president of the board, said the recommendation made sense but was disappointing.
"Poultry shows here are an integral part of the Kern County Fair," she said. "You think about the endless hours that the children and adults alike in our community work in preparing for ... poultry shows."
Still, she said, Kern's proximity to the quarantined counties -- including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino -- makes it worth being cautious.
"We don't want to be bringing in potentially contaminated birds into our area," she said. "We have to look at the real consequences."
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, Press-Enterprise, CA, KNBC-TV, CA
Poultry disease discovered in San Bernardino commercial flock
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030115&Category=APN&ArtNo=301151152&Ref=AR
REF: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Poultry_Disease_94922C.shtml
REF: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/1912114/detail.html
More than 400,000 chickens at a San Bernardino County commercial farm were ordered destroyed Wednesday after testing positive for a disease that has forced the quarantine of Southern California's poultry.
It was the fifth commercial chicken farm hit by Exotic Newcastle Disease, which is a threat to the state's $3 billion industry and has required the slaughter of more than 1.7 million chickens since it was discovered in backyard flocks in September.
The farm, which was not identified, was near backyard flocks in San Bernardino County that were infected with the disease, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
"It is in close proximity to a large number of backyard finds, which leads us to believe that's how it spread" to the commercial farm, Cooper said.
Members of a federal and state task force have been going door to door in the quarantine zone, examining fowl within a two-mile radius of infected commercial and backyard flocks in an attempt to eradicate the disease.
"The only way to get rid of this virus is to get rid of the birds," Cooper said.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
No infected birds have been found north of Santa Barbara County, Cooper said.
Since the outbreak, Canada stopped all shipments of poultry and its products from California for 14 days. Mexico, the state's leading export market for poultry, called for a similar ban. In the United States, Arizona and Massachusetts banned birds that have either come from or passed through California.
Despite the outbreak, poultry and egg prices have remained stable.
Last modified: January 15. 2003 8:16PM
NOTE: In regard to this article, PLEASE note the following:
Here's what the Gray Book says about velogenic Newcastle disease, and wild birds:
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/gray_book/FAD/vnd.htm
"Reports from England (11) that the virus can be wind-borne under certain
conditions should be considered even though there was no evidence of
airborne transmission between premises with the virus that caused the 1971
outbreak in California. Free-flying wild birds apparently had no role in
the spread of VND during that outbreak (16)."
Redlands Daily Facts, CA
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 5:37:04 PM MST
Disease threat raises feathers for bird owners
By Shefrah Ann Rozenstain
For the Daily Facts
REF: http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/Stories/0,1413,209~22484~1113144,00.html
REDLANDS There's a place on the west side of town where visitors can take a walk on the tame side. It's Joe Bracken's five-acre bird farm, the only one in the San Bernardino Valley. Originally on Alvarado Street, Bracken moved his bird farm to New Jersey Street in 1973.
Currently, however, a pall hangs over this usually pleasant place to visit. It's the threat from the virus that causes Exotic Newcastle Disease which is hitting domestic and commercial fowl throughout several counties.
While the bird farm remains open, visitors are asked to scrub the soles of their shoes in disinfectant before entering the premises. Brushes and solution are furnished just outside the main entrance.
"There is no vaccination to protect against Newcastle's and there is no cure," says Bracken. "If the bird farm got it the government would come in and destroy all the birds. We'd get paid fair market value' for the birds but not for future lost revenue from breeding.
"One year I was sold some blue medicine to put in the birds' drinking water that was claimed to protect against Newcastle's, but all it did was make the canaries sterile.
The disease has prompted the slaughter of more than 1.2 million chickens since it was discovered at commercial farms in December.
Chickens in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange counties were quarantined in late December.
The disease spreads quickly among birds, but cannot be transmitted to humans.
While so far only chickens have contracted the disease, says Bracken any kind of bird can become infected.
"Wild birds carry Newcastle's from one place to another," Bracken says. "All you can do is to pray."
Signs of the disease in birds include sneezing, coughing, gasping for air, drooping wings, muscular tremors, paralysis and sudden death.
Bracken has screened his aviaries on all sides. An additional fine screen overhead keeps wild birds even further away.
Bracken is still solicitous for the well-being of the wild birds that frequent his farm and continues to feed them away from the aviaries.
Soft twitterings, punctuated now and then by raucous outbursts from the parrots and toucans, wrap visitors in the Bracken version of surround sound.
On their way to the aviaries bird lovers walk through the bird farm store. Every kind of bird toy imaginable covers the walls from ceiling to floor. Shelves are filled with bird furniture and bird comfort food. Bird treats range from dried bugs to bits of dried fruit.
Large cages for maxi-size birds such as parrots and toucans dot the store and spill over onto the porch. Numerous smaller cages for canaries and finches, fill wall space not already occupied by bird paraphernalia. Only windows and doors preempt the well-stocked display space. Wooden nesting boxes sit empty in neat rows.
Visitors continue through a room filled with 25 and 50 pound sacks of seed, enough to feed a dozen feathered flying armies. A self-closing door opens into one of Bracken's two large aviaries. Lined with cages oftiny vocal birds this aviary doesn't have the "fly-around-you" birds the other large aviary has.
The second walk-in aviary is a restful mini ecosystem. A gurgling stream runs through it. Appropriately landscaped it replicates its residents' original homes. Besides giving the landscaping a finishing touch the stream furnishes fresh running water for the birds to drink and raises the all-important humidity level.
Among the plain brown, beige and gray birds in the aviary the biggest attention-getter is the bleeding heart dove. The naturally appearing red splotch on its gray chest can look pretty gruesome. A native of the Philippines, it's hard to raise here.
To the visitor who expresses sympathy for the dove Bracken asks, "Did you think it had been injured? That's the way it looks all the time. It's natural." The dove prefers to keep its feet on the ground and it's this ground dwening preference that makes it safer to watch. There's always the danger of being pelted in an aviary.
Super-size cages at one end of this aviary hold Bracken's largest, most vocal and brightly colored birds. A pair of "very bonded" macaws, one bright yellow and orange with a robin egg blue back and its mate with a brilliant red breast and red back, enjoy watching visitors upside down.
The second cage over holds a pair of the only quiet birds in the block, rose-breasted cockatoos who wear chokers of pink feathers over otherwise all gray feathers.
