Media Coverage
December, 2002
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The Bakersfield Californian - CA
Disease threatens poultry industry
By MARYLEE SHRIDER , Californian staff writer
e-mail: mshrider@bakersfield.com
REF: http://www.bakersfield.com/business/story/2399375p-2450988c.html
Tuesday December 31, 2002, 09:57:02 PM
Thousands of chickens have been destroyed and a million more are set for slaughter after state officials found new cases of a deadly avian virus in two Southern California counties.
Kern County egg producers are hoping the fast-spreading exotic Newcastle disease doesn't find a foothold here.
"I pray it doesn't happen," said Tom Demler, owner of Demler Enterprises in Wasco and Delano. "We're a little bit worried, but we're pretty isolated here. We don't get the diseases like they do in Southern California."
Shipments of eggs and poultry have been halted from quarantined areas, which include all of Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties and western portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. State officials have already destroyed more than 100,000 commercial chickens.
The disease, first spotted in September in a flock of backyard chickens in Compton, is highly contagious among birds, but poses no threat to humans.
But the disease does pose a serious threat to California's $3 billion poultry and egg industry, said Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
"We are concerned about potential losses, especially as a result of trade restrictions by foreign trading partners," Hawkins said. "We have some countries that have already imposed restrictions on Southern California. We don't want those restrictions on the rest of the United States."
There is no evidence that the disease has spread to poultry processors or egg producers in the Central Valley, but local producers aren't taking any chances.
The disease can travel on vehicles, wild birds, people and packing material, so staff members at Demler Farms spray disinfectant on all cars and trucks when they enter or leave.
Demler, who houses about 1.3 million laying hens at his Wasco farm and an additional 450,000 at his Delano operation, said he has always been cautious about allowing visitors. These days, even the occasional school field trip is out of the question.
"Now we don't do any of that," he said. "We don't want any outsiders coming on our farms, especially in the chicken houses."
School field trips to Farmer John Eggs on Panama Lane are curtailed indefinitely, manager John Lewis said.
"Once this Newcastle outbreak came out we stopped all school tours," he said. "We didn't want to do it, but there could be a parent or child who had a parrot at home or a barnyard flock."
Most commercial poultry producers vaccinate their flocks against Newcastle disease, but vaccines have proven ineffective against this virulent strain, Hawkins said. Once discovered, the only way to control the disease is to eradicate the entire flock.
Carrying out the grisly task on a massive scale takes some logistical planning, but it is done as humanely as possible, Hawkins said.
"We put the birds in an enclosed chamber and introduce carbon dioxide," he said. "The birds go to sleep and they die."
Eggs are collected, destroyed and buried -- along with carcasses and packing materials -- at sanitary landfills.
The last time the virus struck California flocks in 1971, 12 million chickens had to be destroyed at a cost of $56 million. It took state officials three years to eradicate the disease.
Poultry farmers found with infected flocks must destroy their birds, but will receive compensation from the state. Demler said even with the compensation, it's doubtful farmers will be able to recover all their costs. Demler said he is fairly confident his local operations are safe, but is concerned about another family operation in the heart of San Diego County.
"There's an infected ranch in Ramona about five miles away from my brother's ranch where he has about a million chickens," Demler said. "He's doing the same thing we are -- hoping and praying and practicing as tight a quarantine as he can."
KGTV - San Diego, CA
San Diego County Included In Poultry Quarantine
More Than 1 Million Birds Already Destroyed
POSTED: 12:41 p.m. PST December 31, 2002
UPDATED: 12:44 p.m. PST December 31, 2002
REF: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/1863343/detail.html
SAN DIEGO -- A Southern California quarantine has been expanded to include San Diego County following an outbreak of a fatal and contagious disease on a Ramona egg and poultry ranch.
The quarantine bans the transportation of any live birds or poultry products, except eggs, outside the county.
Resurfacing for the first time since the 1970s, the disease was discovered in Los Angeles County on Oct. 1, resulting in the destruction of 40,000 birds. Last week, the disease was found on a commercial ranch in Riverside, where 100,000 birds were destroyed.
A few days later it showed up on a chicken ranch in San Bernardino County, where more than 1 million birds are to be destroyed.
The discoveries heightened concerns that exotic Newcastle disease was proliferating and could pose a threat to California's $3 billion poultry industry.
The quarantine was extended to San Diego County Monday after laboratory tests confirmed infection at a farm with 75,000 hens. All of those birds will be destroyed.
Orange County, which has no poultry production, was added to the quarantine list as well to stop the movement of birds across the region.
If the disease spreads it could threaten San Diego County's poultry and egg industry, which produces about $51 million in revenue each year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
"People who have worked all their life could be completely wiped out," Harold Hilliker of Hilliker Egg Ranch in Lakeside told the Union-Tribune.
"It's not the eggs we're worried about. It's the birds. The birds, once they get it, they're dead."
Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told the Union-Tribune that the disease not only affects poultry but all types of birds.
Exotic Newcastle spreads quickly, thriving in the warm, humid environments found on chicken ranches. It can be carried on people's clothing, shoes and vehicles.
Ranchers have been disinfecting trucks, requiring visitors to wear disposable booties and coveralls and requiring workers to bathe and put on clean clothes before starting work.
The name of the ranch where the outbreak occurred was not released.
Copyright 2002 by TheSanDiegoChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Press-Enterprise
Disease threatens industry, state orders more birds destroyed
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
The Associated Press
REF: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Exotic_Newcastle_Disease_93417C.shtml
Agriculture officials ordered more than a million chickens destroyed and expanded a quarantine to include five Southern California counties after finding new cases of Exotic Newcastle Disease, which threatens the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
This week's orders mark the latest efforts by state and federal food and agriculture officials to stem the spread of the disease, which is harmless to humans but fatal to poultry.
This outbreak was discovered in September in backyard chicken flocks in Los Angeles County.
In the past two weeks, infected chickens have been found at commercial farms in portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, officials said. On Monday, the California Department of Food and Agriculture ordered the destruction of more than 1 million chickens at commercial farms in San Diego and San Bernardino counties after diseased chickens were found.
