Antelope Valley Press, CA
http://www.avpress.com/n/thsty3.hts
Petition calls for changes in fighting bird disease
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press Thursday, April 10, 2003.
By HEATHER LAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer
The fury over how exotic Newcastle disease is being handled reached a higher tier last month when attorney William H. Dailey filed a petition calling for clearer ways to protect pet owners from violation of their constitutional rights.
Exotic Newcastle disease was discovered in Southern California in October, and the disease has spread to areas in Nevada and Arizona. The virus, which is deadly for poultry and other fowl, is believed to have arrived from Mexico. To date it has resulted in the destruction of more than 3 million birds.
Filed with the Superior Court of the State of California County of Los Angeles on behalf of private individuals, poultry organizations and animal-rights activists, the petition requests that Gov. Gray Davis rescind his Jan. 7 proclamation declaring a state of emergency and authorizing the "expeditious disposal of poultry."
The petition is filed against Davis, the United States Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the disease task force.
Representatives of the CDFA are defending their actions, saying the petition has no merit and should be dismissed.
The petition asserts Davis arbitrarily proclaimed the state of emergency without supportive administrative records, and that based on the proclamation, the USDA issued a declaration of extraordinary emergency. Other assertions include:
that prior to the governor's proclamation, the CDFA formed a task force to eradicate by depopulation in order to protect the economic interests of the industrial poultry industry;
that no administrative records for the preparation of a writ of mandate based on public comment exist;
that the "alleged emergency" is based upon fabricated statistics and that no grounds exist for the hasty depopulation of pets without testing or consideration of alternative remedies;
that there is ongoing and deliberate disregard for clinical studies regarding vaccines and treatment and withholding of lab test results;
that the formation of the task force was "chaotic" and has perpetuated a threatening atmosphere of fear, force and violence for pet owners at the mercy of task force employees;
that the task force is committing "mass murder" of pets, companions and show birds not proven to be infected with the virus;
that the euthanization techniques claimed to be humane are not;
that the fatality rate was grossly inflated and that only 2% to 5% of destroyed birds were known to be infected; and
that sites are being labeled as infected without evidence, and that depopulation crews are not licensed or certified avian veterinarians.
"Our feeling is the complaint is without merit and we would ask a judge to dismiss it immediately without a hearing," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the CDFA, adding that they have not yet been served with the petition.
"We feel we have a very viable program that is proceeding appropriately. … We also deny the allegations in the strongest possible terms," Lyle said, conceding that there have been about 50 allegations of misconduct by task force members, all of which were investigated and half of which were determined to be valid.
"We take those very seriously," Lyle said.
Lyle also said that the means by which the task force was assembled followed California's standard emergency management model and was not in any way haphazard.
In Los Angeles County, 416 premises were affected. One of those belongs to Shareen and Joe Morris, plaintiffs on the petition. Dec. 31, the Morris' Littlerock property was depopulated of 468 chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, turkeys and pigeons. Whether all of them were infected remains unclear as the task force has denied the Morrises the test results, according to Joe Morris.
"I just don't want these people to get away with it," he said.
"The petition is just to get people on record, and then it is going to go to a class-action lawsuit." The Morrises intend to seek damages for "wrongful death and pain and suffering," Joe said.
He and his wife are being treated for depression following the depopulation of their fowl, Joe said. The Morrises are just two of many bird owners who turn out at public meetings to demand answers and pass on stories of misconduct by the task force.
They are still waiting for the return of the exotic Nene geese, who were confiscated by the task force about a week after the depopulation, until the property is no longer under quarantine. In total they were compensated $40,000 for their euthanized birds, but they say nothing can make up for the emotional toll the situation has taken on them.
"They were our babies … our whole world," Joe said.
For more information about exotic Newcastle disease, call the END hotline at (800) 491-1899.
KOB-TV, NM
http://kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=777&cat=4HEALTH
New Mexico, Texas counties quarantined after bird disease found
Last Update: 04/10/2003 2:33:46 PM
By: Kurt Christopher
(Santa Fe-AP) -- Authorities are prohibiting the movement of birds and poultry from five New Mexico and Texas counties after laboratory tests confirmed a flock of chickens in El Paso, Texas had Exotic Newcastle Disease.
State and federal officials destroyed the flock earlier this week.
But they are concerned the disease may have already spread to other birds in the surrounding trade area.
The New Mexico Livestock Board has quarantined Luna, Dona Ana and Otero Counties in New Mexico.
In Texas, Hudspeth and El Paso counties are quarantined.
Exotic Newcastle Disease is a highly contagious virus.
The disease usually has a two to 15-day incubation period, and infected birds or poultry may exhibit signs of respiratory distress, including gasping or coughing.
High Plains Journal, KS
http://www.hpj.com/testnewstable.cfm?type=story&sid=8606
Thursday, April 10, 2003 Good Afternoon!
END Confirmed in Texas
State authorities have quarantined five counties in Texas and New Mexico after tests confirmed the presence of Exotic Newcastle Disease in a backyard flock near El Paso.
Movement of birds and poultry will not be permitted out of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas and Luna, Dona Ana and Otero counties in New Mexico. As a preemptive measure, state and federal animal health regulatory officials earlier this week destroyed the flock.
By mid-afternoon today, USDA is expected to place a federal quarantine on these counties, in addition to the state quarantines already in place, according to a news release from the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).
"As of Wednesday evening infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," explained Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas state veterinarian and executive director of TAHC. "However, the five counties quarantined in Texas and New Mexico are considered to be a trade area in which there is significant movement of birds and ... exhibition flocks, or to the commercial poultry industry."
USDA is providing fair market payment for birds that must be destroyed.
END usually has a two to 15-day incubation period, and infected birds or poultry may exhibit signs of respiratory distress, including gasping or coughing. The virus also affects the central nervous system, causing infected birds to become paralyzed, develop muscle tremors or twist their necks. In some flocks the disease may strike quickly and the only sign is death loss.
END does not affect human health, nor does it affect poultry products or eggs, TAHC said.
As of January, USDA showed 18,809,000 layers in the state of Texas. That compares to 315,688,000 layers in the top 30 chicken-producing states. New Mexico is not listed on the Monthly Chicken and Eggs report.
AgWeb
http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?file=AgNewsArticle_20034101333_4236&articleid=96883&newscat=GN
4/10/2003
Exotic Newcastle Disease Confirmed in Texas
by Roger Bernard
Birds and poultry movement from five counties in Texas and New Mexico is being prohibited after laboratory tests completed late Wednesday, April 9, confirmed Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) had infected a backyard flock of chickens last week near El Paso.
As a preemptive measure, state and federal animal health regulatory officials earlier this week destroyed the flock, but are concerned that END may have spread to other poultry and birds in the area. El Paso County has been quarantined by the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), and the New Mexico Livestock Board has quarantined Luna, Dona Ana and Otero Counties in New Mexico.
By mid-afternoon today, USDA is expected to place a federal quarantine on these counties, in addition to Hudspeth County in Texas.
"As of Wednesday evening, infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," explained Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas state veterinarian and executive director for the TAHC. "However, the five counties quarantined in Texas and New Mexico are considered to be a trade area in which there is significant movement of birds and poultry. State and federal authority is being imposed so that disease surveillance, testing and diagnosis can be conducted. It is customary for the USDA to quarantine additional counties, in order to create a 'buffer zone' around an infected county. The END outbreak must be stopped before it spreads to other backyard, hobbyist or exhibition flocks, or to the commercial poultry industry."
Dr. Hillman explained that the USDA is providing fair-market payment for birds that must be destroyed during this disease outbreak. He stressed that END does not affect human health, nor does it affect poultry products or eggs.
Producers who suspect their flock may have END, should call the TAHC or New Mexico Livestock Board. The TAHC 24-hour hotline is 1-800-550-8242, and the New Mexico Livestock Board number is (505) 841-6161.
END usually has a two to 15-day incubation period, and infected birds or poultry may exhibit signs of respiratory distress, including gasping or coughing. The virus also affects the central nervous system, causing infected birds to become paralyzed, develop muscle tremors or twist their necks. In some flocks, disease may strike quickly, and the only sign is death loss.
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030410/62624.html
Newcastle update: 1,005 'backyard' chickens killed
KATHRYN GILLICK
Staff Writer
The state-federal task force in charge of containing and eliminating Exotic Newcastle disease said Tuesday that the number of backyard birds in San Diego County that have been killed because of the disease has reached 1,005.
According to task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork, the birds were killed at 21 backyard sites that either tested positive for the disease or were deemed by the task force to have had "dangerous contact" with an infected site, he said.
The number of birds at each site ranged from 450 to 1, he said.
Of the 21 backyard flocks, 13 were found to have the disease, while the others are believed to have had contact with it, he said. Woodfork said the birds at two "dangerous contact" sites have not been "depopulated." He said he did not know exactly why the birds on those premises had not been killed, but he said he thought that the property owners were probably appealing the decision to kill the birds.
The exact locations of the backyard flocks have not been revealed, but Woodfork said two were in Ramona, two were in Escondido, and 17 were in Valley Center.
The disease has been found at seven commercial farms in San Diego County as well. The first infected site, Ramona Egg Ranch, tested positive in December. The disease then spread to the Armstrong Egg ranches on Cole Grade, Mac Tan and Lilac roads in Valley Center; Foster Enterprises, also known as Gross Ranch, on Cole Grade Road in Valley Center; the Fluegge Egg Ranch, on Twain Way in Valley Center; and Ward Egg Ranch on Fruitvale Road in Valley Center.
Exotic Newcastle disease is said to spread so easily through the mucus or feces of infected birds that task force officials say they must kill all birds at a site where it is found. In San Diego County, 450,000 birds have been killed, while more than 3.5 million birds have been killed in the eight Southern California counties were the federal government has imposed a quarantine. The quarantine includes all of San Diego, Riverside, Imperial, Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Contact staff writer Kathryn Gillick at (760) 740-5412 or kgillick@nctimes.com.
4/10/03
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030410/62835.html
Aid for area farmers
PAUMA VALLEY ---- Information on the "Environmental Quality Incentives Program" and emergency loans for farmers in the Mexican fruit fly and Exotic Newcastle disease quarantine areas in San Diego County will be presented from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday at the Pauma Valley Community Center, 16650 Highway 76. For reservations, call the UC Cooperative Extension/Farm and Home Advisors Office at (858) 694-2845; it's free. Call Diane De Jong at (858) 694-3393 for more information.
Ventura County Star, CA
http://www.staronline.com/vcs/opinion/article/0,1375,VCS_125_1877288,00.html
Own a bird? Learn about fatal disease; it's spreading
By D.L. Caldwell
April 10, 2003
Exotic Newcastle disease is officially on the doorstep of Ventura County. I have been following this catastrophe as it has run rampant through other counties in Southern California.
I am outraged by the irresponsible actions of the END Task Force for not informing the people in Simi Valley that the disease was found in their neighborhood two week ago. I am also concerned by reports that they are not following basic biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of the disease. It's only a matter of time before the disease spreads like wildfire throughout Ventura County. Ironically, it will most likely be spread in Ventura County by the people assigned to eradicate it.
The END Task Force seems unwilling or unable to educate and inform the public. Not informing the public of the presence of this disease in their neighborhoods as soon as it is detected is unconscionable and unacceptable.
I urge anyone with birds, whether they are kept indoors or outdoors, to become educated about preventing the spread of this disease and to know their rights so that they can be prepared before it arrives in their neighborhood. Do not expect the END Task Force to give the information people need, or to inform people of their rights to appeal. Just go to www.cocka2.com and read some of the horror stories coming out of other counties. This Web site also offers comprehensive information about the disease.
One way to stop the disease is to become educated about it. Ignorance could result in consigning your avian friends to a "humane" death. They call it "depopulation;" I simply call it slaughter. Knowledge may be the only way to stop it. It's a shame that knowledge is the one thing the END Task Force seems reluctant to spread.
-- D.L. Caldwell lives in Camarillo.
Ventura County Star, CA
http://www.staronline.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_1875303,00.html
Newcastle watch expands
Meeting set in Simi Valley on Monday
By Roberta Freeman, rfreeman@insidevc.com
April 9, 2003
State and federal agricultural authorities say they are widening surveillance efforts in Simi Valley to determine if the deadly exotic Newcastle disease is infecting birds beyond the center of town.
Bird owners in a rural neighborhood between Tapo Canyon Road and Tapo Street, north of Highway 118, are under quarantine, and birds infected with the disease were destroyed last week. On March 31, officials said, a backyard flock of 130 assorted chickens, waterfowl and pet birds were killed to prevent further spread of the disease. The next day 100 chickens were killed at a second nearby location and 30 chickens and six doves at a third.
While the disease poses no threat to humans, exotic Newcastle is fatal to chickens, ducks, exotic birds and waterfowl. The airborne virus is highly contagious, and since September the epidemic has killed 3.3 million birds statewide.