The last cage holds a pair of very camera-shy Swanson's toucans who, together, fade into the dark recesses of their cage whenever a camera is pointed their way. They pop back into the light when the photographer moves away. Their huge, curved, yellow and black bills are a perfect match for their brilliant yellow and jet black feathers.
Two non-bird sights to see on Bracken's Bird Farm are a small fernery and a koi pond. Each koi weighs 10 to 12 pounds and resembles a gargantuan goldfish.
Bracken, a veritable walking bird encyclopedia, offers some words of wisdom to bird owners, new or experienced and looking for new insights.
"When it comes to diet birds need variety, not just seed and water".
"Birds can die of malnutrition" and suggests that "domesticated birds will thrive on the same diet as their wild cousins variety." Seeds, along with fresh blossoms and fresh or dried fruit and dried insects, make up a bird's complete diet."
"Birds do best when kept in the liveliest room of the house, close to action."
For exercise purposes a bird needs all the space it can get. "No matter how small the bird, choose the largest cage you can. Its most important dimension is length Long space in one direction gives the bird space for flying exercises. Vertically arranged bars are fine for canaries and finches but hookbills, such as parrots or toucans, enjoy climbing and should live in a cage with horizontal bars to make climbing easier."
Located at 10797 New Jersey St., the Bracken Bird Farm is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday and closed Tuesdays. The phone number is 792-5735. The web site is: www.brackenbird.com
Forbes, Centre Daily Times, PA, Reuters, ABC News, Aberdeen American News, SD & More
USDA finds poultry virus in new California flock
Reuters, 01.15.03, 4:58 PM ET
REF: http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2003/01/15/rtr848530.html
REF: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/4955288.htm
REF: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2052688
REF: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20030115_627.html
REF: http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/4955288.htm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An outbreak of the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease has spread to a new commercial poultry flock in California, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Wednesday.
The disease, which threatens California's $3 billion poultry industry, was first discovered in October in backyard flocks but has since spread to commercial chicken farms. All affected counties have been quarantined.
The disease is fatal for fowl but harmless to humans.
Kim Smith, spokeswoman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the new outbreak was located in San Bernardino County.
The discovery makes two commercial flocks in San Bernardino county and a total of five in the state infected with the disease.
All contaminated or exposed chickens are being killed, double-bagged and buried.
Canada, Mexico and China have banned poultry and poultry products from California and the outbreak has halted shipments of all U.S. poultry to Colombia.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman declared an emergency to provide additional federal resources to Southern California. The action also allows the department to apply federal authority in the state.
Although California is the 9th-largest poultry-producing state, it is not a major exporter and industry officials said the outbreak would not have a significant impact on U.S. farm exports.
Exotic Newcastle Disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any signs of infection. The USDA said the mortality rate for exposed birds is up to 90 percent.
A major outbreak of the disease in Southern California in 1971 prompted the destruction of 12 million birds and cost $56 million to eradicate over three years.
The current outbreak is not nearly as severe and about 1.2 million birds will be destroyed during the eradication effort.
Smith said the department has worked closely with the U.S. Postal Service and commercial airlines to ensure they do not ship any poultry or susceptible products from quarantined areas.
Southern California counties affected were Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
Antelope Valley Press
Disease forces fair to cancel poultry shows
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press Wednesday, January 15, 2003.
By RICH BREAULT
Valley Press Senior Staff Writer
LANCASTER - There will be no poultry shows at this year's Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival.
In response to the epidemic of exotic Newcastle disease - a viral disease commonly known to infect domestic fowls - the state's Division of Fairs and Expositions has requested that all fairs in California cancel their poultry shows.
The annual Antelope Valley Fair, this year slated for Aug. 22 through Sept. 1, features a variety of livestock and poultry shows. Many of the participants belong to 4-H Clubs, Junior Grange and Future Farmers of America.
Commercial flocks and backyard birds have been diagnosed with the disease, and quarantines are in place in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties.
"The early cancellation of all shows will allow youth time to start another project in time for this year's fair," said Dan Jacobs, Antelope Valley Fair manager.
"Although we have quite a few entries of chickens, turkeys, pigeons and emus in our shows, we have enough time to rearrange show times to make sure that all of our barns are full with other animals."
In Los Angeles County, at least 23 private properties are under "premises quarantine" as incidents of the deadly and purportedly indiscriminate exotic Newcastle disease have contaminated properties in Lancaster, Littlerock and Santa Clarita.
The disease is a suspected menace to all bird species and is considered the most infectious disease of poultry, threatening even vaccinated birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Poultry and poultry products may not be moved from quarantined counties. Eggs may be moved after they are washed, sanitized and packed in new materials. Authorities say the disease does not pose a threat to humans, and poultry and egg products are safe to consume.
The quarantine affects chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peafowl, doves, pigeons, swans and ratites (among them emus and ostriches).
The last commercial outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease occurred in California in 1971, affecting more than 1,300 flocks and 12 million birds. The outbreak cost U.S. poultry and egg supply and taxpayers $56 million, according to the USDA.
The Press-Enterprise - CA
Disease hitting small flocks
ERADICATION EFFORTS: State and federal officials are combing the Inland in search of infected birds.
01/15/2003
By PAIGE AUSTIN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nabirds15.5860a.html
NORCO - It was a cold, unusually quiet morning when Norco resident Jose Barba walked outside last month to feed his 75 pet roosters and chickens. The flock -- which had seemed perfectly healthy the night before -- was decimated, with dozens of lifeless birds littering his back yard.
Barba's was one of nearly 750 backyard flocks in the Inland area -- from Highway 91 up Interstate 15 and east through Colton, Fontana and San Bernardino -- to be infected by the recent outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease.
Over the past two weeks, state officials have killed hundreds of infected birds in Norco, and this week dozens of surrounding flocks are being quarantined, said U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins.
Patricia Dickey of Norco was tempted to flee with her geese Bertha and Fred when state workers started killing off her flock of 160 chickens and 30 ducks. "But then I realized I had to let them go," she said.
William Wilson Lewis III
The Press-Enterprise
Ana Barba walks in her Norco back yard where officials have begun
to clean up pens that once housed chickens. The Barbas' was one of
nearly 750 backyard flocks in the Inland area to be infected by the
recent outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease.
Comment: Why do they say chickens when they mean gamefowl?