"We are concerned about the potential for spread to other flocks, not only commercial flocks but backyard flocks," Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Tuesday. "It's adds a new dimension to the outbreak."
The quarantine initially prohibited the movement of poultry and poultry products in Los Angeles and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Officials expanded the quarantine to include San Diego and Orange counties, although no cases have been reported in Orange County, said Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the state department of agriculture.
She said the only exception to the quarantine were eggs, which must be washed, sanitized and repackaged before shipping.
"We will not allow or permit poultry to move outside those quarantine areas. If it spreads beyond these commercial facilities, it could be a serious problem" for the industry.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than half the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
"With its ability to move into commercial flocks and the way it has moved, we need substantial help from the federal government," said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation. "We just can't wait a week or two weeks. We need bodies out here now."
The disease has not been detected in Northern California flocks, Rico said, but a task force of state and federal agriculture officials and scientists have been monitoring there as well.
The task force was also trying to trace the origin and distribution of the disease, he said.
"We are looking at where chickens were sold, where they were bought, where employees have been, who owns birds personally, all of those things that would allow us to see if we can find a link between the infected flocks," he said.
Under the quarantine, owners of commercial poultry must immediately report any signs of the disease and any unexpected decrease in egg production.
The latest cases were discovered by commercial farm owners, Rico said.
The owner on a poultry ranch in Ramona, about 20 miles northeast of San Diego, reported a possible infection after noticing a higher than average mortality rate among his chickens. Sylvester Feichtinger told the North County Times that about 85,000 of his chickens would be destroyed this week.
Feichtinger did not return calls from The Associated Press.
Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, representing growers and ranchers, said bird killings were necessary because the disease spreads so rapidly.
"The real aim right now is containment," Larson said.
Some ranchers will resort to extreme measures to prevent contamination, he said, such as property blockades or special guards.
At Hilliker's Egg Ranch in Lakeside, south of Ramona, owner Harold Hilliker said he posted yellow signs that read "Biosecurity: Do Not Enter" in large black letters on fences surrounding his hen laying ranch.
Employees were also spraying the tires and undercarriage of each truck coming or leaving the ranch with a disinfectant.
If any of his 30,000 hens becomes infected, Hilliker will lose them all, and his job along with them, he said.
"It's like saying you have to take six months off without any income."
Associated Press reporter Catherine Ivey contributed to this report.
Published: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 15:23 PST
KFMB TV
SD COUNTY INCLUDED IN QUARANTINE
REF: http://www.kfmb.com/topstory12897.html
(12-31-2002) - A Southern California quarantine has been expanded to include San Diego County, following an outbreak of a fatal and contagious avian disease on a Romona egg and poultry ranch.
The quarantine bans the transportation of any live birds or poultry products, except eggs, outside the county. Resurfacing for the first time since the 1970s, the disease was discovered in Los Angles County on October 1, resulting in the destruction of 40,000 birds.
Last week, the disease was found on a commercial ranch in Riverside, where 100,000 birds were destroyed. A few days later it showed up on a chicken ranch in San Bernardino County, where more than one million birds are to be destroyed.
The discoveries heightened concerns that exotic Newcastle disease was proliferating and could pose a threat to California's $3 billion poultry industry.
The quarantine was extended to San Diego County Monday after laboratory tests confirmed infection at a farm with 75,000 hens. All of those birds will be destroyed.
Orange County, which has no poultry production, was added to the quarantine list as well to stop the movement of birds across the region. If the disease spreads it could threaten San Diego County's poultry and egg industry, which produces about $51 million in revenue each year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
1 Million Hens Ordered Destroyed as Poultry Quarantine Is Expanded
Los Angeles Times
REF: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-poultry31dec31,0,144819.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dtodays%2Dtimes
San Diego and Orange counties are added after new virus cases are found. State's $3-billion industry may be at risk.
POULTRY QUARANTINE
By Melinda Fulmer, Times Staff Writer
State officials ordered more than 1 million egg-producing hens destroyed and expanded a poultry quarantine Monday after finding new cases of a fast-spreading and deadly avian virus in San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
The developments heightened concerns that exotic Newcastle disease, which recently surfaced at a Riverside County egg farm, was proliferating and could pose a threat to California's $3-billion poultry industry.
Egg and poultry farms in Riverside County — the state's No. 1 egg producer — have been under quarantine for the last several weeks, along with ranches in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. More than 100,000 commercial chickens already have been destroyed by agriculture officials.
On Monday, the quarantine was extended to San Diego County after laboratory tests confirmed infection at a farm with 75,000 hens. All of those birds will be destroyed, as will 1 million hens at a San Bernardino egg ranch also found to have cases of the disease.
Orange County, which has no poultry production, was added to the quarantine list as well to stop the movement of birds across the region.
"All of the commercial egg facilities are on heightened alert," said Leticia Rico, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "We are working closely with their vets to enhance biosecurity practices" to contain the disease.
Egg operations throughout the Southern California quarantine area can still sell their products — the disease does not pose a threat to humans — but poultry farmers cannot. The Southland is home to a fraction of the 280 million chickens and turkeys raised in the state.
No sign has emerged that the disease has spread to any poultry processors in the Central Valley, where nearly all of the state's meat birds are found.
There is no vaccine or treatment for the deadly virus, which causes flu-like symptoms in fowl.
State officials said they still are investigating the source of the outbreak. They declined to say whether the Southern California egg farms used a common processing facility, which could have contributed to the spread of the disease.
"We were hopeful that we could keep it isolated to the flocks it started with," said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation.
But unless the Southern California egg producers did in fact share a common processing facility, he added, the disease could be on the move.
The industry and state agriculture officials are working to develop more rigorous measures to curb the disease. State officials intend to test more farms around the infected facilities, in addition to collecting samples of dead hens from across California.
Poultry farmers who are found to have an infected flock must destroy their birds, but they will receive compensation from the state.
The farmers are not, however, compensated for the weeks or months of lost egg production, industry observers complain.