News of the outbreak has been met with dread by exotic bird breeders and pet owners who fear their pets are now threatened even if they are not sick. Hobby bird breeder Dianna Stokotelny criticized authorities for waiting nearly two weeks after the initial outbreak for the joint task force of the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin canvassing the neighborhood. And even then, residents said, houses in the area with birds have been overlooked. The lapse of time, Stokotelny said, will result in the unnecessary killing of birds as a preventive measure.
"The task force is not moving fast enough," she said. "They are going to do a rush job now and be overzealous because they have let it go."
Task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork said confirmation of the disease in sick or dead birds takes six to 10 days. Once confirmation is positive, the entire flock exposed to the sick bird is killed, and canvassing the neighborhood begins. Woodfork said every effort is made not to destroy healthy pets but admitted that the highly infectious nature of the disease often requires destruction of the entire bird population within about one-half mile.
Because the disease is airborne, Woodfork said, the highly contagious virus is spread by general traffic in and around homes and neighborhoods -- on the feet, clothes and nasal passages of humans, on tires, in pet stores and by other vermin and pets.
Assistant City Manager Laura Magelnicki said a public meeting is scheduled Monday evening at City Hall. Task force officials will be on hand to answer questions about the disease and bird owners' rights.
Woodfork said that when residents are issued a notice of quarantine, they have 24 hours to appeal. Otherwise, birds can not be transported in or out of the home until the quarantine is lifted. Failure to adhere to the conditions of the quarantine can result in a $25,000 fine. Woodfork said locations where birds are destroyed are not disclosed to the public to prevent owners from public harassment, as well as to prevent a lot of traffic in infected areas.
The source of the initial outbreak in Simi Valley is uncertain, Woodfork said, and now is a topic of much finger-pointing. "Because of the highly infectious nature, we really can't determine the source," Woodfork said.
Stokotelny said people who have their birds diagnosed and destroyed because of the disease are usually not eager to step forward. "People think it's a stigma," Stokotelny said.
On the Net: www.cdfa.ca.gov
Agriculture.com
http://www.agriculture.com/default.sph/AgNews.class?FNC=goDetail__ANewsindex_html___49700___1
Exotic Newcastle Disease confirmed in Texas
Movement of birds and poultry from five counties in Texas and New Mexico is being prohibited after lab tests completed late Wednesday confirmed Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) had infected a backyard flock of chickens last week near El Paso. As a preemptive measure, state and federal animal health regulatory officials earlier this week destroyed the flock, but are concerned that the highly contagious virus may have spread to other poultry and birds in the area.
El Paso County has been quarantined by the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), and the New Mexico Livestock Board has quarantined Luna, Dona Ana and Otero Counties in New Mexico.
By mid-afternoon Thursday, the USDA is expected to place a federal quarantine on these counties, in addition to Hudspeth County in Texas.
"As of Wednesday evening, infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," explained Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas state veterinarian and executive director for the TAHC.
"However, the five counties quarantined in Texas and New Mexico are considered to be a trade area in which there is significant movement of birds and poultry. State and federal authority is being imposed so that disease surveillance, testing and diagnosis can be conducted.
It is customary for the USDA to quarantine additional counties,
in order to create a 'buffer zone' around an infected county.
USDA is providing fair market payment for birds that must be destroyed during this disease outbreak. Hillman says END does not affect human health, nor does it affect poultry products
or eggs. 04/10/2003 10:51 a.m.CDT
LA Times, CA
http://latimes.com/business/la-fi-golden10apr10,1,5376210.story
Future for Game Bird Breeder and His Roosters May Be Nothing to Crow About
04/10/2003 - 06:16 AM PDT (13:16 GMT)
By Michael Hiltzik
"If these chickens could vote, they'd want to be here, not at Foster Farms," Arlin Strange says as a few hundred members of the putative electorate mill about his feet. "Here they're guaranteed two years of pampered life, and they're looked after as individuals."
We're standing near the center of Strange's 22-acre spread in the town of Hickman, which he compares favorably to the vast Foster Farms poultry factory a few miles away. Around us the roosters, each staked by a 6-foot tether to the ground in front of its own fiberglass coop, keep up a chorus of urgent crowing.
These are no ordinary fowl cooped up in tiny cages or scratching away in a neighborhood yard. Strange's roosters are show birds, as colorful and various as hothouse orchids. As he describes his business, he picks up a compliant bird and cradles it firmly in the crook of his arm, displaying its characteristic plumage: a rust-red cascade of satiny feathers down its neck known as a shawl; a spray of iridescent blue-green tail feathers; a stance, or "station," upright and proud like that of Chaucer's Chanticleer.
"I've been raising chickens for 50 years," says Strange, 74, depositing the bird on the ground and speaking with the fatalism of a man who considers his way of life under assault by armies of the ignorant. "That was when I went to my first rooster fight. I've wanted to own these birds ever since."
He has placed his finger on the issue. Although most game birds raised in California are destined for show, breeders admit that many are sold for the fighting ring. (Cockfighting is a misdemeanor in California, but it's legal in several states and in many countries around the world.) Public disapproval of cockfighting makes it easy to hang a wide range of other sins on the breeders. Over the years, as owner of one of the state's largest game fowl ranches, with 2,000 birds, Strange has borne witness to many campaigns aimed at demonizing the gamecock trade as a harbor for drug dealing, cruelty and, most relevant for the moment, disease.
The spark for the latest campaign was October's eruption of exotic Newcastle disease in Southern California. The poultry virus has led to the enforced destruction of more than 3.1 million California chickens, most of them commercial egg-layers; triggered a quarantine prohibiting the movement of chickens out of eight southern counties; and undermined a $3.5-billion-a-year industry.
The poultry industry, which has long looked down on game breeders, has been all too happy to blame them for the outbreak. "This is fighting cock season," Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, told me from his Modesto office, and Newcastle "is mostly spread by fighting cocks, or people who go to fights and track it around."
Breeders consider this a prototypical industry slander. "There's no derogatory statement that's too bad for them to pass on to game fowl people," grouses John "Bucky" Harliss, spokesman for the California Assn. for the Preservation of Gamefowl. Although he acknowledges that the state's estimated 10,000 game breeders can't compare with the commercial poultry sector -- Foster Farms alone employs more than 10,000 workers -- he argues that they make a significant economic contribution through their investments in feed, veterinary services and the like.
Harliss argues further that the game breeders have stood in the vanguard of the battle against Newcastle. As early as October, his organization began distributing warnings and advice about the disease via its newsletter. In December, the group voluntarily canceled its entire 2003 slate of poultry shows to discourage the movement of flocks around the state.
Indeed, the commercial ranchers' rhetoric also is frowned upon by professionals charged with fighting the disease. They believe the latest outbreak originated in Mexico, where it is endemic, and reached the U.S. via smuggled parrots or free-flying birds such as pigeons.
"When there is a failure in the poultry system, there isn't much to be gained trying to figure out who to blame," Dr. Francine Bradley of UC Davis, one of the state's leading poultry specialists, told me.
Strange, like other breeders, believes that Newcastle is the latest pretext for the kind of assault on gamecock breeding that can't be thwarted by the fierce Great Pyrenees dogs that patrol his grounds by night: His enemies' real agenda is to wipe out cockfighting.
He admires a sport that outsiders consider disgraceful and inhumane. Over his lifetime he has attended hundreds of rooster fights, he estimates unapologetically. What strangers do not appreciate, he says, is that although attaching knives and razor-sharp gaffes to roosters' legs to make them more effective killers may be an expression of human culture (the implement of choice apparently varies by national taste), the fighting itself reflects the animals' natural instinct.
"I'm not denying it's brutal," Strange says. "But both combatants are willing to fight to the death. You compare that to pheasant hunting or fishing, in which only one party is willing."
UC Davis' Bradley agrees with this assessment of chicken behavior. "You don't train them to fight; they're hatched that way," she says. "They're naturally pugilistic and that drive is incredibly strong."
Strange understands that the nexus between his business and the sport is what brings him tribulation as well as profit. His best customer is a Mexican businessman who buys 600 roosters annually, presumably for fighting. The businessman comes to the farm several times a year, personally selecting 100 birds at a time and paying as much as $200 for a 2-year-old, which yields $90 in profit.
Public animus toward cockfighting has encouraged repeated attempts to stamp out all game bird breeding. As president of the state game fowl association in 1989, Strange spent months in Sacramento fighting off a bill to criminalize the possession and breeding of game birds. Right now the Legislature is considering a proposal to elevate cockfighting to a felony from a misdemeanor. (The sponsor is a senator from a commercial poultry district.)
But "fighting's cultural ties are too strong to legislate it out of existence," Bradley says. "And when it comes to fighting catastrophic disease, we need to know where all the flocks are."
Strange is irked that commercial breeders don't recognize that he also suffers economically from the quarantine and other fallout from the Newcastle infestation. "I make my living raising game chickens," he says. "But nobody wants California chickens to cross their state lines." Experts have told him that even if the disease is brought under control soon, the quarantine might persist for a year.
He leads me into a yard furnished with a couple of dozen breeding cages, each hosting a splendid rooster and one or two dowdy hens.
"There's lowlifes in the chicken business," he says. "But tell me a business where there aren't any."
Turning his attention to the chickens, Strange brightens up. He points out the finer qualities of the rooster, including its size, plumage and station; ticks off the pedigree of the hen; and speculates about the genetic prospects of their offspring. For the moment, economics, disease and the intolerance of humane society officials fade into irrelevance. All that's left is husbandry.
"This pair will make a beautiful bird, I believe," he says.
Golden State appears every Monday and Thursday. Michael Hiltzik can be reached at golden.state@latimes.com.
Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/04/10/rtr935907.html
US officials confirm chicken virus in Texas flock
Reuters, 04.10.03, 12:29 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Animal health officials Thursday confirmed that a highly contagious poultry virus had spread to Texas, the fourth U.S. state affected by the six-month outbreak.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a small flock of backyard chickens near El Paso, Texas, tested positive for Exotic Newcastle Disease.
"As of Wednesday evening, infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," said Bob Hillman, the commission's executive director.
The virus, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, is almost always fatal to fowl.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
Yahoo News
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=570&ncid=753&e=3&u=/nm/20030410/sc_nm/food_poultry_disease_dc
Officials Confirm Chicken Virus in Texas Flock
10 minutes ago
April 10, 2003
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Animal health officials on Thursday confirmed that a highly contagious poultry virus had spread to Texas, the fourth U.S. state affected by the six-month outbreak.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a small flock of backyard chickens near El Paso, Texas, tested positive for Exotic Newcastle Disease.
"As of Wednesday evening, infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," said Bob Hillman, the commission's executive director.
The virus, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, is almost always fatal to fowl.
Reuters, UK
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2544810
Officials Confirm Chicken Virus in Texas Flock
Thu April 10, 2003 12:37 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Animal health officials on Thursday confirmed that a highly contagious poultry virus had spread to Texas, the fourth U.S. state affected by the six-month outbreak.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a small flock of backyard chickens near El Paso, Texas, tested positive for Exotic Newcastle Disease.
"As of Wednesday evening, infection has been confirmed only in El Paso County," said Bob Hillman, the commission's executive director.
The virus, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, is almost always fatal to fowl.
Times-Standard, CA
http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127%257E2899%257E1316230,00.html
Turkey Opener Notes
Wild turkey hunting season opened on a mixed note in California on March 29th.
The opener in northern counties was reported excellent while southern county hunters were advised of a multi-county quarantine on poultry and game birds. Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) has been found in both commercial and backyard birds. About three million birds have been destroyed since the disease was discovered in California. END has also been found in parts of Nevada and Arizona.
To prevent further spread of the disease, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture have imposed a quarantine on the following counties: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The quarantine prohibits the transportation of any birds out of the quarantine area, including live wild turkeys, or turkey carcasses.
Hunters planning to travel to END-positive counties will not be able to transport their game outside the quarantine areas.
Although END is extremely contagious among poultry, it does not pose a health risk among humans. Turkey hunters who harvest birds in the quarantine area can safely consume them, or give them to someone who lives in the quarantine area, but they are prohibited from moving them outside the area.
According to Dr. Pam Swift, DFG's wildlife veterinarian, hunters need to be aware of the following:
* Any birds killed in the quarantine area must remain in the quarantine area.
* All game farms are prohibited from moving birds out of the quarantine area.
* Falconers in the quarantine area must immediately cease all movement of birds out of the area.
* Meat from any birds killed is safe to eat.
Contra Costa Times, Contra Costa County
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/5600850.htm
GAME BIRD QUARANTINE: The DFG is advising hunters of a multi-county quarantine on poultry and game birds that could affect spring turkey hunting.
Exotic Newcastle Disease has been found in commercial and backyard birds. About 3 million birds have been destroyed since the disease was discovered in California. END also has been found in parts of Nevada and Arizona.