Flocks in neighborhoods surrounding the diseased sites will remain under quarantine indeterminately until the disease has been completely cleared from the area, Hawkins said.
This week, California Conservation Corps workers are going door to door in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, examining ducks, geese, chickens and all caged birds within a kilometer of the infected flocks. About 150 federal and state task force workers are arriving throughout the week to step up disease detection and eradication efforts, which means the birds must be killed and shipped away.
"It's terrible," said Ana Barba. "My husband has had his birds for 15 years. He grew up with roosters in Mexico. They meant a lot to him."
Next door to the Barbas on Temescal Avenue, California Conservation Corps workers this week killed five chickens and two parakeets that could have been infected by the Barba's flock.
"They took our parakeets Romeo and Juliet out back and killed them," said 10-year-old Vince Garza.
Before state workers arrived, the Garzas took one pet bird that had been in the family for generations to the vet to make sure it hadn't been infected. They shipped it to friends before state workers could euthanize it, said Richard Garza, Vince's cousin.
Officials are asking residents to be on guard for signs of the illness such as sneezing, depression and death in their flocks. Exotic Newcastle disease, which is transmitted through direct contact among birds, inhalation, fecal matter and through contaminated humans, can wipe out entire poultry flocks.
"I'm just worried about my birds," said Norco resident Gail Pimper, who keeps 17 pet chickens. "They're like part of the family, and we just don't know what is going to happen to them."
Reach Paige Austin at (909) 893-2106 or paustin@pe.com
To report signs of exotic Newcastle disease, call a hot line at (800) 491-1899.
Warning Signs
Some symptoms of exotic Newcastle disease:
Nasal discharge, greenish diarrhea, sneezing, coughing, depression, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of the head and neck, complete paralysis.
Source: California Dept. of Food and Agriculture
North County Times - Ca
2003 county fair won't have poultry
ADAM KAYE
Staff Writer
REF: http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030115/60345.html
DEL MAR ---- A quarantine to stop the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease has forced the organizers of the 2003 San Diego County Fair to cancel poultry exhibits at the summer event.
"We have no choice," fair deputy manager Chana Mannen said Tuesday. "We are sorry we have to do this."
Mannen made the announcement at a meeting of the 22nd District Agricultural Association board of directors, which operates the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Mannen said she would send notice to the county's 4-H, Future Farmers of America and Grange members this week.
The poultry disease has prompted quarantines in eight Southern California counties, including San Diego County.
State agriculture officials recommended Tuesday that California fair boards suspend all poultry shows this year.
In a memo sent Tuesday, Liz Houser, the state Department of Agriculture's director of fairs and expositions, wrote, "Fairs should also examine the displays of all avian species to determine if they are in the best interest of the fair to proceed."
The fairboard is scheduled to take formal action to cancel the poultry shows at its February meeting.
The quarantine means the fairgrounds' competitive pigeon, poultry and turkey shows and educational displays of birds all are canceled.
Poultry are most susceptible to Exotic Newcastle Disease.
Experts say the affliction can affect all bird species, though.
Humans aren't usually affected, although people working in poultry farms where the disease has struck will often get eye infections, authorities say. Eggs and chicken are safe to eat.
Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.
1/15/03
Tri-Valley Herald, CA
State grounds bird exhibitions
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 8:09:53 AM MST
Alameda County Fairgrounds seeking alternatives for exotic bird show, fair's 4-H entries
By Matt Carter, STAFF WRITER
REF: http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86%257E10671%257E1112080,00.html
Chickens, turkeys and even talking parrots won't be welcome at the San Joaquin Fair and other fairs around the state this summer because of a highly contagious disease that threatens California's poultry industry.
Having eradicated more than 1.2 million chickens in an attempt to control an outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease in Southern California, state officials Tuesday asked county fairs in uninfected areas to voluntarily cancel poultry exhibitions this year.
"It's basically hoof-in-mouth disease for chickens," said Liz Houser, director of the California Department of Agriculture's Division of Fairs and Expositions. "You have to stop the movement of birds and limit their exposure to people."
In a memo to fair boards and youth groups like Future Farmers of America, Houser said the state "strongly recommends" that local fair boards suspend all poultry shows for the 2003 fair season.
Houser said the disease can't harm people, but it will travel on their shoes and clothes.
"We have over 30 million guests attending our shows year round," Houser said. "What we're trying to do is reduce the risk of spreading this thing up to Northern California."
Fairs that don't cancel their poultry shows will be required to follow strict guidelines -- including inspections of birds by veterinarians -- that will add to the cost of the shows. The shows could also be canceled or quarantined by state officials with little notice.
Poultry shows are already banned in the existing eight-county quarantine zone, which includes Los Angeles, San Bernadino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Imperial counties.
In San Joaquin County, where the production of turkeys, chickens and their eggs was valued at $13.2 million in 2001, a fair official said a voluntary suspension on birds at this year's event is all but certain.
"It hasn't come on our board's agenda, but canceling the show is just a formality -- it will be canceled," said Troy Bowers, deputy manger of the San Joaquin Fair.
Bowers said the Stockton-based fair draws about 280 chickens for exhibit and also includes "a very big commercial turkey program" in which children raise turkeys for sale at auction.
"This is going to be a pretty big impact on a lot of kids," Bowers said.
The operations committee at the Alameda County Fair Association is recommending that the board adopt a voluntary suspension on poultry exhibits, said Marketing Director April Chase.
"If they choose not to vote on it and let us decide, we'll go with what the (Division of Fairs and Expositions) team recommends," Chase said.
The state is also asking fairs to reconsider exhibitions of all birds, not just poultry, "to determine if they are in the best interest of the fair to proceed."
"The exotic birds like parrots and parakeets can have the virus and shed it without presenting any symptoms," Houser said.
Chase said the fate of the Northern California Exotic Bird and Supply Exposition scheduled to take place at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton on March 30 is up in the air.
"We're talking to the promoters to see if they'll change their venues," Chase said. "We're in a holding pattern to see how long this will last."
Chase said the fair is also talking to local 4-H leaders about the potential for alternative entries at this summer's fair.
Steve Brozosky, the leader of Abbie 4-H in Pleasanton, said exotic Newcastle disease has already been a study subject for the group.
"It's probably not a bad thing to be teaching the kids -- it's part of the reality of raising livestock," he said. "There are a lot of unexpected variables in farming."