Exotic Newcastle disease was first spotted in September in a flock of backyard chickens in Compton. It was the first time the disease had surfaced since the early 1970s, when 12 million chickens had to be destroyed at a cost of more than $50 million. The disease took almost three years to eradicate.
Hard Times For California Chickens
CBS News
CNN News
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31, 2002
REF: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/31/poultry.disease.ap/
REF: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/31/tech/main534867.shtml
(CBS) State officials have ordered the destruction of 1 million chickens infected with a deadly virus and expanded a quarantine to a total of five Southern California counties.
The exotic Newcastle virus, which is harmless to humans but contagious and fatal among poultry, threatens the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
It was found in 1 million hens at an egg farm in western San Bernardino County and they were ordered destroyed, authorities said Monday. Ranchers are compensated for all birds that are destroyed, said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
San Bernardino already was under quarantine, along with Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
State officials expanded the quarantine area to include San Diego County after the virus was found in a commercial flock of 75,000 birds there. Orange County was added to the quarantine list - even though it has no commercial poultry operations - to prevent the potential transport of infected birds.
Poultry and poultry products cannot be moved out of quarantined areas, although eggs can be transported if they are washed and placed in new packaging.
More than 100,000 birds already had been destroyed since the disease was found this fall in a backyard flock of chickens in Compton.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. That outbreak cost $56 million to stop.
Chicken aren't the only American animals subject to a kill order because of epidemic illness. Deer are also being targeted to halt the spread of chronic wasting disease. Virginia approved a plan earlier this year to destroy poultry struck by avian influenza
MMII CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
State's poultry industry threatened
Dec 31, 2002
REF: http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/12/30/daily16.html
REF: http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/12/30/daily9.html
California's entire $3 billion poultry industry is at risk because of a rapidly-spreading virus that's killing the birds, state officials say.
More than 1 million egg-laying hens have been ordered destroyed in Southern California because of the threat of what's called "exotic Newcastle disease."
A state-ordered quarantine of poultry in Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties was extended Monday to San Diego and Orange counties in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Eggs from the quarantined counties can still be sold, but chickens and other poultry can't. The virus, while devastating to foul, does not affect humans. There is no cure for the disease; once a flock is infected it must be destroyed.
California agricultural businesses raise more than a quarter billion chickens and turkeys.
North County Times
Chicken quarantine declared for SD County
12/31/02
BRUCE KAUFFMAN
Staff Writer
REF: http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20021231/54026.html
State and federal officials declared San Diego County a quarantine area on Monday after discovering an outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease at a poultry farm in Ramona. They also reported another outbreak in San Bernardino County, that region's second incident.
The owner of the Ramona farm, Sylvester Feichtinger, said that officials began destroying the entire flock of more than 85,000 birds on Monday night, an operation that could continue today. He said fewer than two dozen chickens had the disease, but the virus moves so rapidly that the entire flock has to be killed.
"If you don't stop it, it spreads through the whole (flock)," said Feichtinger. His Sylvester International company owns three farms and 200,000 chickens in San Diego County, including the farm on Old Julian Highway in Ramona.
Under the quarantine, no chickens or eggs are to be moved in or out of San Diego County, said Larry Cooper, a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Local eggs can be sold after being sanitized.
Officials said the disease is not transmitted to humans. They said eggs or even meat from diseased hens pose no threat to human health.
"I do want to emphasize that there is no danger to human health at all," said Cooper. "If you eat eggs from an infected flock, nothing will happen to you."
Orange County was also declared under quarantine on Monday because it is surrounded by infected areas. Those areas are the county of Los Angeles and the western parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The area quarantined in Riverside includes Temecula, Wildomar, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Menifee and Hemet.
Owners of the two newly infected farms reported early symptoms to veterinarians. Symptoms include listlessness and lack of appetite. Confirmation that it was Exotic Newcastle was made in tests done by the state-run California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in San Bernardino.
The destruction of the flock in Ramona will bring to 1.14 million the number of chickens euthanized at five commercial enterprises in Southern California in recent weeks because of the disease. Aside from Ramona, about 1 million animals were slaughtered in San Bernardino and more than 100,000 in Riverside County. The animals are killed with carbon dioxide gas, said Larry Hawkins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The disease was first detected on Oct. 1 in backyard flocks in Compton.
Although North County's commercial agricultural yield has been declining, the region is still home to several chicken egg ranches, mainly in Ramona as well as Valley Center. The area also contains ostrich and emu farms.
Farmers in San Diego County joined officials in noting that the economic consequences ---- untold at this point ---- could be devastating. But they said that the state and federal governments will pay farmers at or near the fair market value for the chickens that are killed.
Thirty years ago, the disease killed 12 million birds in California, costing the state $56 million in eradication efforts. California is the nation's third-largest egg producer and more than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zones.
Cooper said the disease is caused by a rapidly spreading virus. He said there is no cure. Entire flocks are destroyed because it is likely that once a few chickens catch the virus, many more will be infected, he said.
Lakeside poultry farmer Harold Hilliker said in an interview Monday afternoon that he is on a kind of heightened alert at his 60-year-old egg ranch, where there are some 30,000 chickens. "Bio-security is the name of the game," he said. "We tighten everything down as tight as we can. You don't let anybody on your property. I'm hoping and praying, and we're doing everything we can to minimize exposure."
Hilliker said he is keeping the gates to the ranch locked. When a truck comes to make a delivery, he said, it is washed down with a chemical sanitizer both on the way in and on the way out.
The Ramona farmer, Sylvester Feichtinger, said it was not clear just how officials will now dispose of the dead birds. The USDA's Hawkins said it is likely the carcasses will be brought to a landfill and buried.
Contact Bruce Kauffman at (760) 761-4410 or bkauffman@nctimes.net.
California Orders Destruction of Chickens
The Associated Press - Many Sources Carried this Story - Check Google for More
December 31, 2002
REF: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/12/31/national0952EST0495.DTL
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021231&Category=APA&ArtNo=212310771&Ref=AR
REF: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021231&Category=APA&ArtNo=212310771&Ref=AR
REF: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=541&ncid=751&e=10&u=/ap/20021231/ap_on_he_me/poultry_disease
State officials have ordered the destruction of 1 million chickens infected with a deadly virus and expanded a quarantine to a total of five Southern California counties.