So far, there has not been any documentation of the disease in Northern California.
To prevent further spread of the disease, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture have imposed a quarantine on the following counties: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Spring wild turkey season began March 29.
Although END is extremely contagious among poultry, it does not pose a health risk to humans. Turkey hunters who harvest birds in the quarantine areas can safely consume them, or give them to someone who lives in the quarantine area, but they are prohibited from moving them outside the area.
El Paso Times, TX
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20030410-98866.shtml
Virus causes bird quarantine
Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
A virus that attacks and often decimates entire flocks of birds and poultry has apparently been detected in the Socorro area, prompting animal health officials to impose a quarantine on such fowl as parrots and chickens in El Paso and three adjacent counties.
"The quarantine is to prevent the movement of birds between these places until we are sure that the virus is contained," said Terry Conger, state epidemiologist and veterinarian at the Texas Animal Health Commission in Austin. "Preliminary tests that use DNA fingerprinting indicate that the virus is exotic Newcastle disease. We will have the final lab results (today), but we are operating under the assumption that it is the disease."
Conger said the test for the virus was conducted Saturday after the owner of more than 100 game fowl reported that a large number of his roosters had died.
"The roosters were raised for cockfights in New Mexico, where it is legal to have them," Conger said. "I believed we depopulated (destroyed) 100 to 150. There was fowl across the fence and across the road, and to be on the safe side, we destroyed them, too."
The disease can severely damage the poultry and bird industry, officials said. Poultry kept in back yards and even pet parrots can carry the disease.
"Bird and poultry owners must not move birds from the El Paso area," said Bob Hillman, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission.
A command post consisting of federal and state animal health officials has been set up to monitor the situation in El Paso.
"We are in the process of putting together a plan," zoo spokesman Rick Lobello said. "We are making changes in our education program, and we will not be taking any of our birds to the schools."
Texas animal health officials said they're not sure where the virus came from. It is illegal to transport birds and poultry across the border from Mexico.
Bird and poultry owners can call a special hot line to consult with experts or to request that their animals be tested at (800) 550-8242.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030409/63623.html
Egg supplies good despite deadly poultry disease
KIM BACA
Associated Press
FRESNO ---- Despite a drop in egg production after the outbreak of a deadly bird disease, there will be plenty of eggs for Easter. But those Californians trying to buy chicks for the holiday may have a harder time.
The state Department of Food and Agriculture is requiring swap meets and feed and pet stores to sign an agreement detailing new regulations before selling the birds, to prevent a spread of the exotic Newcastle disease.
The new rules include requiring store owners to keep the birds in pens and away from the public. They also require owners to maintain sales records for six months, including names and addresses of chicken hatcheries and store customers, causing some to forego the fowl altogether.
Doves, ducks, geese, grouse, fowl, ostriches, partridges, pheasants, quail, pigeons, ratites, swans and turkeys are also affected by the new rules.
Laverne Papagni of Heiskell's Feed Depo in Visalia is one of several store managers who have decided to stop selling chicks because she said it's too much trouble keeping track of the 1,500 to 2,000 birds she normally sells between now and July.
"We would have to fill out quite a few forms," she said.
State agriculture officials imposed the new rules last month after an outbreak of the Newcastle disease, which spreads among flocks through droppings, breath and eggs. The virus can be spread by manure or mucus of infected chickens on shoes or clothing, but it poses no threat to humans.
Nearly 3.4 million birds have been slaughtered in California since October, when the disease was discovered in a backyard flock. So far, state and federal officials have spent $73 million to fight the disease, which has now spread to Arizona, Nevada and possibly Texas.
State and federal agriculture officials have declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded the quarantine zone for the disease. The quarantine prohibits the movement without approval of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in areas hardest hit by Newcastle ---- Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.
People caught removing birds from the quarantine zone are subject to fines between $25 and $100,000. So far, the state hasn't prosecuted any offenders, said Adrian Woodfork, spokesman for the statewide task force set up to eradicate the disease.
While many feed and pet store owners have opted against selling chicks, some such as Rodney Evangelho Jr., owner of Evangelho Seed and Farm Store in Lemoore, said he'll continue selling the birds despite the intensive record keeping because it's his busiest time of year. Many in the San Joaquin Valley buy the birds for food ---- both eggs and meat.
"Our most popular are the laying hens, which are the Road Island Reds and Iraucana, which they claim is the Easter chicken because the egg shells are blue and green," he said.
California's egg production is down after the slaughter of more than 3 million laying hens, but the exotic Newcastle hasn't hurt egg supplies because the state receives eggs from Iowa, Ohio and other top egg-producing states. Despite California being the nation's fifth-largest egg producer, the state doesn't have enough egg producers to supply its 34 million residents.
California's egg production began declining in 1972 after aging farmers, faced with increasing production costs and competition from the Midwest, pulled out of the business, said Don Bell, poultry specialist emeritus at the University of California.
In a 14-year period alone, egg farming in the state decreased by two-thirds. In 1989, there were an estimated 300 egg farms in California. Today, there are about 100 egg farms, most of which are large farms that produce annually an estimated 440 million dozen eggs. During World War II, there were about 10,000 egg producers, Bell said.
The Midwest, particularly Iowa, continues to pose tough competition for egg producers in other parts of the nation. Iowa grows several thousand acres of corn, soy and other grains and doesn't have to pay big chicken feed transportation costs.
"They also have less environmental regulations, cheaper land and cheaper electricity," said Paul Bahan, a Riverside County farmer, who also packages eggs at his ranch to make a profit. "California is a tough state to farm, even though it's a big part of the economy."
4/9/03
KTRE, TX
http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=1224566&nav=2FH5F8wR
04/09/03 - Nacogdoches
Chicken Disease Raises Concern in East Texas
by Jessica Cervantez
A disease that is spreading through chicken populations in the western United States is causing a lot of concern among poultry growers in East Texas. It is called Exotic Newcastle Disease. While it has not shown up yet, a flock of non-commercial chickens in El Paso are suspected of having it, and East Texans are concerned.
East Texas plays a pivotal role in the poultry industry. That is why news that the Exotic Newcastle Disease may have spread to Texas has those close to the industry concerned.
Dr. Tim Cherry, Stephen F. Austin Poultry Science Professor, said, "There has been a heightened sensitivity toward bio-security. And, if the disease is in El Paso, we will have to further tighten bio-security."
Experts say the disease is no laughing matter. It can destroy up to 30% of a flock in one day. Anyone who works with chickens has to take the proper precautions, from posting signs to wearing protective gear.
"Broiler growers and breeder farms should restrict any movement on their farm," Cherry said.
There is some good news.
"Most of the disease in California originates in what they call backyard flocks. I am sure that is the case in El Paso, because there is no commercial poultry in El Paso. The good news is it is a long ways to El Paso," he said.
But, the disease could still pose a significant risk to an industry that has a huge economic impact here in east Texas.
Cherry said, "If it is confirmed, it will have a devastating effect on people like Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride."
Exotic Newcastle disease does not affect humans, so it cannot be passed to you from chickens. But, people can carry the virus that causes the disease for a short amount of time. That is how the disease is often spread from one flock to another. That is why taking precautions is so important.
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030409/62048.html
Wild Animal Park, zoo being careful about Exotic Newcastle
KATHRYN GILLICK
Staff Writer
Visitors to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo are missing out on some of the more up-close bird exhibits, but, so far, the parks have kept their birds safe from Exotic Newcastle disease.
And, said spokesman Paul Garcia, park officials are taking steps to keep it that way.
"Anything that involves very close contact between our guests and the bird collection has been eliminated at this time until we find another measure that we feel comfortable in allowing our aviaries to be open to our guests, but at this time right now, we feel that the process that we're going through and the measures we're taking are the best," he said.
The Wild Animal Park has 280 species of birds, Garcia said, with 20 of those listed on the U.S. endangered species list. At the zoo, 16 of the 388 species are endangered, he said.
Garcia said the park has also eliminated bird feeders and taken chickens out of the children's zoo.
Birds that are more susceptible to the disease, which affects all kinds of birds but is especially devastating to poultry, have been removed from exhibits altogether, he said.
Visitors have not been required to use foot baths or have their car tires sprayed with disinfectant yet, Garcia said, but park officials have discussed it.
And guests aren't the only ones seeing changes because of Exotic Newcastle.
Zookeepers are required to use foot baths before entering or exiting exhibits, and animal care staff go through a different gate than other employees and have foot baths They are also asked not to take their uniforms home, a policy that Garcia said is not new but "we've kind of enforced it now more than ever."
To help employees from having to bring extra warm clothes for the mornings, Garcia said the zoo is buying new sweaters for mammal and bird keepers.
Exotic Newcastle is spread through the mucus or feces of infected birds, according to the state-federal task force in charge of eliminating the virus, and can be carried on the soles of shoes or on a person's clothing or hair.
It was first found in a backyard chicken flock in Compton in October and was discovered in San Diego County at a Ramona chicken farm in December. Since then, it has spread to six chicken ranches in Valley Center and several backyard flocks in Valley Center, Ramona and Escondido.
Delivery trucks going through those areas have been asked to go to the park before going into infected areas in order to protect the park's birds, Garcia said. The tires on all service trucks are sprayed with a disinfectant before entering the park, he said.
Garcia said it is "too early to evaluate" how much the parks are spending to fend off the disease.
Contact staff writer Kathryn Gillick at (760) 740-5412 or kgillick@nctimes.com.
4/9/03
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=63418
Good news: The fowl are back in the fair
04/09/2003
The birds are back in the game at this year's Coconino County Fair! The fate
of the poultry and fowl exhibits looked grim in March when the Arizona
Department of Agriculture placed a temporary ban on all poultry and fowl
exhibits. Fortunately for fans of fowl, the ban was lifted on April 3 for
fairs in non-quarantined counties in Arizona.
The ban was placed because of the risk of introducing the Exotic Newcastle
Disease (END) into Arizona. This disease has severe adverse impacts on
poultry and egg production, can disrupt international export markets for
these products, and can cause severe illness in pet birds. It is highly
contagious to all other birds. The ban is still in effect in the quarantined
counties in Arizona -- Yuma, La Paz and Mojave.
"Basically, all classes of poultry and foul will be open, just as we always
do," said Melissa Buchanan, assistant events coordinator for the fair. "We're
talking about anything that has feathers -- every kind of chicken (standard
or bantam breeds), geese, ducks, doves, pigeons and peafowl. We are very
happy to say that we are having a show!"
Fair promoters are required to give prior notification to the state
veterinarian and send a list of participants within one week after the fair.
Participants will have to sign a form attesting they are not in violation of
the order banning exhibiting poultry or fowl from quarantined counties. These
signatures will also be sent to the state veterinarian.
The 2003 Coconino County Fair will take place Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 29
through Sept. 1, at the Coconino County Fairgrounds at Fort Tuthill County
Park.
Ventura County Star, CA
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_1875303,00.html
Newcastle watch expands
Meeting set in Simi Valley on Monday
By Roberta Freeman, rfreeman@insidevc.com
April 9, 2003
State and federal agricultural authorities say they are widening surveillance efforts in Simi Valley to determine if the deadly exotic Newcastle disease is infecting birds beyond the center of town.
Bird owners in a rural neighborhood between Tapo Canyon Road and Tapo Street, north of Highway 118, are under quarantine, and birds infected with the disease were destroyed last week. On March 31, officials said, a backyard flock of 130 assorted chickens, waterfowl and pet birds were killed to prevent further spread of the disease. The next day 100 chickens were killed at a second nearby location and 30 chickens and six doves at a third.
While the disease poses no threat to humans, exotic Newcastle is fatal to chickens, ducks, exotic birds and waterfowl. The airborne virus is highly contagious, and since September the epidemic has killed 3.3 million birds statewide.
News of the outbreak has been met with dread by exotic bird breeders and pet owners who fear their pets are now threatened even if they are not sick. Hobby bird breeder Dianna Stokotelny criticized authorities for waiting nearly two weeks after the initial outbreak for the joint task force of the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin canvassing the neighborhood. And even then, residents said, houses in the area with birds have been overlooked. The lapse of time, Stokotelny said, will result in the unnecessary killing of birds as a preventive measure.
"The task force is not moving fast enough," she said. "They are going to do a rush job now and be overzealous because they have let it go."
Task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork said confirmation of the disease in sick or dead birds takes six to 10 days. Once confirmation is positive, the entire flock exposed to the sick bird is killed, and canvassing the neighborhood begins. Woodfork said every effort is made not to destroy healthy pets but admitted that the highly infectious nature of the disease often requires destruction of the entire bird population within about one-half mile.
Because the disease is airborne, Woodfork said, the highly contagious virus is spread by general traffic in and around homes and neighborhoods -- on the feet, clothes and nasal passages of humans, on tires, in pet stores and by other vermin and pets.