Brozosky said it's too late in the year for 4-Hers who'd been thinking about raising chickens to switch to pigs or cows. But small animals like guinea pigs or rabbits are still an option.
"It's a tough thing on the kids but they have to learn about farming, too," Brozosky said. "It would be selfish for us to say we want to do the show, and wipe out the chicken flock."
In San Joaquin County, where chickens laid more than 200 million eggs valued at nearly $10 million in 2001, Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson said the battle against exotic Newcastle disease is being fought on many fronts.
"There are a lot of things that need to be done to prevent the spread of the disease, and I applaud any agency that makes the necessary sacrifices to ensure it doesn't spread," Hudson said.
The Press-Enterprise - CA
Newcastle emergency
01/14/2003
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/PE.OP.ED.2003.0114.b.1e73c863.html
The governor's declaration of a state of emergency in dealing with exotic Newcastle disease, which has cost the loss of a million chickens in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, is a positive step in the battle against this fast-spreading killer of birds.
The declaration means state agencies can pool resources in a common effort. Counties have already declared a state of emergency and, with Gov. Davis' decision last week, the next step is a federal designation.
As Newcastle has spread it has brought this fact home to roost: Even as new tile roofs pop up all over the two-county area, the Inland economy is still heavily reliant upon agriculture.
In Riverside County, the state leader in egg production, agriculture amounts to $1.2 billion annually. Eggs, the county's fifth largest ag sector, amounted to $56 million in 2001. Newcastle has wiped out 100,000 hens in Riverside County, for a loss of 2.7 million dozen eggs a year. San Bernardino County's loss is more staggering: one million hens.
Some see Newcastle as an economic equalizer. Wholesale egg prices have been falling -- from 45 cents a dozen in 2000 to 39 cents per dozen in 2001 -- due to over-supply. Let's hope it doesn't equalize things down to the last hen and egg.
Some operators might be inclined to get out of the business altogether once they're compensated by the state for destroyed hens. Yet other poultry farmers who stay in business are not being paid for lost production. Once a farm has Newcastle disease, chickens are killed and the operation is closed for weeks or indefinitely, shutting off production and income.
Newcastle could shape up as one of the worst local ag disasters in recent memory, even eclipsing Pierce's disease that swept the Wine Country (wine grapes rank 25th, table grapes third in Riverside County agriculture). It is a real emergency. The governor's declaration drives that home.
California Farm Bureau Federation
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
REF: http://www.cfbf.com/ffn/2003/ffn-01_14_03.html
Residents report suspected birds
Publicity about exotic Newcastle disease has prompted some Southern Californians to bring birds in for examination. Backyard birds from more than 11-hundred locations have been diagnosed with the disease, which kills poultry but does not affect humans. The disease has also been found in commercial flocks, though no new outbreaks have been reported on poultry farms. Eight Southern California counties have been quarantined to prevent the disease from spreading.
LA Daily News - CA
Poultry shows out of '03 fair
Newcastle disease outbreak is cited
Article Last Updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 7:21:31 PM MST
By Daily News
REF: http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20943%257E1110165,00.html
LANCASTER -- Antelope Valley Fair officials have canceled poultry shows for the 2003 fair due to a Southern California outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease, which is highly contagious and fatal to poultry.
The state Division of Fairs and Expositions has requested that all California fairs cancel their poultry shows due to the outbreak, which officials say threatens the state's multimillion-dollar poultry industry.
"The early cancellation of all shows will allow youth time to start another project in time for this year's fair," fair manager Dan Jacobs said. "Although we have quite a few entries of chickens, turkeys, pigeons and emus in our shows, we have enough time to rearrange show times to make sure that all our barns are full with other animals."
Because of the disease, state and federal agricultural officials have halted exports of chickens from most of Southern California, although eggs can still be exported by commercial ranchers if they are disinfected.
State officials are killing infected chickens and other birds, as well as birds in the same flock or birds that may have come in contact with diseased birds, in an attempt to limit the spread. The owners are reimbursed at what state officials determine is fair-market value.
Three weeks ago, for example, state officials killed more than 100,000 chickens at neighboring Riverside County egg farms after a bird tested positive for the disease.
The federal government expanded the quarantine last week to take in four more counties, extending it from Imperial County to Santa Barbara County.
A 1971 California outbreak resulted in the destruction of nearly 12 million chickens and other birds and took two years and $56 million in taxpayer money to control.
The latest outbreak involves a virus that closely resembles one that hit the Mexican poultry industry in 2000, state officials said, killing or leading to the destruction of 13.6 million chickens in Mexico.
Exotic Newcastle disease is considered almost 100 percent fatal among chickens. The disease does not affect people, and state officials say it does not make chicken meat or eggs unsafe to eat.
The disease was found last month among birds in Littlerock and has also been found in Lancaster, as well as in urbanized areas of Los Angeles County and in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties.
The quarantine forbids poultry from being moved out of the affected counties.
The quarantine covers a number of birds, including chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, peacocks, doves, pigeons, emus and ostriches.
Questions can be directed to the Antelope Valley Fair Administration office at (661) 948-6060.
Kingman Daily Miner - AZ
Poultry disease has not arrived in Arizona - yet
By Terry Organ
Miner Staff Writer
REF: http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/kingmandailyminer/myarticles.asp?H=1&S=393&P=704032&PubID=10126
A deadly poultry disease in Southern California hasn't reached Arizona, but area residents that keep flocks of chickens in their yards should be on guard.
Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) was discovered in September in backyard chicken flocks in Los Angeles County. Chickens in Riverside, Sam Bernardino, San Diego and Orange counties were quarantined in December. Santa Barbara, Ventura and Imperial counties have now been added to the quarantine list, although no infected chickens have been found among commercial interests in those three counties.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer, according to an AP story. More than three-fourths of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
The virus can infect humans, although the disease in people is normally limited to mild eye inflammation (pink eye).
Newcastle Disease is caused by a virus, which can divide into three groups – mesogenic, lentogenic and velogenic. The velogenic virus turns into END.
Morbidity (numbers of birds infected) and mortality (numbers dying) is close to 100 percent in susceptible species.
"There is no direct evidence as yet that Exotic Newcastle Disease has gotten into Arizona," said Peder (cq) Cuneo, extension veterinarian with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.