The exotic Newcastle virus, which is harmless to humans but contagious and fatal among poultry, threatens the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
It was found in 1 million hens at an egg farm in western San Bernardino County and they were ordered destroyed, authorities said Monday. Ranchers are compensated for all birds that are destroyed, said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
San Bernardino already was under quarantine, along with Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
State officials expanded the quarantine area to include San Diego County after the virus was found in a commercial flock of 75,000 birds there. Orange County was added to the quarantine list - even though it has no commercial poultry operations - to prevent the potential transport of infected birds.
Poultry and poultry products cannot be moved out of quarantined areas, although eggs can be transported if they are washed and placed in new packaging.
More than 100,000 birds already had been destroyed since the disease was found this fall in a backyard flock of chickens in Compton.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. That outbreak cost $56 million to stop.
California orders destruction of 1 million infected chickens
Last modified: December 31. 2002 8:57AM
The Associated Press - Many Sources carried this
REF: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Poultry_Disease_93372C.shtml
REF: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2002/12/31/state0856EST0037.DTL
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021231&Category=APN&ArtNo=212310746&Ref=AR
California officials ordered the destruction of 1 million chickens infected with Newcastle disease and expanded a quarantine to two more counties.
The virus, which is harmless to humans but threatens the state's $3 billion poultry industry, was found in 1 million hens at an egg farm in western San Bernardino County, authorities said Monday.
Ranchers are compensated for all birds that are destroyed, said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
State officials also expanded a quarantine area to include San Diego County after the virus was found in a commercial flock of 75,000 birds there. Orange County also was added to the quarantine list - although it has no commercial poultry operations - to prevent the potential transport of infected birds.
Poultry and poultry products cannot be moved out of quarantined areas, although eggs can be transported if they are washed and placed in new packaging.
"All of the commercial egg facilities are on heightened alert," said Leticia Rico, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties already are under quarantine and more than 100,000 birds have been destroyed since Newcastle disease was found this fall in a backyard flock of chickens in Compton.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
Los Angeles Daily News
REF: http://www.seafood.com/news/current/84436.html
Chicken Disease Spreading
EAFOOD.COM (Poultry) December 31, 2002
LITTLEROCK - State agricultural inspectors posted bird quarantine notices in Littlerock as part of an escalating battle against a disease that devastated California poultry farms 30 years ago.
Exotic Newcastle disease's discovery among Littlerock chickens came the same week state agricultural officials killed more than 100,000 chickens at neighboring Riverside County egg farms after one bird tested positive for the disease.
'We are very concerned about it because of the virulent nature of the disease,' California Department of Food and Agriculture spokeswoman Leticia Rico said.
State officials have halted exports of chickens from most of Southern California, although eggs can still be exported by commercial ranchers if they are disinfected.
A highly contagious virus, exotic Newcastle disease is considered almost 100 percent fatal among chickens. The disease does not affect people, and state agricultural officials say it does not make chicken meat or eggs unsafe to eat.
But state officials have stepped up testing and quarantines around Southern California to avoid a repetition of a 1971 California outbreak, which resulted in the destruction of nearly 12 million chickens and other birds.
Blamed on infected parrots imported from South America, the 1971 outbreak took two years to control and cost taxpayers $56 million.
The disease was first discovered in California in the 1950s among chukar quail and pheasants imported from Hong Kong. The last California outbreak was in 1998, when a small flock of game fowl was apparently infected by a bird bought at a swap meet. The flock was destroyed and no other cases were discovered, state officials say.
The latest outbreak involves a virus that closely resembles one that hit the Mexican poultry industry in 2000, state officials said, killing or leading to the destruction of 13.6 million chickens.
Since the new Southern California outbreak started in September, the disease has been found in birds kept in back yards in South El Monte, La Puente, Compton and Montebello as well as in the Antelope Valley and in western Riverside and San Bernardino counties, state officials said.
The Riverside County egg ranches were the first commercial poultry flocks to be infected.
Besides hitting backyard chicken owners, the outbreak and quarantine have worried owners of exotic birds such as parrots, who fear their birds may be ordered destroyed if state inspectors find infected chickens near their homes. They blame illegal cockfights for the disease's spread.
A Palmdale parrot owner worried about the situation said she heard of Newcastle disease being found this fall in Lake Los Angeles, then in the same Littlerock neighborhood where more notices went up Friday.
'I stopped going to the feed store,' said the woman, who didn't want to be named. 'I don't want anything dragged home to my birds.'
Rico was unable to say how many infected chickens were found in Littlerock.
The individual quarantine notices order that no poultry can be moved off the premises, Rico said. All the chickens on the property will be destroyed, as well as any nearby flocks that state officials judge likely to be infected. The state pays owners what it determines is fair market value for the birds, Rico said.
Since November, a quarantine has barred moving chickens out of Los Angeles or western Riverside or San Bernardino counties. Until the egg ranch discoveries, commercial chicken ranchers were exempted from the shipment ban if they agreed to restrictions including weekly inspections.
The virus can be spread by chicken droppings, so if a person - like a chicken rancher, egg deliveryman or veterinarian - walks among one flock and then visits another it can travel on his shoes, state officials say. Rodents running between one flock and another can also spread the disease, or birds - like pigeons - that fly from one flock to another.
(C) 2002 Los Angeles Daily News. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - CA
Article Last Updated: Monday, December 30, 2002 - 9:08:13 PM MST
Officials kill pet bird in bid to halt disease
Section of shelter quarantined to stem Newcastle spread
By Ben Baeder and Mike Sprague , Staff Writers
REF: http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205%257E12220%257E1081476,00.html
PICO RIVERA -- Agriculture officials are taking no prisoners in their war to eradicate the bird-killing Exotic Newcastle Disease, destroying a Pico Rivera man's pet cockatiel Monday and putting under quarantine portions of an animal shelter where confiscated fighting cocks are being housed.