Assistant City Manager Laura Magelnicki said a public meeting is scheduled Monday evening at City Hall. Task force officials will be on hand to answer questions about the disease and bird owners' rights.
Woodfork said that when residents are issued a notice of quarantine, they have 24 hours to appeal. Otherwise, birds can not be transported in or out of the home until the quarantine is lifted. Failure to adhere to the conditions of the quarantine can result in a $25,000 fine. Woodfork said locations where birds are destroyed are not disclosed to the public to prevent owners from public harassment, as well as to prevent a lot of traffic in infected areas.
The source of the initial outbreak in Simi Valley is uncertain, Woodfork said, and now is a topic of much finger-pointing. "Because of the highly infectious nature, we really can't determine the source," Woodfork said.
Stokotelny said people who have their birds diagnosed and destroyed because of the disease are usually not eager to step forward. "People think it's a stigma," Stokotelny said.
On the Net: www.cdfa.ca.gov
Riverside Press Enterprise, CA
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nafight09.f1c5.html
Cockfight bill clears 1st hurdle
LEGISLATION: Penalties would be toughened in an effort to curb the spread of Newcastle disease.
04/09/2003
By JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
SACRAMENTO - A bill meant to curb the spread of exotic Newcastle disease by increasing the punishment for cockfights cleared its first legislative hearing Tuesday.
Some experts believe that illicit cockfights have fueled the Newcastle disaster by bringing together birds from around Southern California, but a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture said there is no proof that cockfights have contributed to the epidemic.
Since October, authorities have destroyed an estimated 3.2 million egg-laying hens on commercial farms and 136,000 backyard birds in Southern California to prevent the spread of the disease.
The Senate Public Safety Committee approved the measure by state Sen. Nell Soto, who said her Inland district has been devastated by the highly contagious Newcastle virus.
"Newcastle disease is causing unemployment in my district. Poor people who work in chicken farms are out of a job," said Soto, D-Pomona.
In California, cockfighting is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail.
Soto's measure originally would have let prosecutors bring felony charges against someone with a previous cockfighting conviction. That rankled some Democratic committee members, who said they oppose creating new felonies because they then become part of the state's three-strikes law.
Under changes to the bill Tuesday, people convicted previously of cockfighting would continue to face misdemeanor charges, but with a mandatory six-month jail sentence and a $25,000 fine.
The first cockfighting offense also would remain a misdemeanor.
"I believe if district attorneys were enforcing this now, with a year in county jail, that would be a pretty good deterrent," Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, said.
He added sarcastically, "What we really need is a bunch of people in prison for fighting cocks, at $29,000 a year."
Other states, including Arizona, have made cockfighting a felony.
Opponents of Soto's measure said there is little evidence that cockfighting spreads Newcastle disease.
Others said the tougher punishment would hinder the state and federal task force battling the disease.
"If people know this information could be used to prosecute them for a felony, they'll lay low," said John Harless of the Association of Preservation of Game Fowl.
KABC, CA
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/040803_nw_disease_bird.html
Disease Outbreak Limits Bird Sales
FRESNO — Californians will have a harder time picking up chicks this Easter. And doves, ducks, geese and other birds.
The state Department of Food and Agriculture is cracking down on bird sellers, hoping to prevent additional outbreaks of the exotic Newcastle disease, which poses no threat to humans. But efforts to stem the outbreak has led to the slaughter of three-point-four million birds in California since October.
Restrictive new rules governing the display and sale of Easter chicks and other birds has caused some merchants to cry fowl and withdraw from the market.
California's egg production is down as a result of the slaughter, but egg supplies are unaffected because the state receives eggs from other top egg-producing states.
Copyright © 2003 KABC-TV and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Last Updated: Apr 8, 2003
KNBC-TV, CA
http://www.nbc4.tv/health/2098789/detail.html
Exotic Newcastle Disease Strikes Valley
Agriculture Officials Destroy More Birds
POSTED: 1:17 p.m. PDT April 8, 2003
UPDATED: 2:08 p.m. PDT April 8, 2003
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- Agriculture officials started cleaning up three back yards where an outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease forced the extermination of birds.
A variety of Newcastle-infected birds were discovered last month on the properties in the Adam Road area, bordered by Tapo Canyon Road, Alamo Street, Kadota Street and the Ronald Reagan Freeway.
Some 266 birds were destroyed March 31 and April 1 to halt the potential spread of the disease, officials said. In January, a chicken in Somis was discovered with the infection.
The disease has forced the destruction of nearly 3.5 million infected birds in California since the fall. It causes flu-like symptoms in the animals, such as sneezing and nasal discharge.
Though it can be fatal in animals, the disease doesn't pose a threat to humans.
A task force representing the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has sent survey teams to homes within a mile of the infected properties to conduct inspections.
Task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork said animal owners are compensated -- from $5 for each bird to more than $1,800 for rare and imported pets. The government also pays the cost of removing droppings, cleaning cages and disinfecting the area.
Reuters, UK
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2528774
Chicken Virus May Have Surfaced in Texas
Tue April 8, 2003 10:47 AM ET
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A highly contagious poultry disease that has forced health officials to kill more than 3 million chickens in the U.S. Southwest may have surfaced in Texas, state government officials said on Tuesday.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a flock of noncommercial chickens in El Paso was suspected of having Exotic Newcastle Disease (END). Officials said they were awaiting laboratory confirmation, which should be completed by Friday.
If confirmed, Texas would be the fourth state infected since the outbreak started in October in Southern California. Arizona and Nevada were also affected.
The virus, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, is fatal to fowl. Symptoms include respiratory problems.
"An END outbreak creates an extremely serious situation for bird owners in Texas," said Bob Hillman, the commission's executive director.
Industry officials stressed that the suspected Texas case was in a backyard flock, not a commercial farm.
"This is a small noncommercial hobby flock near the Mexican border," said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council. "No commercial flocks have been affected and biosecurity is at a very high level in Texas and other states."
Texas is the No. 6 U.S. poultry-producing state, producing about 500 million birds annually.
The suspected case comes as animal health officials have become more optimistic that the virus was under control in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Officials were expected to lift a federal quarantine in Arizona and Nevada within a few weeks, a spokesman for the state and federal END task force said on Monday.
California, the state hardest hit by the disease, has seen a significant drop in the number of new cases. But there has been no determination about when the ban in California may be lifted.
Forbes
Tuesday, April 8, 2003 Good Morning!
Exotic Newcastle Disease Suspected in Texas
http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2003/04/08/rtr932934.html
Chicken virus may have surfaced in Texas--officials
Reuters, 04.08.03, 9:38 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A highly contagious poultry disease that has forced health officials to kill more than 3 million chickens in the U.S. Southwest may have surfaced in Texas, state government officials said Tuesday.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a flock of noncommercial chickens in El Paso was suspected of having Exotic Newcastle Disease.
If confirmed, Texas would be the fourth state infected since the outbreak started in October in southern California. Arizona and Nevada were also affected.
The virus, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, is fatal to fowl. Symptoms include respiratory problems.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
High Plains Journal, KS
http://www.hpj.com/testnewstable.cfm?type=story&sid=8582
Exotic Newcastle Disease, a deadly, highly-contagious poultry disease, is suspected in a backyard fighting gamecock flock near Fabens, east of El Paso, Texas, according to a news release from Texas A&M.
As of early April, more than 3.5 million birds in southern California have been destroyed to stop the spread of the disease in that state, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission.
A neighbor had reported the Texas flock with the sick birds on Saturday, the TAHC reported. While awaiting laboratory confirmation of the preliminary diagnosis, which should be completed by Friday, April 11, a team of state and federal animal health officials has gathered on-site to contain the flock. They will assess the area to determine if infection may have spread to nearby flocks, the TAHC reported.
While END poses little threat to humans or the food supply, it typically causes severe illness and death in commercial and gamecock flocks and domesticated birds such as parrots and budgies.
By the time it was reported, 30 birds out of the approximately 100-bird Texas flock had died, the TAHC reported.
Dr. Bruce Lawhorn, veterinarian with Texas Cooperative Extension and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, said symptoms of END are respiratory distress such as gasping and/or coughing; central nervous disorders such as depression, circling, paralysis, dropping wings and/or dragging legs; greenish diarrhea; swelling of the tissues around the neck and head; or a drop in egg production. Death loss is almost certain; it's just a matter of the percentage, he said.
AgWeb
http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?file=AgNewsArticle_200348730_3436&articleid=96781&newscat=GN
4/8/2003
Exotic Newcastle Disease Suspected in Texas
by Roger Bernard
Officials of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) say that Exotic Newcastle Disease is suspected in a backyard fighting gamecock flock near Fabens, east of El Paso.
While awaiting laboratory confirmation of the preliminary diagnosis, a team of state and federal animal health officials has gathered on-site to contain the flock. They will assess the area to determine if infection may have spread to nearby flocks, the TAHC reported.
The results of the lab work should be completed by Friday, April 11, the agency said.
By the time it was reported, 30 birds out of the approximately 100-bird Texas flock had died, the TAHC reported.
Laboratory testing is needed to confirm a clinical diagnosis of END because it can mimic other poultry diseases. Poultry owners can protect their flocks by practicing good biosecurity, he said. Any unusual death losses or illness in flocks should be reported. In Texas, owners can call their veterinarian or the TAHC, which takes emergency calls 24 hours a day at (800) 550-8242.
LA Times, CA
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ventura/la-me-newcastle8apr08,1,3747377.story
Cleanup to Start of Diseased Fowl
Birds with the deadly Newcastle virus will be eradicated at three Simi Valley properties. The flu-like illness has no effect on humans.
04/08/2003 - 06:16 AM PDT (13:16 GMT)
By Gregory W. Griggs
Times Staff Writer
Agricultural officials will begin cleaning up the backyards of three Simi Valley homes this week following the recent outbreak of Newcastle disease, a potentially deadly viral disorder that affects fowl.
A variety of birds infected with Newcastle disease were discovered last month on the properties in the Adam Road area, bordered by Tapo Canyon Road, Alamo Street, Kadota Street and the Ronald Reagan Freeway.
A total of 266 birds were destroyed March 31 and April 1 to halt the potential spread of the disease, officials said. In January, a chicken in Somis was discovered with the infection.
The disease has forced the destruction of nearly 3.5 million infected birds in California since the fall. It causes flu-like symptoms in the animals, such as sneezing and nasal discharge.
Though it can be fatal in animals, the disease poses no threat to humans nor does it affect the safety of eggs. It is transferred through bird droppings as well as eye and nose secretions.
A task force representing the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has sent survey teams to homes within a mile of the infected properties to conduct inspections.
Asst. City Manager Laura Magelnicki said Monday that City Hall has received calls and e-mails from residents concerned about the visits and wanting further information.
"Some people are concerned that the task force is coming in and destroying the pet population without regard for people's feelings," she said.
To answer questions and allay fears, Simi Valley has invited task force officials to attend a public information session for interested residents. The 7 p.m. program will be held Monday at Simi Valley City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.
Adrian Woodfork, a task force spokesman, said animal owners are compensated for their loss -- from $5 for each bird to more than $1,800 for rare and imported pets. The government also pays the cost of removing droppings, cleaning cages and disinfecting the area.
State statistics show that Ventura County has among the fewest infected properties in Southern California. Riverside currently has 1,025 infected properties and San Bernardino 941.
"The [spread of the] disease has slowed down.... It's nothing like it was last November, or even two months ago," Woodfork said.
Ventura County has been under quarantine since early January, meaning birds cannot be removed from the area without a special permit.
Daily News, CA
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20949%257E1305251,00.html?search=filter
Article Published: Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 6:48:06 PM PST
Taking care with her feathered friends
By Amy Raisin
Staff Writer
CANYON COUNTRY -- It all started 22 years ago when Jami Kennedy refused to let anyone else do her hair while her stylist was on maternity leave.
A trip to her stylist's home and a chance encounter with a mean, green parrot named Enid sparked a fascination with birds that steered the Kennedys from the plumbing business to founding Golden Oak Aviaries, where they breed colorful cockatoos, macaws and other exotic birds.
"They had this green parrot, and they wanted to get rid of it. We gave them some plumbing parts; they gave us the parrot," Kennedy said Saturday outside her Canyon Country home and 250-bird aviary. "We still have Enid. My husband tried to tame it and got bit and bloody. But she still has a baby about every four years."
Not so long ago, Jami and Bob Kennedy welcomed Girl Scout troops and students to tour their impressive collection of birds -- many bred in their aviary and hand-fed before eventually hatching their own offspring.
But the recent outbreak of the deadly exotic Newcastle disease in California has forced drastic changes. At Golden Oak Aviaries, where the Kennedys also offer wholesale bird food and other supplies, customers are no longer permitted on the property.