"But people who keep chickens should take precautions. Avoid contact with any birds from the quarantine area or people who have come out of that area."
Boots, feed sacks, egg trays, flies, mice or people may spread END. Cuneo said the virus is not a hardy one and people in the quarantine zone will not spread it if they change clothes, wash their hands and shower.
A dramatic decrease in egg production is noted once chickens are infected with the virus. Symptoms of the disease include swelling of the head and eyes, respiratory problems, greenish-dark diarrhea, and nervous signs that may include drooping wings, dragging legs and twisted head.
"The outbreak in California has been smoldering in backyard flocks since the late fall," Cuneo said.
"It has been difficult for the state to get a handle on it because small private flocks are not registered. You almost have to go door-to-door to find it."
A statewide outbreak of Newcastle Disease in California in the early 1970s threatened the U.S. poultry and egg industry. Efforts to stop the disease cost $56 million and led to the destruction of almost 12 million chickens.
Cuneo said Hickman Farms in Phoenix is Arizona's only large commercial egg producer. Managers there are concerned about END and are instituting extra safeguards, he said.
In addition to chickens, poultry species under the California quarantine include turkeys, ducks, geese, partridges, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peacocks, doves, pigeons, swans, ratites and ratite eggs.
Cockatiels and cockatoos, kept as house pets by some people, also are vulnerable to END. Macaws, lories, African gray parrots, finches and canaries have a degree of resistance to the disease, but may be carriers.
An administrative order implementing procedures to prevent the spread of END into the state was issued Tuesday by the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
It states that no equipment used in the processing of eggs or housing, feeding or watering of birds from the quarantine area shall be brought into Arizona from the quarantine zone, unless accompanied by an official certificate of cleaning and disinfection. All commercial vehicles transporting such items must stop at a Port-of-Entry station and provide the necessary proof to an inspector.
The order further requires all vehicles transporting birds to stop at the POE station and provide an agricultural inspector there with an original health certificate issued by an accredited veterinarian showing the bird(s) are healthy and did not originate in the quarantine zone.
The order will remain in effect indefinitely, said Rae (cq) Chornenky, legislative liaison for the state Department of Agriculture.
"Folks may not be aware they can become carriers of the virus from their backyard flocks," Chornenky said. "If you have a flock with one infected bird, just walking through the dirt where the flock is kept could be all it takes to spread the virus."
Anyone with a bird exhibiting the aforementioned symptoms should immediately contact the state veterinary office at 602-542-4293, Cuneo said.
Persons wishing more information about the disease may contact the state Department of Agriculture Newcastle Disease information line at 1-888-742-5334 or visit the website at www.agriculture.state.az.us.
AVFair.com
January 13, 2003
REF: http://www.avfair.com/press/1-13-03newcastle.htm
The Antelope Valley Fair announces that all poultry shows for this year's Fair will be cancelled due to the Newcastle disease quarantine.
A.V. FAIRGROUNDS – The Division of Fairs & Expositions has requested that all Fairs in California cancel their poultry shows for the 2003 season due to the spread of Newcastle disease that has spread throughout Southern California.
Commercial flocks and backyard birds have been diagnosed with Exotic Newcastle Disease. Quarantines are in place in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties. Poultry and poultry products may not be moved from quarantined counties. Eggs can be moved after they are washed, sanitized and packed in new materials. The disease does not pose a risk to human health. Poultry and egg products are safe to consume.
The quarantine affects chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peafowl (peacocks), doves, pigeons, swans, and ratites (emus, ostriches, rheas, etc.)
“The early cancellation of all shows will allow youth time to start another project in time for this years’ Fair,” said Dan Jacobs, A.V. Fair Manager. “Although, we have quite a few entries of Chickens, Turkey’s Pigeon’s and Emus in our shows, we have enough time to rearrange show times to make sure that all our barns are full with other animals.”
Any questions can be directed to the Antelope Valley Fair Administration office at (661) 948-6060.
California Farm Bureau Federation - CA
Battle builds against exotic Newcastle
Issue Date: January 15, 2003
By Kate Campbell
Assistant Editor
REF: http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/2003/01_15_03_b_aa.aspx
With emergency declarations from state and federal authorities in place, efforts have intensified to control the worst outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease in more than 30 years. Currently more than 600 people in eight Southern California counties are working on controlling the outbreak, but officials are preparing to add hundreds more workers to quash the disease.
The federal government is making a $40 million appropriation from the Federal Commodity Credit Corp. For the first stage of the eradication program, which includes reimbursement for farmers whose birds are destroyed, producers are reportedly being paid $2 to $5 per chicken, depending on the bird's age.
California's poultry industry is valued at more than $3 billion, with the farm value of egg production totaling more than $236 million in 2001. Already more than 1 million birds are scheduled to be euthanized, with that number expected to climb.
END is a highly contagious viral disease that affects most species of birds, but does not pose a public health threat and does not affect the safety of eggs. An outbreak of the disease in 1971 led to the destruction of nearly 12 million birds and cost $56 million to eradicate, dramatically increasing national poultry prices.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture are working jointly with the poultry industry and residents to prevent the spread of the disease. The expanded quarantine creates a buffer zone around END-infected sites and provides additional security against further disease spread. To do this, quarantines were extended to adjacent, non-infected counties.
Texas animal health officials are providing help to California by sending several state and federal veterinarians to help with disease eradication efforts.
James Lenarduzzi, acting executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, said he was sending experts from his state because the END outbreak in California "must be stopped before it breaks loose from its current boundaries in Southern California and threatens the rest of the United States."
Texas is the sixth largest producer of eggs and broilers in the nation, and in 2001 had turkey production valued at $170 million.
"For years we've conducted tabletop and simulated exercises for a foreign animal disease outbreak. Now we'll put that training to use," Lenarduzzi said.
The expanded quarantine boundaries in California encompass the counties with END-positive flocks: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura. Additional counties include Santa Barbara, Imperial and Orange.
"Right now CDFA is working on enhancing biosecurity measures on ranches and at processing facilities, which means better protection for commercial poultry flocks," said Ria de Grassi, California Farm Bureau Federation director of animal health and welfare. She recently joined officials at the END emergency operations center in Southern California for a first-hand look at disease response efforts.
"Officials are working on getting more people on the ground," de Grassi said. "They want to get their arms around the disease outbreak, instead of chasing it."