Also Monday, state and federal officials expanded an Exotic Newcastle Disease quarantine area to Orange and San Diego counties. All of Los Angeles County and parts of Riverside County already are under quarantine for the disease, officials said.
"It shows how serious the situation is,' said Capt. Aaron Reyes of the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority in Downey, which had the rear portion of its shelter put under quarantine by agriculture officials.
SEAACA officials Saturday confiscated about 20 chickens after authorities in Montebello broke up a cock fight that was taking place at stables in the 300 block of Bluff Road.
A task force of state and federal agriculture officials working to stem the Newcastle Disease outbreak that has already prompted officials to kill more than 100,000 birds in California since October then ordered part of the SEAACA shelter quarantined. Officials said they feared some of the fighting birds might be infected.
"The current climate with the Newcastle issue is extremely serious and potentially volatile,' Reyes said. "The Newcastle disease is fatal and can wipe out an entire poultry operation. It could cost the economy millions of dollars if not dealt with.'
That is exactly what task force officials are trying to do, said Mike McBride, a veterinarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"We're getting a jump on it this time,' he said. "With the discovery of the disease in the Riverside flock last week, there will definitely be some changes in enforcement.'
In the 1970s, the disease caused officials to kill 12 million birds in the United States, according to the USDA. More than 100,000 birds in the Riverside flock were killed last week, according to Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the USDA.
On Monday, officials showed up unannounced at the Pico Rivera home of Larry Benitez. They had a warrant allowing them to confiscate and kill Benitez's cockatiel, Brianna. Benitez said his bird was tested during inspections about three weeks ago and was found to be negative for the disease.
"It doesn't make sense,' Benitez said.
But earlier this month, officials slaughtered Benitez's neighbor's 42 chickens after discovering one had the disease.
The disease is rarely harmful to humans, but is lethal to most domestic birds, according to the EPA.
It is most highly concentrated in the bodily discharges of sick birds. It can be passed easily from bird to bird and also can be carried on shoes, clothes or in manure. It is highly contagious.
"Exotic Newcastle is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs,' according to a USDA Web site. "A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry flocks. Exotic Newcastle can infect and cause death even in vaccinated poultry.'
The warrant served on Benitez has his neighbors on Durfee Avenue, just south of the Whittier Narrows Dam, worried. Many of them own chickens and other birds.
Melissa Montion, who lives closer to the slaughtered flock than Benitez, is worried about Gus and Doc, her two red-headed parrots.
"They told us we might be next,' she said.
The neighborhood is plastered with signs telling people keep their birds caged until further notice.
Jim Campos, who lives down the street, has spent 20 years breeding tiny bantam chickens. He has 92, and hasn't heard from agriculture officials since they inspected his flock three weeks ago.
"This is my hobby,' he said. "But I remember what happened in the 1970s. I know they have to stop it. If they killed that cockatiel, I have the feeling they're coming.'
Ben Baeder can be reached at (562) 698-0955, Ext. 3024, or by e-mail at ben.baeder@sgvn.com . Mike Sprague can be reached at Ext. 3022 or by e-mail at mike.sprague@sgvn.com .
The Press-Enterprise
Quarantine spreads; a million birds to be destroyed in San Bernardino County
12/31/2002
By JONATHAN SHIKES
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nanewcast3.581a0.html
More than a million chickens on a large egg farm in San Bernardino County will have to be destroyed immediately to help stop the spread of exotic Newcastle disease, according to state and federal officials.
The existence of the deadly virus at a San Bernardino County farm was confirmed Monday by the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory. Last week, the state euthanized more than 100,000 chickens on an egg farm near Riverside after the virus was discovered in two flocks.
The disease, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture says is harmless to humans, was also identified at a San Diego County egg farm, which will force the destruction of another 75,000 birds.
As a result of these latest discoveries, the state has added San Diego and Orange counties to a poultry quarantine zone that already included Los Angeles County and western Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Movement of poultry and poultry meat out of the quarantine area has been prohibited since Saturday. Eggs can still be shipped to markets outside the quarantine area if they are properly sanitized.
Mark Zaleski/The Press-Enterprise
Chickens are removed from a building at E&M Ranch,
a large egg farm in Fontana along Jurupa Avenue.
'This is alarming'
About 1.2 million, or 10 percent, of Southern California's 12 million egg-laying hens have now been identified for destruction.
"This is alarming to me," said USDA spokesman Larry Hawkins. "Anytime we have a disease that gets into the commercial industry, especially when we find three flocks in this short a period of time, it's alarming.
"Does it mean the destruction of the industry? I certainly hope not," he added. "I believe we can get a handle on this."
Officials would not disclose the names of the farms, but six vehicles belonging to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture were parked Monday afternoon outside E&M Ranch, a large egg farm in Fontana.
Officials from E&M and its parent company, Norco Ranch, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
On Monday, workers at E&M Ranch could be seen removing chickens from a block-long shed at the back of the property. The chickens, some dead and some alive, were tossed into a container on the back of a large truck.
Most of the government vehicles at the site carried cans of disinfectant. The wheels of all vehicles that left the interior of the property were hosed down.
1.3 million to be destroyed
Hawkins said that 1.03 million chickens were being destroyed at a single large farm in San Bernardino County.
Mark Zaleski/The Press-Enterprise
A worker examines empty cardboard egg
containers at E&M Ranch in Fontana.
E&M Ranch is owned by Norco Ranch, one of the area's largest and best-known egg farms. Norco, along with several other large egg farms, was purchased in the last few years by Missouri-based Moark LLC, an egg-industry giant. Officials from Moark could not be reached for comment.
No link has been found between the three egg farms, Hawkins said.
"We are looking at every avenue of introduction in the disease, and that includes people who have come in contact with the ranch property itself or people who tend to the animals," he added.
Disposable trays distributed
To help stop the spread of the virus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin distributing disposable paper egg trays that egg producers can use when they ship their product to the processing facilities that clean and package the eggs for commercial distribution. Cardboard egg trays were seen at E&M Ranch on Monday.