While the disease poses no threat to humans, it is highly contagious among birds and includes symptoms like sneezing, coughing, nasal discharge, swelling around the eyes and neck and sudden death.
Because exotic Newcastle can be spread on the soles of shoes, Golden Oak Aviaries has adopted near fanatical practices designed to protect its flock.
"We have a foot bath before you go inside the aviary, filled with disinfectant," Kennedy said. "Only me, my husband and our bird feeder are allowed in, period. And we do the foot bath again when we leave the aviary. Responsible breeders are trying to be very aware of their birds."
Kennedy, the Southern California state coordinator of the American Federation of Aviculturists, estimates nearly 4 million birds, including poultry, have been destroyed since the outbreak was first reported last fall.
Nearly 13,000 properties have been quarantined across California since then, while signs of the disease have surfaced in Arizona and Nevada.
Kennedy and her husband never enter pet shops or bird-food supply facilities for fear of tracking the disease back to their canyon compound. All they can do, she said, is continue to nurture their birds and feed them the types of meals that allow the birds to live 60 years, instead of the average five years of those birds kept as pets in people's homes.
"We had one 75 years old, and she was still making babies," said Kennedy, a full-time fund-raiser for the United Way. "People think you're just supposed to feed birds seeds, and that's it.
"They need vegetables, fruits. They love apples and melons. We give them cooked meats, cheeses, pasta.
"We really only sell to stores and other breeders. When you sell a bird you have to make sure the person is responsible," she said. "We wash their bowls with (bleach) every day. It really does take that kind of commitment."
Press-Enterprise, CA
http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters/PE.OP.LT.2003.0406.ebdb.html
Readers' Open Forum - 04/06
04/06/2003
Why kill a healthy bird?
• Re: "Group attacks Newcastle order," March 26), I personally have had several encounters with the Newcastle Disease task force involved in my area. I understand they have a job to do for the good of all who care for and raise birds.
I am very upset that the task force is intimidating people with the threat of being arrested and their dogs being maced. What is going on? Am I in America?
I have spoken with a lot of pet owners whose birds have been destroyed, and they are telling me that their birds were not even ill. They were told (by inspectors), "We do it now or come back later and do it." They told people in front of me that they were going to "depopulate the area regardless of the birds' health."
The inspectors always say that "the neighboring yard has been found to have birds with the disease." The task force is still in the area and should not destroy animals that remain healthy. If an animal were to get sick, they could always get back to that owner. No one wants their pet to be sick and suffer.
These birds live for many years and become part of the family. I believe that the owners of healthy caged birds that have been confined or in a residence should be exempt. Why kill a healthy bird? I hope that more people stand up for their rights and demand more answers before turning over these helpless pets.
DEBORAH BATES
Mira Loma
AgNews, TX
http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/POSC/Apr0703a.htm
April 7, 2003
EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE SUSPECTED IN TEXAS POULTRY FLOCK
Writer: Edith A. Chenault, (979) 845-2886,e-chenault1@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Bruce Lawhorn, (979) 845-3230,Blawhorn@cvm.tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – Exotic Newcastle Disease, a deadly, highly-contagious poultry disease, is suspected in a backyard fighting gamecock flock near Fabens, east of El Paso.
As of early April, more than 3.5 million birds in southern California have been destroyed to stop the spread of the disease in that state, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission.
A neighbor had reported the Texas flock with the sick birds on Saturday, the TAHC reported. While awaiting laboratory confirmation of the preliminary diagnosis, which should be completed by Friday, April 11, a team of state and federal animal health officials has gathered on-site to contain the flock. They will assess the area to determine if infection may have spread to nearby flocks, the TAHC reported.
While END poses little threat to humans or the food supply, it typically causes severe illness and death in commercial and gamecock flocks and domesticated birds such as parrots and budgies.
By the time it was reported, 30 birds out of the approximately 100-bird Texas flock had died, the TAHC reported.
Dr. Bruce Lawhorn, veterinarian with Texas Cooperative Extension and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, said symptoms of END are respiratory distress such as gasping and/or coughing; central nervous disorders such as depression, circling, paralysis, dropping wings and/or dragging legs; greenish diarrhea; swelling of the tissues around the neck and head; or a drop in egg production. Death loss is almost certain; it's just a matter of the percentage, he said.
Because of vaccination, the symptoms in commercial flocks may be less severe, with only a moderate death loss and reduction in egg production, Lawhorn said.
Dr. Max Coats, TAHC assistant deputy director for animal health programs, said, "Carrier birds can spread the virus through respiratory discharges, feces or feathers."
The latest outbreak of END in the United States began in 2002. Dr. John El-Attrache (El-Ah-Trosh), assistant professor of veterinary pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M, said the disease originated from the illegal importation of fighting gamecocks into eastern Los Angeles. This disease has affected the commercial laying industry in southern California and has been eradicated in two other states.
In warm, humid weather, the virus can survive several weeks, Coats said, and in cold temperatures, it can remain alive indefinitely. Viral disinfectants, dry weather and sunshine, however, kill the disease.
The commercial poultry industry is big in Texas, employing more than 11,000 people and generating annual cash receipts of more than $1.4 billion.
Since the disease must be reported to government animal health authorities, interstate commerce as well as international exports can be impacted, El-Attrache said.
Lawhorn said laboratory testing is needed to confirm a clinical diagnosis of END because it can mimic other poultry diseases.
Poultry owners can protect their flocks by practicing good biosecurity, he said.
Any unusual death losses or illness in flocks should be reported. In Texas, owners can call their veterinarian or the TAHC, which takes emergency calls 24 hours a day at (800) 550-8242.
Ames Tribune, IA
http://www.amestrib.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7632606&BRD=2035&PAG=461&dept_id=238101&rfi=6
From farm to market
By:Matt Neznanski April 07, 2003
Officials prepare for agroterrorism threat
For most Americans, food security used to mean having enough to eat. The threat of terrorist attacks at home has changed farms into potential targets and caused agricultural agencies to enter the fold of homeland security outposts.
Kenneth Quinn, former ambassador to Cambodia and president of the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, warns that America's food supply is vulnerable - from field and processor to the grocer's shelves.
"The grocery store has the greatest impact," Quinn said. "If we're afraid to buy food, it has affected every household in America."
From farm to market, veterinarians and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are looking for holes in the system to develop plans in case of disaster.
Agroterrorism falls under the general umbrella of bioterrorism. Radford Davis, an assistant professor of public health at Iowa State University, defines bioterrorism as intentionally using biological agents to make people, animals or plants sick in a civilian setting.
Agricultural terrorism is using the biological agents to undermine stability in any part of the farm industry, the economy or the consuming public.
"Agroterrorism is economic terrorism," Davis said.
Unlike attacks that target people, an attack on plants and animals may not be as repulsive to society or incite a retaliatory strike from the military. Further, spreading disease among crops and livestock may go unnoticed.
A multiple-state outbreak might be the first clue of deliberate infection. Sick animals in one area are fairly common.
"We'd probably never know if an agroterrorist attack had occurred," Davis said. "So many diseases happen naturally."
Getting ready
Just the threat of attack has affected the agricultural budget in the name of homeland security.
In his budget recommendations, President Bush asked for $146 million for homeland security efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In January's Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act, he asked for $328 million more.
This brings federal support of the federal agriculture department to record levels. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has said the money will support 7,500 food safety inspectors and 4,000 port-of-entry workers, nearly double current numbers.
Since Sept. 11, the agriculture department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has hired 18 additional veterinarians and used funding to train existing professionals about the exotic diseases terrorists might use.
"These are strange diseases," said James Roth, an ISU professor of veterinary microbiology. "(Veterinar-ians) learned about them once, but haven't come in contact with them in a long time."
Federal programs are geared toward early identification of these diseases, as well as developing procedures for quick response.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also created the National Animal Health Reserve Corps, made up of more than 275 private veterinarians from around the country.
In case of an emergency, the group would become federal employees for up to 60 days and aid federal vets in labs and in the field.
Economic impact
American agriculture is a $1.5 trillion industry, accounting for more than 16 percent of gross domestic product and 17 percent of nationwide employment. U.S. farm exports bring in more than $50 billion every year and provide 860,000 jobs.
The agriculture department has compiled a list of potential biological weapons including foot and mouth disease, African swine fever, lumpy skin disease and Newcastle disease.
According to Roth, these illnesses don't make people sick, but if diagnosed, international guidelines require all exposed animals to be slaughtered and quarantines imposed until the country has no more sick animals.
The embargo extends up to six months after the last animal is killed to prove the country has truly eradicated the disease.
Animal exports account for $6.2 billion every year and quarantine means no exports while the ban is in place.
Stopping trade not only hurts agriculture in the short-term, it undermines the image of the U.S. as a safe, reliable supplier of food products worldwide.
In 2000, U.S. farmers produced 46 percent of the world's crops.
Attacks on plants are less dramatic than animals, but no less economically painful. Crops make up nearly $62 billion in U.S. revenue, $12 billion from Iowa alone.
The nature of modern farming and its trend toward huge operations may put agriculture at more of a risk than in years past.
In 1900, there were 5.7 million farms in the U.S. That number has shrunk to 1.9 million while average farm acreage went from 147 acres to 487.
At the same time, Davis said, agriculture has gotten more specialized.
"Back then you'd see a few chickens, some pigs, corn, oats, and wheat," he said. "Now they might have 10,000 pigs."
This focus has been good for production purposes, increasing yields as fields and feedlots center on a particular kind of growing. All of this has made farmers more conscious of biosecurity.
These measures include keeping farm workers who are off the job away from animals, requiring separate clothes at work and regular veterinarian visits to keep animals healthy.
"It's harder to get into one of the big operations, but once it gets in, it's big," Davis said.
Still, some habits die hard.
Roth said livestock sale barns are a throwback to the old days of buying and selling animals.
"Auction barns are a bad idea just from the standpoint of general animal health," he said.
At the sale, animals are grouped together and can share diseases.
"It's like spring break - everybody goes out to different places, then comes back and brings all those diseases with them," he said.
Keeping containment
Roth and the agriculture department are hesitant to say where the weak spots are, for fear of suggesting potential targets to terrorists.
Still, Roth suggests the current outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease in the Southwest shows how a containment response might play out.
This occurrence of Newcastle was first diagnosed in fighting game birds in Compton, a Los Angeles-area city, on Oct. 1, 2002. It spread to Las Vegas by Jan. 16, and Arizona by Feb.4.
To date, 3,457,497 million chickens at 2,486 different sites have been destroyed by federal and state workers, according to Kay Wheeler, senior staff veterinarian for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's emergency programs.
Containment of the disease has been complicated by the underground nature of chicken fighting.
Birds are smuggled out of the region to avoid regulators who confiscate and destroy the birds.
Roth said a fighting bird can be worth over $1,000 on the market.
Quarantine has been imposed over 45,260 square miles - eight counties in Southern California, two counties in Nevada, and three in Western Arizona.
Adrian Woodfork, a spokesperson for health inspection service's Newcastle efforts, said the sites in Arizona and Nevada have been returning negative samples, so will be removed from quarantine soon.
But keeping track of 15,600 backyard flocks and commercial farms since October requires people on the ground. The health inspection service has 694 federal workers in California alone.
Add to those 42 Forest Service workers for logistics, 39 food safety inspectors and 56 other federal employees.
While a single occurrence taxes resources, Roth said federal agencies are most prepared to manage an outbreak like this one.
"The concern is having something show up in four or five places at the same time, which might overtax our ability to control it," he said.
©Ames Tribune 2003
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1299774,00.html
Article Published: Friday, April 04, 2003 - 6:40:51 PM PST
Exotic Newcastle cleanup continues
By NAOMI KRESGE
STAFF WRITER
VALLEY CENTER — State crews are still working to contain exotic Newcastle disease at commercial ranches in San Diego County, including one ranch where the disease was identified almost three weeks ago.
The exotic Newcastle disease task force finished exterminating 53,000 chickens at Alan Armstrong Egg Ranch on Wednesday.
But because of a disagreement over the value of the chickens, 4,000 birds at another Valley Center ranch have gone untouched since the virus was identified there on March 12.
"We're still negotiating a price with them. This bunch are a little different because they are what you call breeders. It's breeder stock," task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork said.
The task force will pay the ranch for its entire 4,000-bird stock, Woodfork said, without taking into account how many birds the virus kills before euthanizing can begin.
The state has followed a policy of killing all the birds at each commercial ranch infected with exotic Newcastle disease as well as infected pet bird populations to stop the spread of the virus. The task force has also come under fire from bird lovers for its practice of euthanizing pet birds likely to have come into contact with the virus.
"It is extremely infectious. However, all of them may not get it. They might just be exposed to it, and the rate of being exposed may differ from one ranch to another," Woodfork said. "We kill a minority to save a majority."
Populations at 11 ranches in San Bernardino County, seven in San Diego County and four in Riverside County have been wiped out due to the deadly poultry virus since December.