Currently there are four commercial flocks that have been affected by the disease-that includes the initial find, which was really two flocks with the same owner and commingled equipment and staff, she said.
Commercial poultry producers within the quarantine zone now must comply with a mandatory reporting system that identifies increased mortality, decreased egg production or any clinical symptoms suggestive of exotic Newcastle disease.
Poultry and poultry products cannot be moved from the quarantined counties. However, eggs can be moved after they are washed, sanitized and packed in new materials.
END was first confirmed in backyard poultry in Southern California in October of last year and in commercial poultry in December. As of early January, USDA and CDFA have confirmed three commercial establishments with a total of four confirmed END-positive flocks.
So far more than 5,300 premises have been quarantined in Southern California, primarily in Los Angeles and Riverside counties. Nearly 1,200 of these premises contained infected birds and all birds in these flocks were humanely destroyed and the premises sanitized.
Under the current quarantine regulations, owners of any species of birds within the quarantine area are prohibited from moving birds and bird products outside the area. Shows and sales of poultry within the quarantine are only permitted if the event manager has a signed compliance agreement with CDFA.
Once poultry enter the quarantine area for exhibition or sale, the birds are not permitted to leave the area. Violation of quarantine restrictions is punishable by up to $25,000 in fines.
Poultry expert Don Bell said that on Dec.1 California egg producers were earning 61 cents a dozen, but last week the price was 45 cents, indicating that the END outbreak has not yet affected market prices. Mexico, however, has banned shipments of most poultry since the virus was discovered. Canada also has announced a ban on poultry and poultry products from California.
Bill Mattos, president of the Modesto-based California Poultry Federation, told the media the state and federal emergency declarations are crucial because they provide people and money for the eradication effort and they effectively divide the infected and uninfected regions of the state.
"We are hopeful that the declaration in Southern California will let our exporting partners look at the state as two entities," Mattos said. "That could allow products from Northern California to be shipped around the world."
So far, prices for meat chickens, 98 percent of which are produced north of Bakersfield, have not been affected, Mattos said.
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. (Top)
Antelope Valley Press- CA
Experts answer questions on exotic Newcastle disease
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press Tuesday, January 14, 2003.
By HEATHER LAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer
REF: http://www.avpress.com/n/tusty4.hts
PALMDALE - Antelope Valley bird breeders may begin to feel like caged birds as the effort advances to eradicate exotic Newcastle disease and save Southern California's egg and poultry industries from financial ruin.
The eradication effort calls for near-isolation measures, and experts are calling on breeders and owners to employ diligent measures to fight the rapidly spreading, bird-killing disease.
A quest for answers brought nearly 70 Valley residents to a Friday-night briefing.
Experts from the California Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force tried to quell fears during the meeting, which came two days after the federal Department of Agriculture expanded the quarantine zone for exotic Newcastle disease, which has a 90% mortality rate, to include all of Southern California and declared a state of emergency because of the threat to the state's $3 billion-a-year poultry industry.
The federal announcement came hours after Gov. Gray Davis also declared a state of emergency, releasing money and manpower to combat the disease, which has required the slaughter of more than 1.2 million chickens since it was discovered at commercial farms in December. Chickens in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties have been affected.
The Antelope Valley is no exception, with one of the most recent cases being reported in Littlerock on the Valley's east side.
Foremost on the minds of those at Friday's meeting at the Color Guard Hall on 10th Street East was how to keep their flocks from becoming infected.
Some bird owners said they are upset with neighbors for not doing a better job at containing their birds; others are angry at officials for euthanizing entire flocks valued at thousands of dollars when only some birds tested positive for the disease.
Others simply are scared that their birds will be next.
Experts said the best prevention is common sense.
Their suggestions included: keep your birds away from other people's birds; keep other bird people away from your birds; employ crucial sanitation practices when coming and going; insist on the same from anyone coming onto your property; and report outbreaks, suspicious circumstances or even slight concerns immediately.
All birds infected with or exposed to the disease are being euthanized by members of the task force, which was formed in October with 24 people.
Three months later, it has more than 600 members, including employees of the state Food and Drug Administration, Animal and Plant Health Inspection, California Conservation Corps and the Office of Emergency Services.
Friday's meeting, conducted by four task force members, had a clear-cut message - there is no reliable prevention technique and no cure. If your birds become contaminated, they will be killed if they don't die first.
"If we swab it and it's positive, its' going to die," said Dr. Jack Shere, a veterinarian employed by APHIS and incident commander for the task force.
Experts say the trouble has just begun and the eradication process will not be over any time soon.
"I don't think we're going to get our hands around this in the next six months," Shere said.
Exotic Newcastle disease is a virus affecting poultry and other birds. It has an incubation of two to 115 days.
While its symptoms are most pronounced in chickens, other birds are susceptible to the disease but may not show the same type of symptoms. Symptoms include sneezing; coughing; gasping for air; nasal discharge; greenish, watery diarrhea; depression; muscular tremors; drooping wings; twisting of the head and neck; complete paralysis; drop in egg production and thin-shelled eggs; swelling around the eyes and in the neck; and sudden death.
The disease poses no risk to humans, and it is OK to eat poultry and eggs, task force members said.
Although the virus isn't very hardy, it is easily transported over short distances via clothing, seed, vehicles, rodents, insects and aerosol. It is quickly destroyed by sunlight and after a minute in boiling liquid, but it will live for several weeks under a pile of manure.
Before entering Friday's meeting, attendees were required to sanitize their shoes by stepping into a biosecurity foot bath at the door.
Suzi Eslick, a Palmdale resident who has been breeding exotic birds for seven years, came wearing a special Tyvek biosecurity suit over her clothing. She is worried because her next-door neighbor has free-flying pigeons.
"I don't want it just because somebody around me has it," Eslick said.
Dave Thomson came to get information to pass on to the young members of his Littlerockers 4-H club who raise pigeons for racing and chickens for show.
Some attendees said they are concerned because officials will not tell them the locations of contaminated properties even though the properties are marked with contamination signs.
Task force members say they don't reveal specific property locations because that information is considered proprietary. If the infection is discovered, the task force begins surveillance measures in an area that extends 1-kilometer in all directions from the infected property.
"If I am in a '1-K' area, I want to know," Thomson said.