"The paper trays don't have to be disinfected like plastic trays do," Hawkins said. "They are a one-way deal. Since egg farms share the trays, this allows us to cut off one potential avenue for transmission of the disease."
Willard Maust, owner of California Farms in Chino, said he is amazed that the disease is spreading since most egg producers have initiated extra biosecurity since October, when Newcastle was first identified in backyard birds.
An outbreak of Newcastle hasn't been seen in the United States since 1974, when the disease devastated the poultry industry. Nearly 12 million birds had to be killed in Southern California at a cost of $56 million.
Tight security urged
Bill Mattos of the California Poultry Federation said he recommends that both egg farmers and chicken producers make their biosecurity as tight as possible, and even consider hiring armed guards to protect their property.
Mattos said he expects the epidemic to continue: "It isn't going to go away easily."
Commercial poultry producers within the quarantine zone must comply with a weekly reporting system that identifies any symptoms suggestive of Newcastle.
Last week, about 105,000 chickens were destroyed at Orchard Egg Farms near Riverside. The virus has been spreading since October in backyard birds.
Rebecca Kane, supervising San Bernardino County animal control officer, said there is "a big possibility" that cockfights are helping to spread Newcastle disease.
"It is very contagious. You walk on one property with it and you bring it to another," Kane said. "If there's any type of contact between bird owners, whether illegal or legal, it can be spread."
Cockfighting link examined
Allie Jalbert, an investigator with the Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona, isn't surprised at a possible link between the spread of Newcastle and cockfighting.
Jalbert said she went to a home in Pomona about a month ago to investigate a complaint of cockfighting. Although she did not find any evidence of fighting, she did find birds that had been moved out of a quarantined area in El Monte. The owner of the birds had moved them to Pomona before investigators were able to quarantine them, she said.
"That's how you have it spread now," she said. The birds "are just being moved from one place to another."
Larry Cooper, a state Department of Food and Agriculture spokesman, said, "game birds are carriers, and it is possible that some game birds that were infected were brought into Southern California, but we have not officially determined that as the cause at this point."
Staff writers Lisa O'Neill Hill, Steve Moore and Elena Arnold contributed to this report. Reach Jonathan Shikes at (909) 368-9552 or jshikes@pe.com
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino County Sun - CA
Diseased fowl face slaughter
As many as a million birds to be destroyed by USDA
By ALAN SCHNEPF
STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 1:46:08 AM MST
REF: http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203%257E21481%257E1081782,00.html
REF: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1081783,00.html
One million chickens at a western San Bernardino County egg ranch have been infected with a virulent poultry disease and will be destroyed, federal agriculture officials confirmed Monday.
Exotic Newcastle Disease also was found in another commercial flock of 75,000 birds in San Diego County on Monday, prompting officials to widen a quarantine on poultry in Southern California.
Federal officials wouldn't say where in San Bernardino County the ranch is, citing fear of spreading contamination.
The disease, which has the potential to devastate Southern California's egg industry, was first discovered in a "backyard' flock in Compton in early October. Since then, officials feared it would make its way into commercial farms, which have much higher levels of bio-security than chicken coops people have at their homes.
Exotic Newcastle presents no danger to humans. It is safe to eat eggs and poultry products, officials said.
Jim Hoover, an longtime egg rancher in Yucaipa, said his flock of more than 750,000 birds is still safe. But he's still terrified of what could happen if his chickens catch the disease.
"We've gone from being scared to being really scared,' Hoover said.
About 40,000 birds have been destroyed at more than 500 noncommercial locations in Southern California since October. Birds are scheduled to be destroyed at about 400 more locations, according to Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ranchers are compensated for all birds that are destroyed, he said.
Until earlier this month the disease had only afflicted the backyard coops. But on Dec. 20, at least one bird was confirmed to have the disease at a ranch in Riverside County. Monday's announcement that ranches in San Bernardino and San Diego counties are infected marked the second and third positive tests within commercial flocks.
The previous quarantine covered the western portions of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties and all of Los Angeles County, Hawkins said.
The quarantine zone has been expanded to include all of San Diego and Orange counties. Agriculture workers have not found the disease in Orange County, but included it in the quarantine because it is surrounded by counties with confirmed cases of the disease.
Poultry and poultry products cannot be moved out of the quarantine areas. Eggs that are washed, sanitized and re-packed in new packaging can be moved out of the area.
The disease crushed the industry in the early 1970s, when a similar outbreak was contained only after spending $56 million and destroying 12 million chickens.
Although the news is discouraging, Doug Kuney, a poultry adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Riverside, said the disease can still be stopped.
"It doesn't mean all the dominoes are going to fall. It doesn't mean all the flocks will be infected,' Kuney said. "It is possible to stop this if we do it quickly and we do it right.'
The ranks of a 400-member task force assembled to quell the disease will double to about 800 members, Hawkins said. Those workers travel to each infected site to interview chicken owners, asking everything from where the owners bought the poultry to where they might have come in recent contact with other birds, equipment or feed.
The answers to those questions will lead investigators to other coops, where they repeat the process.
The disease spreads so easily that a person who steps in infected chicken waste can carry the disease into another flock days later.
Although commercial farms practiced stringent bio-security before the outbreak, Kuney said the industry is "going into total lock-down mode.'
A truck delivering egg packaging to a ranch, for instance, cannot travel to another farm until the truck, the cab and the driver have all been disinfected.
Hawkins said he doesn't believe consumers will see an increase in the price of eggs because of the disease. Nor will the price of frying chickens go up. Retired egg-laying hens are used for canned chicken only.
But the disease is cutting into the industry. China, for instance, has banned the importation of all poultry and poultry products from California.
Chicken outbreak growing
Los Angeles Daily News - CA
REF: http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E24531%257E1078168,00.html?search=true
By Charles F.Bostwick
Staff Writer
LITTLEROCK -- State agricultural inspectors posted bird quarantine notices in Littlerock as part of an escalating battle against a disease that devastated California poultry farms 30 years ago.