"It's difficult to pinpoint" how the disease spreads from ranch to ranch, Woodfork said.
But he said stringent biosecurity measures mean the infected chickens at the Valley Center ranch pose no danger to the poultry around them.
"They're not going anywhere," he said.
Naomi Kresge can be reached by e-mail at naomi.kresge@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8553.
Ventura County Star, CA
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_1866749,00.html
Officials move to stop Newcastle in Simi Valley
By Roberta Freeman, rfreeman@insidevc.com
April 5, 2003
State and federal agricultural officials put bird owners in a rural neighborhood in Simi Valley under quarantine this week in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly exotic Newcastle disease.
The disease was discovered among a backyard flock of chickens on Adam Road two weeks ago.
While not a threat to human health, the disease kills poultry and other birds after an incubation period of only a few days. The Simi Valley outbreak is the most recent occurrence of an epidemic that has killed nearly 3.3 million birds statewide. There has been only one other reported case of the disease in Ventura County since the outbreak started in late September.
Friday afternoon, residents in the neighborhood of large properties criticized local and agricultural officials for waiting nearly two weeks after the initial outbreak before canvassing the neighborhood, and for not notifying the public of the highly contagious disease and ways to help prevent further spread.
"I think it's irresponsible," said Andrea Casadei, an Alamo Street resident who raises exotic birds for a hobby.
While agriculture officials were not immediately available for comment Friday afternoon, City Manager Mike Sedell said the city was also only learning about the situation and was looking into when and in what form the city was notified by agricultural authorities.
"The city will be requesting county, state and federal agencies involved in controlling this issue to hold a public meeting in Simi Valley as soon as they can do it," Sedell said. "We will make the City Hall facility available for that."
Casadei said she was startled when representatives from a joint task force of the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture appeared on her doorstep Tuesday, asked about her pet birds and promptly fastened a quarantine sign at the front of her property.
"You would think if they wanted to get this problem under control, they would go door to door. It took them two weeks to get to me," Casadei said.
Well-versed as a bird breeder in proper bio-hazard techniques to prevent the spread of the disease, Casadei was concerned when the task force walked around the neighborhood without proper decontamination procedures. Among the ways the highly contagious airborne virus spreads is by the shoes, clothes and even nasal cavities of human beings. The disease can be spread by non-bird owners visiting friends with birds, or going to pet stores, or driving through infected neighborhoods.
"They didn't change their shoes or put booties on their feet; they just went yard to yard and door to door," Casadei said.
The quarantine imposed on some homes in mid-Simi Valley prohibits birds coming to or going off the property. Failure to comply with terms of the quarantine is punishable by penalties as high as $25,000.
Newcastle disease can be fatal to birds, including chickens, doves, ducks, geese, ostriches, peacocks, pigeons, turkeys and swans, as well as exotic pet birds, authorities said, and can be spread by birds that show no signs of the disease but are carriers.
Classic symptoms of the disease can vary and include involuntary sneezing, shaking and tremors, diarrhea, paralysis, runny eyes, weight loss, depression and sudden death.
Kristin Moon, another Simi Valley resident with pet birds, said she had received a flier from the task force, but no one had returned. She said she believes that a public outreach and education effort is vital not only to prevent further spread, but also to notify bird owners of their rights for an appeal to lift the quarantine if pets are not sick.
"What they don't tell you is that you have 24 hours to appeal," Moon said.
Torrington Telegram, NE
http://www.zwire.com/news/newsstory.cfm?newsid=7608467&title=Local%20veterinarian%20involved%20with%20stopping%20bird%20disease&BRD=1179&PAG=461&CATNAME=Top%20Stories&CATEGORYID=410
Local veterinarian involved with stopping bird disease
Apr 4 2003 12:00AM By Arnie Tucker Editor
The expertise of two veterinarians, one from Torrington and the other from western Nebraska, was recently required in southern California due to the latest outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease in four counties. The disease is fatal to poultry and wild and exotic birds, including pet birds. So far, it has been located in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange counties.
Stephen M. Kerr, DVM, recently returned from a three-week assignment. He was among more than 7,000 veterinarians from throughout the United States working on rotating schedules in the effort to combat the disease. Kerr and Dr. Arden Wohlers of Scottsbluff, Neb., were the only two veterinarians from this region working in California.
“The virus is pretty fragile, but if it gets into a chicken house, it kills every bird,” Kerr said, adding that the disease does not pose a threat to humans.
The disease originated in backyard flocks of fighting game birds, more commonly known as jungle fowl. Since this form of sport is illegal in California, tracking the spread of the disease has proven difficult.
“It spread among those backyard flocks rapidly,” Kerr said.
The costs so far have been enormous. Since the outbreak, more than 2 1/2 million commercial chickens have been destroyed. Cleaning up and disinfecting the sites where the disease is found is also mandated, as well as having workers follow sanitation guidelines in order to prevent further spread of the disease. Samples from dead and sick birds are sent to the National Animal Disease Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for testing, which further adds to the cost.
This surpasses what was spent in the 1970s when the last outbreak occurred in California. It took an estimated $40 million to control the disease at that time. That outbreak originated with the illegal importing of caged birds from Mexico.
The loss of the commercial chickens in California should not have any influence on chicken prices in this part of the United States, since most chicken is purchased from the southeastern part of the nation. Presently, countries that import poultry from the United States have banned all poultry from California; some have banned poultry from the United States entirely.
Other precautions are being taken for wild birds, including those kept at Sea World and other sites specifically designed for them. They, like poultry and exotic pet birds, are vulnerable to the disease.
The United States Department of Agriculture has quarantined many areas in southern California as part of the process to wipe out the disease. The U.S. Forestry Service has assisted by setting up command centers, a procedure they use when fighting fires.
The combination helps in pinpointing outbreaks and controlling movement of birds in those areas. The procedure is designed to confine the disease to the counties presently affected.
Kerr expressed one idea that some people should consider is if they are planning to travel to southern California. While the disease does not affect humans, it does affect pet birds.
He explained that some people who travel in motor homes bring their pet birds with them. Those birds are vulnerable to Exotic Newcastle Disease. Consequently, anyone traveling to the affected region with a pet bird may not be able to leave without having the bird tested.
The present plan by the USDA is to continue rotating personnel into the area on a schedule of three weeks on duty and two weeks off until the disease is confined and eliminated. Kerr said that it could take more than a year to eradicate the disease from southern California.
©Torrington Telegram 2003
UPC Action Alert
http://www.upc-online.org/alerts/40303END.htm
United Poultry Concerns Report & Action Alert
April 4, 2003
Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) and the Mass Killing of Birds
California Attorney Holds Meeting, Files Petition Contesting Protest END Eradication Program
“In an unscientific effort to prevent the spreading of END (exotic Newcastle disease), the task force kills all birds in an area where END has been allegedly located, regardless of the bird’s status as a healthy, disease-free bird.” – Attorney William H. Dailey in a Petition filed on March 24, 2003
“Laws are being broken by the teams every day. From trespassing to abuse of power. Not to mention animal cruelty acts.” – Mike and Sue Swallow, Norco, CA, Email, 1/28/03
In January, California Gov. Gray Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared a state of emergency to protect California’s $3 billion poultry and egg industry from exotic Newcastle disease (END), a contagious virus that affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of birds and, while said to be harmless to humans, “can cause pink eye in rare circumstances,” according to Pima County, Arizona Sheriff’s Detective Mike Duffey (KOLD-TV, Tucson, AZ, 2/19/03).
On February 13, 2003, UPC President Karen Davis joined a meeting of animal protection groups, concerned citizens, journalists, and government officials in Los Angeles to discuss the handling of the situation. Hosted by attorney William Dailey, and Cherylynn Costner of the Hillary Chicken Memorial Fund, the meeting also included representatives of The Fund For Animals, the Humane Farming Association, The Humane Society of the United States, Last Chance for Animals, the Parrot Society of Los Angeles, Mike and Sue Swallow, and others.
On March 24, 2003, attorney William H. Dailey filed a Petition with the Superior Court of California on behalf of 13 bird owners, the Hillary Chicken Memorial Fund, the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, and amended in April to include United Poultry Concerns, urging the court to order Gov. Gray Davis to rescind his January emergency order calling for the eradication of exotic Newcastle disease through the “expeditious disposal of poultry” and to order Davis and government agencies to establish due-process protections that prevent authorities from arbitrarily and capriciously slaughtering companion or show birds. “We’re asking the court to tell the government to do things differently and to obey the constitution,” Dailey said. “Over 3 million birds were slaughtered to date just in California and most of them weren’t infected.” Dailey’s motion accuses Gov. Davis and the CA task force of “repeated abuses of constitutional rights and cruelty toward citizens and violations of animal anti-cruelty statutes.” (Associated Press 3/31/03)
To read the Petition go to http://www.upc-online.org/poultry_diseases/4303petition.htm
For updates call Cherylynn Costner, Hillary Chicken Memorial Fund: 877-452-4425.
“Men in white suits come to your door to kill your precious birds.” – Sue Swallow
So far the USDA and CA Dept of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) have killed more than 3 million commercial, backyard, and companion birds at a cost to taxpayers in excess of $40 million, including $12.8 million paid in indemnities to bird owners (Scripps Howard News Service 4/1/03). Chickens, parrots, ducks, geese, pigeons, turkeys, emus, peafowl, and other birds were, and are now being, killed, the majority showing no sign of the disease and without first being tested. If one bird tests positive in a flock consisting of one bird or a million birds, all of the birds are destroyed.
California residents Mike and Sue Swallow describe the treatment of companion birds: “A vet shows up with a bunch of low paid thugs and prison labor. In full view of a family, including the children, they catch the birds they can catch, tape their legs together, put each one in a plastic bag, and gas them with carbon dioxide. The ones they can’t catch they shoot with pellet guns until they are dead. Geese and emus they bludgeon to death with clubs.”
The Cockfighting Connections
“They place the blame for this situation, as well as its being spread, directly in the hands of fighting cock breeders. In fact, it is believed that the jumping [of the virus] from backyard poultry flocks to the commercial egg production facilities was because many of the employees of poultry farms owned infected chickens." – Sandee L. Molenda, reporting on a meeting with CA State Veterinarian Dr. Richard Breitmeyer in January 2003.
Though cockfighting has been illegal in California since 1905 – as is raising roosters for fighting, participating in or attending a cockfight and possessing fighting paraphernalia –there are at least 3 million game birds in the state and 50,000 – 60,000 owners (Poultry Times, 2/17/03). A county detective explains, “These guys have two to 400 roosters, on the pretext of raising show birds. They’re tied to stakes, in the open, and go through a training regimen to make them fighters” (Modesto Bee, 2/9/03). Cockfighters bring birds up from Mexico and move them from state to state despite federal quarantines. They work on poultry and egg farms, tracking the disease into chicken houses. Despite the illegality of cockfighting in California and 47 other states, USDA is compensating cockfighters whose birds are destroyed under the END eradication program, as high as $1,850 per bird (The Californian, 3/15/03). This compensation supports cockfighting and encourages cockfighters to “find” END, kill their birds, and introduce new birds in order to get paid. California resident Mike Swallow told UPC (3/13/03), “They hide 5 or 6 dead birds and after depopulation sell those dead birds to other cockfighters to infect their birds and get the big payoff.”
The Poultry and Egg Industry: Culpability and Reward
“END spreads rapidly among birds kept in confinement, such as commercially raised chickens.” USDA Fact Sheet (1/6/03)
“It’s a public record when the federal government pays a farmer to grow cotton or rice; so why isn’t it so when the feds pay a rancher to euthanize [sic] a chicken? The reason, says the task force, is that the market value of any given chicken is propriety information. . . . Chicken ranchers should be thrilled that the government has such a generous program to shield them from financial ruin.” – Scripps Howard News Service (4/1/03)
In addition to END’s being transmitted through infected birds’ droppings and secretions from the nose, mouth, and eyes, a USDA Fact Sheet (1/6/03) explains that the disease “is often spread by vaccination and debeaking crews, manure haulers, rendering truck drivers, feed delivery personnel, poultry buyers, egg service people, and poultry farm owners and employees.” And while the mass killing of birds to eradicate END is being done to protect the poultry and egg industry, there is another side to the slaughter, exemplified by the egg rancher who killed 100,000 of his hens, not because they had END but because they were “spent.” Since he couldn’t truck them to slaughter due to the quarantine in his area, he was reimbursed for every hen piled on his truck “pouring over the side of the truck,” whereupon he told the Los Angeles Daily News (2/15/03), “For a guy who’s been losing money for three years this could be the first sizable check in a long time.”