John Wood and his wife Angela played host to Friday night's meeting as representatives of the Antelope Valley Caged Bird Society. Wood said some members of the society didn't show up out of fear of contamination.
Bird breeders should keep receipts for all birds they purchase because they can be used in the appraisal process for financial reimbursement of euthanized birds, officials said.
Recognizing that many breeders are emotionally attached to their birds, Shere said some grief counseling is a consideration.
"It's not just money; they are our kids," said Wood, a statement embodying the feelings of many of the bird owners.
For more information, go online at www.cdfa.ca.gov or call (800)-491-1899.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
News briefs from California's Central Coast
Jan 14, 2003
By The Associated Press
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030114&Category=APN&ArtNo=301140737&Ref=AR
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - The Santa Barbara County Fair could lose its popular poultry show because of the regional quarantine prompted by the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease.
"At this point, it looks like we won't be having a poultry show," said Dennis K. Pearson, chief executive officer of the Santa Maria Fairpark.
"It's going to be a quiet barn this year," said Ted Oswald, who with wife Eileen leads the El Camino Forage Club. The club shows chickens and turkeys at the July fair.
The fair's board will meet Jan. 22 to decide whether to cancel the poultry show.
The quarantine covers eight counties in Southern California, including Santa Barbara. It only applies to poultry, which are most susceptible to the virus.
Experts said Exotic Newcastle Disease can affect all bird species. Humans aren't usually affected, although people working in poultry farms where the disease has struck will often get eye infections, authorities said.
Eggs and chicken are safe to eat.
Seafood.Com
Virus outbreak threatens California poultry industry , Quarantine Now Covers All Southern California
REF: http://www.seafood.com/news/current/85184.html
SEAFOOD.COM (USA TODAY) - January 13, 2003 -A virus outbreak that has required the slaughter of more than 1.2 million chickens and threatens California's $3 billion poultry industry has led the federal government to declare a state of emergency and expand a quarantine zone to include all of Southern California.
The virus, called Exotic Newcastle disease, does not affect humans but can kill birds within two days. Officials are taking extreme measures to contain the easily transmitted disease. If it spreads, it could threaten the nation's poultry industry.
If even one chicken at a farm is infected, the entire flock, sometimes as many as 1 million birds, must be put down to guard against further spread. The dead chickens are being buried in lined landfills under state supervision. They cannot be eaten for fear that processing might spread the virus.
The last such epidemic was in the early 1970s and cost the California poultry industry about $50 million.
Since the outbreak, Canada, Mexico and the European Union, fearful of contagion, have banned or threatened to ban California poultry.
The greatest danger would be if the disease spread east to Arkansas and other major poultry-producing states, says Karen Jetter, an agricultural research economist at the University of California-Davis.
For now, officials hope the quarantine zone will prevent that. More than 600 state and federal employees are involved in the quarantine. But despite the numbers of birds killed, there are still plenty for the commercial market, so no shortages or price increases are expected, says Larry Hawkins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The outbreak began in October and was discovered in backyard flocks in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles. Exotic Newcastle doesn't exist naturally in the USA, Hawkins says, ''but we find smuggled birds at our ports of entry fairly commonly.'' They often come from Central and South America and Asia.
When officials first began investigating the outbreak, they were stunned to find thousands of backyard flocks in urban neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area.
''They've killed 40,000 backyard birds since it started,'' says Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation. ''You can go into urban areas and you'd think it's a farm. It's unbelievable.''
The backyard flocks are often kept by immigrants from Asia, Mexico and Central and South America, where it's common to keep a few chickens for eggs and meat.
''It's difficult for these people who have hobby birds to understand the biosecurity aspects,'' says Bill Roenigk of the National Chicken Council.
The disease affects all kinds of birds, including pet parakeets and more exotic birds.
© Copyright 2003 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
News and commentary written or edited by John Sackton,
The Press-Enterprise - CA
Backyard flock owners not brooding
CHERRY VALLEY: Coyotes are a bigger concern than exotic Newcastle disease, some say.
01/13/2003
By STEVE MOORE
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_naeggs13.e7f1.html
CHERRY VALLEY - Breakfast waits outside the back door for Julie and Dan Lewis.
Each morning, they head for the chicken coop, feel around in the straw and pluck a half-dozen fresh, brown eggs for the skillet.
It's much better than store bought.
"The yokes are bright gold in color -- not this pale yellow stuff like you get from the stores," Julie Lewis says. "And the egg white stands up so pretty."
Exotic Newcastle disease may be a crisis in the Inland area, but many backyard egg ranchers in this rural community of 5,000 people worry more about coyotes than they do a virus that kills birds. They enjoy freshly hatched eggs gathered from chicken coops and won't let the Newcastle outbreak interfere with their hobby.
Rounding up eggs from the back yard harkens back to a time when many Americans got up before dawn on the farm. A bit of that tradition still survives in Cherry Valley, an area of winding country roads, corrals and ranch-style homes in the San Gorgonio Pass between Redlands and Palm Springs.
The Lewis family figures they live far enough away from large ranches and places like Mira Loma and Fontana where outbreaks occurred. In the last three weeks, agricultural officials destroyed 1.2 million hens infected with or exposed to exotic Newcastle disease at commercial ranches in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. They killed another 48,000 backyard birds.
To guard against an outbreak, the Lewis family watches for any sign of illness in their Rhode Island reds, Ameraucanas and bantam chickens.
The Lewises and their neighbors, John and Deborah Stein, enjoy their hobby. The clucking and constant pecking is entertaining. Chickens make good pets and their crowing is better than an alarm clock.
The Steins built a coop called the Cock-A-Doodle-Doo Inn with a steeple roof and chicken-wire windows. The flock includes three roosters and two hens. The chickens live in a fenced-off area, except for Rudy, a rooster who wanders the yard by day, spends nights high in a wisteria tree and erupts with a wake-up call about 4 a.m. The couple locks up their flock at night to keep coyotes at bay.
The chickens came with a 1920s farmhouse the couple remodeled. The former owners couldn't catch the flock roaming the acre-and-a-half spread. The Steins also have two goats, a pot-bellied pig and two Jack Russell terriers.
"It's a great lifestyle and we're having fun," John Stein said.
Chickens for sale
The nearby Cherry Valley Feed and Supply store still sells about 4,000 to 5,000 baby chickens each year, owner John De Boer said. A hand-lettered sign in the parking lot advertises, "Chickens for sale."