Exotic Newcastle disease's discovery among Littlerock chickens came the same week state agricultural officials killed more than 100,000 chickens at neighboring Riverside County egg farms after one bird tested positive for the disease.
"We are very concerned about it because of the virulent nature of the disease," California Department of Food and Agriculture spokeswoman Leticia Rico said.
State officials have halted exports of chickens from most of Southern California, although eggs can still be exported by commercial ranchers if they are disinfected.
A highly contagious virus, exotic Newcastle disease is considered almost 100 percent fatal among chickens. The disease does not affect people, and state agricultural officials say it does not make chicken meat or eggs unsafe to eat.
But state officials have stepped up testing and quarantines around Southern California to avoid a repetition of a 1971 California outbreak, which resulted in the destruction of nearly 12 million chickens and other birds.
Blamed on infected parrots imported from South America, the 1971 outbreak took two years to control and cost taxpayers $56 million.
The disease was first discovered in California in the 1950s among chukar quail and pheasants imported from Hong Kong. The last California outbreak was in 1998, when a small flock of game fowl was apparently infected by a bird bought at a swap meet. The flock was destroyed and no other cases were discovered, state officials say.
The latest outbreak involves a virus that closely resembles one that hit the Mexican poultry industry in 2000, state officials said, killing or leading to the destruction of 13.6 million chickens.
Since the new Southern California outbreak started in September, the disease has been found in birds kept in back yards in South El Monte, La Puente, Compton and Montebello as well as in the Antelope Valley and in western Riverside and San Bernardino counties, state officials said.
The Riverside County egg ranches were the first commercial poultry flocks to be infected.
Besides hitting backyard chicken owners, the outbreak and quarantine have worried owners of exotic birds such as parrots, who fear their birds may be ordered destroyed if state inspectors find infected chickens near their homes. They blame illegal cockfights for the disease's spread.
A Palmdale parrot owner worried about the situation said she heard of Newcastle disease being found this fall in Lake Los Angeles, then in the same Littlerock neighborhood where more notices went up Friday.
"I stopped going to the feed store," said the woman, who didn't want to be named. "I don't want anything dragged home to my birds."
Rico was unable to say how many infected chickens were found in Littlerock.
The individual quarantine notices order that no poultry can be moved off the premises, Rico said. All the chickens on the property will be destroyed, as well as any nearby flocks that state officials judge likely to be infected. The state pays owners what it determines is fair market value for the birds, Rico said.
Since November, a quarantine has barred moving chickens out of Los Angeles or western Riverside or San Bernardino counties. Until the egg ranch discoveries, commercial chicken ranchers were exempted from the shipment ban if they agreed to restrictions including weekly inspections.
The virus can be spread by chicken droppings, so if a person -- like a chicken rancher, egg deliveryman or veterinarian -- walks among one flock and then visits another it can travel on his shoes, state officials say. Rodents running between one flock and another can also spread the disease, or birds -- like pigeons -- that fly from one flock to another.
On December 27-28, 2002 stories of END flooded the media. Many of the stories
were from the Associated Press and were identical. Those below on that date
have variances or updated information included. As has been the case throughout
this END outbreak, The Press-Enterprise seems to always have the most complete
information available. Search for pe.com on this page and read their articles if
you do not wish to read everything.
Authorities destroy chickens with exotic Newcastle disease
100,000 commercial birds killed in bid to stop sickness
By Dennis A. Britton
The Desert Sun - CA
December 28th, 2002
REF: http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/business/1041043771.shtml
State authorities this week have destroyed more than 100,000 chickens near Riverside after tests confirmed that the highly virulent exotic Newcastle disease has spread from backyard flocks to commercial poultry farms in the area.
State and federal agriculture officials imposed a three-county quarantine Nov. 13 after the disease was diagnosed in a backyard flock on Oct. 1.
The quarantine area, which includes the western areas of the Coachella Valley, applies to western Riverside County, western San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail, pigeons, guinea fowl, peafowl, doves, swans and ratites (such as emus and ostriches).
Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture, emphasized that the disease poses no threat to humans, but can be transmitted by humans on their clothes or shoes.
Leticia Rico, spokesperson for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said that in addition to the 100,000 commercial chickens euthanized, another 39,000 in 560 private backyard flocks have been destroyed.
"The only effective method of eradicating the disease is to eliminate the hosts," said Hawkins.
Neither the state nor federal officials would name the commercial farms where the disease was confirmed.
Rico said there are approximately 23 million chickens in California. The state is the third-largest egg-producing state in the nation
She said that properly washed and sanitized eggs can be moved from the quarantine area but that live birds and poultry meat are not to be moved.
The state said there are nearly 250 people engaged in the effort to eradicate exotic Newcastle disease in the infected area. More than 4,100 back yards have been quarantined.
Commercial poultry is routinely vaccinated against the disease but like new strains of flu among humans, new strains of Newcastle disease can occur, said Hawkins.
He said it was not known how the current outbreak of the disease was spread to the affected farms but that it was possible it was transmitted on clothing. He said it was unlikely wild birds were the source.
The USDA reports that the disease is so virulent that many birds die with no clinical signs, with a death rate of nearly 100 percent in unvaccinated flocks.
In 1971, a major outbreak of the disease hit Southern California and in the three years it took to eradicate it, almost 12 million birds in 1,341 flocks were destroyed at a cost of $56 million.
There has not been a commercial chicken flock outbreak in the United States since that outbreak was eradicated in 1974.
Poultry farmers who have their flocks destroyed are reimbursed at fair market value by the government, which also pays for the cleaning and disinfection of farms, said Hawkins.
Hawkins said the eradication protocol calls for euthanizing the birds with carbon dioxide, then sending in specially trained crews to thoroughly clean the farms, followed by steam cleaning and finally applying commercial-grade disinfectant to the property.
"Once all the cleaning steps are taken, the area is left vacant for a time and then sentinel birds, like canaries in coal mines, are placed for the period it would take for the virus to incubate," said Hawkins.