That’s because the state is paying egg companies $2 to $5 per bird for losses incurred under the END eradication program, an exchange welcomed by an industry that’s been trying to reduce the U.S. flock size for years and normally gets –0 to 10 cents per unwanted hen. U.S. egg companies normally suffocate their “spent” flocks in dumpsters and sell them to renderers, having no other market for their “product.” “They’d be crying all the way to the bank,” if their chickens were stricken, one poultry producer told the Los Angeles Times (1/8/03). It is thus reasonable to suppose that many egg-laying flocks are intentionally being “stricken” and that END has to do not only with cockfighting but collusion between the egg industry and the government to consolidate the industry and eliminate the smaller guys, who are killing their birds, taking the money, and selling their land to real estate developers.
What Can I Do?
Urge U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to endorse, and your Members of Congress to support, the Ensign-Allard-Cantwell (Senate) and Bartlett-Andrews (House of Representatives) legislation that increases interstate commerce in birds intended for cockfighting from a misdemeanor to a felony. Tell Secretary Veneman to stop reimbursing cockfighters as part of the END eradication program. Tell her and your Members of Congress you do not want your taxes used to benefit cockfighters but to support a vigorous federal program to uphold federal and state laws that prohibit cockfighting.
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20250
Phone: 202-720-3631
Fax: 202-720-2166
Email: agsec@usda.gov
The Honorable _____________
U.S. Senate
Washington DC 20510
The Honorable ______________
House of Representatives
Washington DC 20515
To find your U.S. Senators and House Representative call the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or go to www.hsus.org.
Tell Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and your Members of Congress you do not want your taxes used to indemnify the poultry and egg industries for their “losses” – the suffocation, gassing, and “mulching” of millions of helpless birds. Ask why U.S. taxpayers are being forced to prop up these billion-dollar industries (the CA poultry industry is valued at $3.2 billion and the U.S. chicken industry at $17 billion). Request a written response to your letters.
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. http://www.upc-online.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
Press-Enterprise, CA
http://www.pe.com/business/local/PE_BIZ_nfeed04.58512.html
Feed stores hit hard by bird quarantine
Efforts to end exotic Newcastle disease have had a negative impact on various Inland businesses
04/04/2003
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
MIRA LOMA - Baby chicks usually take center stage this time of year at Wholesale Feed & Saddlery, an animal feed store in Mira Loma.
Oohs and aahs greet the bins of tiny birds, their soft down dyed the colors of the rainbow for Easter.
The store sells as many as 1,500 pastel-hued chicks to families, petting zoos and schools before the holiday, said owner Debbie Dickens. Chick sales continue at a clip of 200 a week until the fall. Along with the birds, Dickens sells starter feed, watering and feeding equipment, incubators, vitamins and medicines.
But not this year, with a state and federal task force struggling to stop the spread of exotic Newcastle disease.
Like several other feed and grain stores close to infected yards and commercial egg farms in the Inland Empire, Wholesale Feed & Saddlery has been slapped with a quarantine. It is prohibited indefinitely from buying or selling birds of any kind. About 40 birds -- cockatiels, lovebirds, parakeets and finches -- are being held in a back room.
Dickens' feed business also has deteriorated. Flocks of backyard chickens and pet birds in the rural housing tracts near her store have fallen victims to task force efforts to stop exotic Newcastle in its tracks.
'Tears and anger'
Since Oct. 1 in Southern California, the government has euthanized 3.2 million egg-laying hens on commercial farms and nearly 136,000 backyard birds that were infected or exposed to the disease.
The bereft include Dickens' customers.
"We have had tears and anger. We have had people bawling their eyes out," Dickens said.
With store revenues reduced by 25 percent to 35 percent over the past six months, Dickens said she has let two employees go. She and her husband have refinanced their house to stay in business.
Unlike owners of euthanized birds, whom the federal government pays for their loss, there is no program to compensate ancillary businesses such as feed stores and mills.
Richard Matteis, executive vice president of the California Grain & Feed Association, said he is recommending that members who own feed stores send documentation of their losses to the task force.
However, Jack Shere, the task force's area commander, said stores are not being paid for such losses.
New strategy
Shere said in recognition of the financial plight of such stores, the task force has adopted a new strategy that went into effect March 17. It will allow at least some stores to sell chicks if the store owners decide it is necessary.
Stores that have had birds infected with exotic Newcastle or are located within a kilometer of infected backyards or commercial poultry operations still cannot sell birds of any age.
Also under the new quarantine regulations, no feed stores anywhere in California may sell adult chickens.
But Shere said the government is allowing stores that are not individually quarantined to sell chicks if they sign an agreement to comply with a set of biosecurity rules. They must agree, for instance, not to allow customers to handle the chicks.
Nonetheless, Shere said the sale of chicks is "strongly discouraged" because of the possibility the young, vulnerable birds could catch exotic Newcastle carried into the store on the feet, hands or clothing of store customers.
Shere also warned that any store owner who stocks chicks takes a risk. If a newly infected yard is discovered within a kilometer of the store, a quarantine will be imposed that will automatically halt sales. Then the store could be stuck with a large inventory of unsalable birds.
Personnel and owners at several Inland feed stores said they were having difficulty keeping up with task force policies regarding chick sales.
Allen Funk, manager of Ontario Hay and Grain, which is not a quarantined store, said the task force at first told him he could not sell chicks. Then, he said, he got a letter saying it might be allowed. "They haven't decided," he concluded.
'How do we make this up?'
Some feed and grain store owners say their worst predicament is not knowing whether it will take months or years for the battle against exotic Newcastle disease to be won and the quarantines lifted.
"What are we supposed to do in between? How do we make this up?" said Frances Luczak, owner of Etiwanda Hay and Grain in Mira Loma. She said the task force has visited her quarantined shop eight times so far, in part to make sure she doesn't sell her ducks, chickens and pigeons.
Eric Lesh, the new owner of Ken's Feed in Woodcrest, near Riverside, forecasts that the loss of chick sales this spring will mean weaker demand for hen feed down the road. He said he is trying to diversify by ordering food for "yuppie pets," such as the fish, lizards and snakes favored by families moving into the newer, more suburban subdivisions.
Bill Cramer owns Star Milling Co. in Perris, a leading supplier of commercial and backyard chicken feed in the Inland Empire. He said because of the exotic Newcastle disease outbreak, his sales are down about 20 percent, and he ended the last quarter in the red. He said he has been forced to lay off about 15 workers at his two mills.
"We don't know that we have hit bottom yet, either," Cramer said. "It is a pretty major blow to the local industry."
But with the loss of backyard hens, grocery stores may see some new customers in the egg department.
Dickens said she was unable to buy chickens to replace two hens that flew the coop at her Glen Avon home in the last windstorm. With only one hen remaining, she said she had to go to the store for the first time in years to buy eggs to bake a cake.
"A dozen eggs costs $2," she said with disbelief.
Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com
North County Times, CA
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030403/53158.html
ACLU says postal workers survey is legal, but ...
KATHRYN GILLICK
Staff Writer
Asking mail carriers to report how many homes on their routes have backyard chickens may not go against the constitution, a spokeswoman from the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday, but that doesn't mean it's right.
Postal workers have been asked by the state-federal Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, which is in charge of stamping out the deadly avian virus, to tell their supervisors how many homes on their delivery routes have chickens, and then those numbers were added up to get a total number for each ZIP code, a spokesman for the post office said.
The Southern California region ---- which includes San Diego, San Bernardino, Imperial and Riverside counties ---- submitted its report on March 14, according to spokesman Mike Cannone.
The task force asked the postal service for a report on each ZIP code in the eight Southern California counties ---- San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Imperial, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara ---- that have been quarantined since the disease was found in a flock of backyard chickens in Compton in October.
"We ran this request through our legal department, and legal said as long as you don't provide names or addresses, it would be legal to participate in this survey," Cannone said.
ACLU spokeswoman Dale Kelly Bankhead agreed that the operation seems legal.
"Assuming that they're not doing anything more than delivering the mail and paying attention to what they see or hear while they're doing it, legally they seem to have the authority to do that," she said. "But there's a second and perhaps more important aspect of this, and that's the ever-growing Big Brother aspect of life that we have been experiencing for some time."
Bird owners seem to agree. One man, who lives in Vista, said that learning about the survey made him feel "kind of creepy."
"It just makes me feel like I'm being watched," said the man, who asked not to be named.
Task force spokesman Adrian Woodfork said residents in the quarantine zone were not told that postal workers would be surveying their neighborhoods.
When asked why residents were not alerted, Woodfork said, "That's something I just can't comment on.
"Our intentions are definitely good in terms of where concentrated populations of chickens are being raised," he said.
Woodfork said the survey will be used to show the task force which neighborhoods have the most chickens so that the task force can "educate" people about Exotic Newcastle.
Woodfork said a copy of the survey was not available because it was not finished yet, although post office spokesman Cannone said that all districts that were asked to turn in reports did so earlier this month.
Exotic Newcastle is spread through the mucus or feces of infected birds. It is said to be so contagious that the task force said it must kill all birds on an infected site.
So far, the task force has killed more than 3.2 million commercial chickens and hundreds of thousands of backyard birds. It is unclear how many of the "backyard birds" are exotic species or poultry.
In San Diego County, nearly 500,000 commercial chickens and more than 660 backyard birds have been killed. The disease was first found in the county in December when chickens at Ramona Egg Ranch tested positive. It has spread to six more commercial farms since then. Those farms are the Armstrong Egg ranches on Cole Grade, Mac Tan and Lilac roads in Valley Center; Foster Enterprises, also known as Gross Ranch, on Cole Grade Road in Valley Center; the Fluegge Egg Ranch, on Twain Way in Valley Center; and Ward Egg Ranch on Fruitvale Road in Valley Center.
It has been found in 13 backyard flocks ---- one in Ramona, two in Escondido, and 10 in Valley Center ---- Woodfork said Wednesday. There have also been eight flocks in Valley Center that have had "dangerous contact" with an infected site. Woodfork could not say whether the dangerous-contact flocks would be killed.
Contact staff writer Kathryn Gillick at (760) 740-5412 or kgillick@nctimes.com.
4/3/03
Modesto Bee, CA
http://www.modbee.com/sports/outdoors/story/6490083p-7434185c.html
Hunting & Fishing Briefs
Published: April 3, 2003, 05:45:10 AM PST
Disease scare
The DFG is advising hunters that a multi-county quarantine on poultry and game birds could affect spring turkey hunting. Exotic Newcastle Disease has been found in both commercial and back yard birds. About 3 million birds have been destroyed since the disease was discovered in California. The disease has also been found in parts of Nevada and Arizona.
To prevent further spread of END, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have imposed a quarantine on the following counties: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The quarantine prohibits the transportation of any birds out of the quarantine area, including live wild turkeys, or turkey carcasses.
Spring wild turkey season opened March 29. Those planning to travel to END-positive counties will not be able to transport their game outside the quarantined areas.
NapaNet Daily News, CA
http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=DA0D9997-5348-487F-8865-FED42268BDE0
Judge rules fighting cocks to be euthanized
Wednesday, April 2, 2003
By ROSEANN KEEGAN
Register Staff Writer
They are pumped with steroids and trained to fight to the death, but the glory days of 769 fighting cocks from a Foster Road property have passed.
Reluctantly, a Napa County judge ruled Tuesday that the birds should be euthanized. The birds remain unclaimed from a Feb. 22 bust of an illegal cockfighting operation on 1895 Foster Road, where a state/county task force seized 1,564 fighting cocks and made 15 arrests.
"Is there any alternative to exterminating them?" Judge Scott Snowden asked.
Deputy D.A. Rich Zimmerman explained the dangers fighting cocks pose to individuals, to the county, and even the state. Because of their aggression, he said, they are too dangerous to be adopted. And because of the constant shuffling of gaming birds interstate and internationally, such operations are blamed for the spread of Exotic Newcastle disease, a deadly avian infection that struck the state's poultry industry in the 1970s and has resurfaced in Southern California. There is now a statewide ban on bird exhibitions.
"We consider this a bird exhibition also," Zimmerman said.
The D.A.'s office placed notice of the hearing in the Register, and asked anyone with interest in the birds to attend the proceedings. No one showed up.
The birds' owners have until Saturday to claim them before they are destroyed.
According the Humane Society, cockfighters pump specially-bred roosters full of drugs to increase aggression and clot their blood. They then affix razor-sharp knives or ice-pick-like gaffs to the birds' legs and place them in a pit to fight to injury or death. During bouts, birds suffer punctured lungs, gouged eyes and broken bones. Breeders and spectators make money by taking and placing bets on the fights.
If a bird loses a fight but doesn't die, it is shot. Several guns were found on the property.
Humane Society officers were on hand during the two-day bust in February. Eric Sakach, West Coast regional director for the Humane Society, told the Register that the scene at 1895 Foster Road is typical of what he's seen at similar raids throughout the state.
"Sparring muffs, all the various drugs, steroids ... there's no doubt this is a cockfighting operation," Sakach said.