The birds come from New Mexico and attract chicken lovers from the Coachella Valley, San Bernardino, Hemet, Perris and even West Covina. The store sells several varieties, including Black Australorps, Ameraucanas, Buff Orpingtons and cornish game hens. The day-old chicks sell for about $1.10 to $1.99 each and must be put under light and heat for six weeks.
"They're easy to raise," De Boer said. "You don't have to do too much."
Egg ranches
Today's backyard flocks echo the early 1960s when more than 30 egg ranches flourished in Cherry Valley and Beaumont. Only a handful are left, including Sunny-Cal Egg and Poultry Inc., which has 1.5 million birds.
"There was an awful lot of them back then," said former egg rancher Alvin Phillips, 82, of Cherry Valley. "And a lot of them went out of business."
Egg ranches faded in the Pass for a lot of reasons.
Homes replaced chicken ranches as Beaumont and Cherry Valley grew. Complaints arose about odors and flies. Chicken ranchers grew older and retired. Newcastle disease swept the Inland region in the early 1970s, and took a toll on a few Cherry Valley ranches. Egg prices fell because of cheaper eggs from the Midwest.
"It was egg prices that chased us out of the business," said Jean Phillips, 74, who ran Phillips Poultry Ranch along with her husband. "It wasn't any disease."
Hatching
Their ranch had about 112,000 birds and sat on 19 acres just south of Bogart Park in Cherry Valley. The chicken ranch also had five acres in Yucaipa.
Phillips and his wife, Jean, started egg ranching in Cherry Valley in 1963. They ran the ranch for about a decade, and they toiled long hours.
They checked on their flock about midnight to ward off coyotes and had to rise again about 2 a.m. to feed the chickens corn and alfalfa. They checked the birds for disease and added fans to keep the hatchery cool.
The Phillipses sold eggs locally and from Los Angeles to San Diego, driving their own cartons to market.
But the couple figures they had their day as egg farmers, and little remains of their once-thriving ranch.
The hatchery is now an apartment and storage area.
Now, they buy their eggs at the supermarket. Jean Phillips still likes a good omelet and her husband orders his eggs fried.
"We just get our eggs at the store," Jean Phillips said. "Something we wouldn't have dared to eat when we were in the chicken business."
Reach Steve Moore at (909) 849-4533 or stevemoore@pe.com
The North County Times - CA
Pet breeders and stores watchful after quarantine
MARTY GRAHAM
Staff Writer
REF: http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030111/51515.html
ESCONDIDO ---- Throughout San Diego County, one of eight under quarantine to control the spread of a bird-killing virus, pet stores and small breeding operations are taking steps to protect their birds and their customers.
And the county veterinarian, Dr. Kerry Mahoney, said the office is getting lots of calls from pet owners and breeders who have questions about the quarantine forbidding the shipment of birds out of the county. Mahoney said she believes that breeders and sellers are taking the right steps to protect their stock.
"Bird breeders are very educated and they are concerned about any infectious disease," she said. "We've found them to be very conscientious and careful, and they have to be to protect their business."
But, store staff and breeders say, they aren't overwhelmed with worry that their birds are in grave danger.
"If you keep your birds outdoors, they're susceptible to what comes on outdoor birds, so I just keep mine inside and I tell people to do the same," said Carlsbad cockatiel breeder Douglas Joseph. "They're pets, after all."
So far, just one case of Exotic Newcastle Disease, a lethal virus, has been found in San Diego county. It was found in a Ramona chicken flock, which has been destroyed. No other cases have been identified here since the quarantine was declared on Dec. 30, state agriculture officials confirmed Friday. And, statewide, the virus has only been found in chickens.
But in other places, the virus is epidemic. San Bernardino County has identified 660 infected birds, while Riverside County has the second highest count, at 319. Los Angeles County has identified 189 infected chickens, while Ventura County, like San Diego County, has found just one infected bird.
"This is a dangerous, fast-moving, long-lived virus," said Kimberley Smith, of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. "The quarantine is important because we need to insure we can stop the movement of poultry so we can contain the disease.
"It's spread by contact, but also by transfer, like egg service people who go from farm to farm, or by having it on your shoes, your vehicle, your hands."
She said the virus can survive for two to three months in the soil without contact with animals.
At 4 Feet & Feathers, an Escondido store that includes hand-raised cockatiels in its inventory, the owner has self-imposed a quarantine for 30 days starting Jan. 1.
"We aren't getting any new birds until February," said Angelique Bennett. "But my bird population was already down because of Christmas."
Bennett said customers who want to see birds are being asked to treat their hands and shoes with the store's disinfectant before they are allowed to make contact with any birds. And, she said, the employees have intensified their efforts to disinfect themselves thoroughly after they trim nails or clip wings for people's pets.
"I've always been pretty careful about my birds," Bennett said. "One mistake, and not just this virus but with food or other disease, and they all die."
Contact staff writer Marty Graham at (760)740-3517 or mgraham@nctimes.com.
1/11/03
Access North Georgia, GA
Guyana ends Ga. poultry ban, issues apology
staff & wire reports
REF: http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/newfullstory.asp?ID=67928
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA - Guyana authorities have lifted a short-lived ban on hatching eggs and chicks from the state of Georgia.
They say they mistakenly had feared the baby chickens could be infected with a poultry disease called exotic Newcastle.
Officials with the country's Ministry of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock say they were initially confused by news of the disease in southern California. About one-point-three (m) million birds have been destroyed there in efforts to contain the outbreak.
"The Ministry wishes to apologize for the inaccuracy that the state of Georgia is affected with New Castle Disease." Guyana government statement
The Ministry banned the import of hatching eggs and chicks from both California and Georgia on Wednesday -- but then lifted the ban on Georgian chicks after the U-S Department of Agriculture assured they were safe.
"The Ministry wishes to apologize for the inaccuracy that the state of Georgia is affected with New Castle Disease," said a statement issue by the Ministry's public relations officer.
Georgia poultry officials had said Thursday, the day the story broke, that they knew nothing about the ban.
Guyana buys most of its chicks from Georgia and not from southern California.
Exotic Newcastle is one of the most infectious poultry diseases in the world. It's harmless to humans but fatal to birds.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Copyright 2002 AccessNorthGa.com/WDUN.
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