To date, 795 roosters seized from the property have been claimed by their owners. The people claiming the birds were not ticketed for owning the fighting cocks, but the birds remain property of the sheriff's department as evidence in the criminal proceedings and must remain at the Foster Road ranch. The birds' owners are obligated to care for them, and animal control and sheriff's deputies check on the roosters two times a day to ensure they're not neglected, according to sheriff's Capt. Mike Loughran.
Criminal charges of cockfighting or owning fighting cocks have been filed against 13 of the 15 men arrested during the raid. The men were arraigned March 21, and will return to court on April 16. The other two arrests were for immigration violations, and both men were deported to Mexico.
If the 13 men are convicted, it is likely their roosters will be destroyed as well.
Roseann Keegan can be reached at 256-2220 or rlanglois@napanews.com
Press-Enterprise, CA
http://www.pe.com/business/local/PE_BIZ_nnewca02.a2144.html
Game fowl focus of disease fears
NEWCASTLE: Because of the poultry epidemic, some want to increase the penalties for cockfighting.
04/02/2003
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Concern about the spread of exotic Newcastle disease has spurred campaigns in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to raise cockfighting and shipping fighting roosters across state or national borders from misdemeanors to felonies.
Animal advocates long have decried the blood sport for alleged cruelty. Now they seek to gain momentum from worry that further spread of the virus on roosters moving to and from matches is endangering high-value poultry meat and egg industries, as well as cherished pets.
Already in Southern California, 3.2 million egg-laying hens on commercial farms and nearly 136,000 backyard birds have been euthanized by order of a joint state and federal task force that has been striving since October to eradicate the disease.
Those who oppose upgrading cockfighting to a felony argue that imprisonment is too harsh a penalty for immigrants from countries like Mexico and the Philippines, where cock matches are widespread and legal. They also warn that a crackdown could force the illegal enterprise further underground in the United States.
SB 732, a bill introduced by Sen. Nell Soto, D-Pomona, would strengthen California's cockfighting law by giving a district attorney the option to charge offenses either as a misdemeanor or a felony. The bill is heading to its first hearing Tuesday before the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Soto's bill was inspired by a letter from a constituent, Pat Dunaway, 55, of Rialto. Dunaway, co-chairwoman of the Pet Assistance Foundation for the Inland Empire, said she learned that a strain of exotic Newcastle virus similar to the one plaguing Southern California was discovered earlier in Mexico, and it could have been carried here by fighting roosters. Federal and state authorities, however, say they haven't proven the origin of the current outbreak.
"They (cockfighters) cause too much trouble for it to be a misdemeanor," Dunaway said. "To only give people a slap on the wrist for it seems absurd." So she asked Soto to make cockfighting a felony.
Lawmaker decries cruelty
Soto said she is concerned about the role cockfighting may have in spreading Newcastle disease. She said she wants a law that will finally do away with a sport she calls "cruel" and "inhumane."
In 27 other states, cockfighting already is a felony.
Also last week, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would make the transportation of animals across state lines for the purpose of fighting a felony under federal law, punishable by up to two years in prison.
The bill authored by John Ensign, R-Nev., a veterinarian, and co-sponsored by 10 other members, including seven Democrats, also would make interstate shipment of cockfighting implements, such as knives and gaffs, a felony.
"As a veterinarian, I've seen firsthand the horrible injuries animals can suffer as a result of this barbaric practice, and as a senator I'm determined to stop it," Ensign said.
Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, a staunch backer of anti-cockfighting legislation, said federal prosecutors tell him they could give higher priority to cracking down on the activity if they were armed with felony penalties.
Originally, the Soto bill proposed to make cockfighting an automatic felony. However, Pacelle said he believed it would be easier to win over the Legislature if prison time could be reserved for the worst cases such as repeat offenders and cockfight organizers.
"It might be difficult to get legislators to make watching such an event a felony," Pacelle said.
Abundance of allies
Soto's legislation so far has been endorsed by several other animal-advocate organizations. Soto's office said letters of support are pending from at least nine sheriff's departments.
John Lovell, government relations manager for the California Police Chiefs Association, said that group also supports the Soto bill.
Lovell said cockfights have been venues for other unsavory and illegal activity, such as gambling and drug trafficking.
"Now into the bargain the birds have been implicated in the spread of exotic Newcastle disease that is causing severe problems for lawful California businesses," he said.
Organizations representing game fowl owners and breeders, however, say they are doing their part in the battle against exotic Newcastle by advising members to comply with quarantine regulations and submitting to the destruction of their birds that are infected or exposed to the disease.
Law allows game fowl
Under California law, raising or owning game fowl is not a crime as long as it cannot be proven the birds are sold for fighting.
Bucky Harless, secretary for the Association for the Preservation of Game Fowl in California, said, "We are trying to kill (the Soto bill) because it is absolutely wrong-headed. . . . When you make the laws harsher, you force people with game fowl underground, whether you fight them or show them."
Harless also said cockfighting is part of the culture of the state's Hispanic and Filipino communities. "They can't understand in the home of the free and the land of the brave they can't fight roosters," he said.
And even among those who opposes cockfighting, not everyone believes that making it a felony will stamp out the practice.
Richard Matteis, executive director of the Pacific Egg & Poultry Assn., said the group still is considering whether to support the Soto bill. But he said he has personal reservations.
"In my experience, just increasing penalties does not work. What you need is money for enforcement," Matteis said.
Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com
The Bakersfield Californian, CA
http://www.bakersfield.com/local/spec/iraq/story/2873558p-2909863c.html
Farmland security at stake
By MARYLEE SHRIDER , Californian staff writer
e-mail: mshrider@bakersfield.com
Wednesday April 02, 2003, 11:04:49 AM
It's hard to imagine terrorists skulking about Kern County, infiltrating farms and processing plants in a plot to contaminate a sizable chunk of America's food supply.
It's an unlikely scenario, agriculture officials say, but no longer unthinkable.
With America at war, Kern's farmers, food processors and law enforcement officials say they are alert to the threat of bioterrorism -- the act of poisoning or contaminating food or water supplies -- and are taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen here.
George Cappello, a third-generation Kern farmer, said it's impossible to monitor every inch of the county's 907,000 acres of crop land, but producers are paying more attention to the people and activities on and around their operations.
"You can't put a blanket over 1,800 acres," said Cappello of his own acreage. "But we do stop strange vehicles and people who don't belong here and question them.
"I've always done that anyway, but even more with the heightened alert."
Federal and state ag officials have issued repeated warnings about possible bioterrorist threats in the months since Sept. 11. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, other government agencies and even trade associations have encouraged producers to increase security and have issued security guidelines for food processors.
Patrick Kelly, director of quality assurance at carrot grower Grimmway Farms, said the company is taking those guidelines seriously.
"Our first job was to assemble a food security task force and review all available guidance documents," he said. "We're proceeding very cautiously -- we want to make sure whatever we put in place is going to work and is based on good security practices."
Kelly naturally declined to go into detail about the company's food security plan, but did say part of the program includes working closely with local law enforcement. The plan, he said, is an expansion of a solid security system already in place.
"Prior to Sept. 11 we always had good ag practices and manufacturing practices," Kelly said. "Now we have good security practices. And the task force will continue to be a review body for any security issues that could come up in the future."
Kern County Sheriff's Cmdr. Keith Nelson, homeland security director for the department, said people should not lie awake at night worrying about bioterrorism, but should be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious behaviors.
"There's a psychological victory for terrorists if people are sitting around scared," Nelson said. "We just want people to be aware of the state of affairs -- that a suspicious person might really be suspicious."
Some producers say small changes in security, most of which cost nothing, go a long a way toward increasing safety. Theft of crops and equipment is an ongoing problem for local farmers, said Cappello, who instructs his workers to watch for trespassers and take down license numbers of cars that are found on his property.
At Lehr Bros Inc., potato producers in Edison, supervisors photocopy the drivers licenses of outgoing truck drivers. Farming Manager Pete Belluomini said it's an easy step that adds a bit more security to shipping procedures.
"We knew the company the truck belonged to, but we needed to tie the driver to the truck," he said.
Despite the warnings and increased security, local officials say the real threat to California's ag industry comes not from terrorists, but from the rapid spread of pests and diseases like the Mexican fruit fly, exotic Newcastle disease, Pierce's disease and bovine tuberculosis.
Ted Davis, Kern County agricultural commissioner, said that Kern is as vulnerable as any county to terrorism and disease, but said his office is working with the county Public Health Department, local law enforcement and other agencies to ensure that safety nets are in place should either become a reality.
"We work with these agencies and have set guidelines in case we need to do testing," Davis said. "In the case of food security, we do tests as we typically do with pesticides and make that determination of pesticide or biological agent."
The best defense against bioterrorism may be common sense, said Belluomini, voicing a sentiment echoed by producers across the board. Drinking water is treated and produce is tested for pesticide residue, so it's doubtful that any noxious material would ever make it to the consumer, who then processes it further, Belluomini said.
"Because of the nature of food being processed by the consumer, it takes away most of the risk," he said. "And you should take it home and wash it anyway -- that's just common sense. It's one of those things your mom taught you."
Modesto Bee, CA
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/6486852p-7431079c.html
Why the secrecy about the payments for diseased poultry?
Published: April 2, 2003, 07:05:12 AM PST
California's poultry industry is understandably fixated on stopping the transmission of a virus known as exotic Newcastle disease. The virus, which is deadly to chickens, although not to humans, was imported from some corner of the globe where it is prevalent. (It can live for days on a traveler's clothes.)
The first California case of this recent outbreak was discovered in a Compton chicken coop in October. Since then, an extraordinary government campaign has mobilized to contain the disease, which has not been found on farms or at poultry processing plants in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. In Southern California, 1,600 workers are searching for signs of the disease. What's also extraordinary, and wrong, is the secrecy surrounding what the government is paying someone who owns a diseased chicken that must be euthanized.
So far, the state and federal governments have paid a combined $12.8 million to the owners of commercial poultry operations and families with diseased chicken coops. To date, the campaign against exotic Newcastle disease has killed
3.23 million hen-laying chickens, broilers and turkeys. That's a small fraction of the state's sizable poultry population -- 24 million egg-laying birds, 235 million broilers and 18.7 million turkeys. But these millions make this one of the larger agriculture-related subsidy programs in the state.
It's public record when the federal government pays a farmer to grow cotton or rice; so why isn't it so when the feds pay a rancher to euthanize a chicken? The reason, says the task force, is that the market value of any given chicken is proprietary information.
Come on. This smells like a stretch of some loopholes that exist in the federal Freedom of Information Act.
Commercial chicken operations are enormous. If one broiler out of 50,000 is identified with the disease, they all must be euthanized. Chicken ranchers should be thrilled that the government has such a generous program to shield them from financial ruin. It's arguable that the program is even too generous. How many other businesses get totally shielded from the financial consequences of the unexpected? That makes it even more important to open these payments to scrutiny. Fellow chicken ranchers have a right to know. So does the paying public. Without this information, they are likely to conclude, rightly or wrongly, that they are getting plucked.
WRAL, NC
http://www.wral.com/news/2084783/detail.html
Emergency Funding To Help State Monitor Deadly Poultry Disease
POSTED: 11:26 a.m. EST April 2, 2003
UPDATED: 11:50 a.m. EST April 2, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina's poultry industry generates more than $2 billion a year. State officials fear a deadly disease could wipe it out.
Exotic Newcastle Disease does not hurt people, but it kills poultry.
"The disease is so fast-acting that [the birds] literally die before even showing clinical signs," said Dr. David Marshall, a state veterinarian.
Tuesday, Gov. Mike Easley granted the North Carolina Department of Agriculture more than $260,000 in emergency funds to help monitor for the disease.
An outbreak of the disease has entered its sixth month in California, where 600 full time state and federal workers are fighting it.
"We feel like we are potentially 24 hours away from a potentially infectious bird that could be in California today and could be in North Carolina tomorrow," Marshall said.
USDA secretary Ann Veneman has declared the outbreak an extraordinary emergency. The new funds in N.C. will allow for more testing, investigators and surveillance.
Were the disease to find its way to North Carolina, it may be first confirmed at the Rollins Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in Raleigh.
"The most obvious sign that you would see would be dead birds. You would have high mortality in your flock," said Dr. Jo Anna Quinn of the N.C.Department of Agriculture.
The mortality rate could be as high as 90 percent.
North Carolina is the nation's number two turkey producing state and the number four broiler producer.
Pasadena Star-News, CA
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~11842~1289270,00.html
Outdoor Notebook
A quarantine for Exotic Newcastle Disease is hampering the annual spring turkey hunt.
The quarantine, which has resulted in the destroying of 3 million birds in L.A., San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Imperial counties, affects the transportation of game birds.
Hunters who bag a turkey will be unable to transport it out of the county in which it was taken.
The birds are safe to eat.
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