Rico said state officials are stepping up bio-security measures in the region. Some farms have hired security personnel to limit access, she said.
Hawkins said a potential source of the virus is birds smuggled from countries where the virus is active. He said caged birds, such as Amazon parrots, can carry the virus.
Newcastle disease found at commercial poultry farm
Pasadena Star News - Pasadena, CA
December 28, 2002
REF: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206%257E24533%257E1076916,00.html
By From staff and wire reports
State agriculture officials have quarantined commercial poultry in three Southern California counties and destroyed 100,000 chickens infected with Exotic Newcastle disease.
The outbreak of the disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. But this week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a commercial poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974,' said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners."
Officials from the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District said no cases of the Newcastle disease have been detected in the area.
"We have been working with the state and submitting samples from our district but none of our flocks have shown positive,' said Kelly Middleton, education specialist.
Officials at the Santa Fe Springs Vector Control District, which covers the Whittier area, said they remain on alert, but so far have not discovered any cases in the area.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and caused nearly 12 million chickens to be destroyed. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Hawkins said because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs have been sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer and more than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine area.
Poultry illness feared
San Bernardino County Sun - San Bernardino, CA
December 28, 2002
REF: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1077213,00.html
SB County officials worry it may spread from Riverside area farm
By ALAN SCHNEPF, Staff Writer
The recent outbreak of a devastating poultry disease in Southern California at a commercial farm has officials and chicken farmers worried that flocks in San Bernardino County may be endangered.
Birds at a commercial farm in western Riverside County have tested positive for the disease, officials said.
John Gardner, chief deputy commissioner of the county Agriculture Department, said he's waiting to see whether the disease is found at any commercial ranches in San Bernardino County.
"It may be nothing, or it may be devastating,' he said. "At this point, we just don't know.''
The disease has not yet been confirmed at any commercial ranches in San Bernardino County, said U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins, but that doesn't mean officials aren't watching out for it.
"There are some other sites that are commercial ranches that are being investigated,' he said.
The disease has been found in backyard chicken coops in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties since Oct. 1, when a bird in Compton was confirmed to have the disease.
Agriculture workers quickly set up a quarantine area covering Los Angeles County and the western portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Birds can come in, but they can't leave. And when an infected flock is found, the birds are killed with carbon dioxide.
But exotic Newcastle's presence in a commercial flock, which typically has a much higher level of biosecurity, has put officials further on edge.
Leticia Rico, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said workers destroyed more than 100,000 chickens after birds in western Riverside County tested positive for exotic Newcastle disease Dec. 21. The last were killed on Tuesday, and the owner will be compensated for the loss.
Farm managers and agriculture officials are trying to keep the disease from crippling the poultry industry as it did in 1974, the last time it made its way into a commercial flock. Almost 12 million birds were destroyed before the disease was contained at a cost of $56 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Only in cases of "ridiculous exposure' could the disease pose any harm to humans, said Carol Cardona, poultry extension veterinarian at UC Davis. Even then, she said, it would not be fatal.
She said humans could probably get nonfatal conjunctivitis, for example, if they wiped an infected dying bird's bodily fluids or waste into their eyes. No harm can come from eating chicken or egg products from infected birds, she said.
Doug Kuney, a poultry adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Riverside, said monitoring has become routine during the outbreak.
Farm owners watch their flocks for symptoms low egg production, increased deaths, respiratory problems and then report to state and federal agriculture officials.
The slightest indication of a problem can bring on a test, Cardona said.
"We're accepting false alarms,' Cardona said, saying officials would rather have people err on the side of caution than do nothing.
The disease is most easily spread through birds' bodily fluids and wastes. But it is highly contagious. People who walk through an infected coop and get the virus on their shoes can spread it to another coop days later, Rico said.
The ease with which the disease spreads has Kuney and hundreds of other workers tightening strict biosecurity measures at commercial farms.
A truck delivering egg packages cannot stop at one ranch and then drive to another in the same day, he said. Both the truck and the driver must be washed and disinfected.
Although millions of dollars has already been spent fighting the disease, exotic Newcastle's entry into a commercial flock may drive the cost up even more. Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry F that the state has spent about $4 million to $5 million so far trying to stop the disease.
At first, about 100 state and federal employees were assigned to the eradication effort. Kuney said Friday those ranks have grown to more than 400.
How the disease arrived in California this year is still a matter of speculation, and Rico said officials may never solve the mystery. A shipment of chukars and pheasants from Hong Kong caused the first known outbreak of the disease in the United States in 1950.
A small flock of birds also had to be killed in 1998, after an infected bird was sold at a swap meet.
Mattos said there are several theories of how this year's outbreak started. Wild birds could have brought the disease from Latin America. He also said birds smuggled into the country from Mexico, such as those used in cockfights, could also be responsible.
"No one knows where it came from, but it could be fighting cocks,' Mattos said. "Whether we like to say it or not, the chances of it coming up that way are good.'
Rico said some of the birds destroyed in backyard coops were bred for fighting.
Cardona said poultry owners should not introduce new birds into their flocks under any circumstances during the outbreak.
MORE INFO
For more information about exotic Newcastle disease, call thestate's hotline at (800) 491-1899. Staff Writer Matt Bender contributed to this report.
Poultry destroyed as disease safeguard
Stockton Record - Stockton, CA
REF: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/business/articles/122802-b-1.php
Staff and wire reports
Published Saturday, December 28, 2002
State officials have destroyed more than 100,000 infected chickens and quarantined poultry in three counties because of a potentially ruinous outbreak of a deadly disease.
Exotic Newcastle disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. This week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a poultry farm near Riverside.
''Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974,'' Larry Hawkins, a spokes-man for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Friday.
''It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners,'' he said.
In San Joaquin County, where farmers produced about $9.7 million worth of eggs in 2001 as well as $3.5 million in chickens and turkeys destined for the butcher counter, agricultural officials are watching closely.
"We're not being directly impacted ... but the threat is still very real," County Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson said Friday.
While most birds and eggs produced in the county are consumed domestically, prices are being squeezed as foreign markets close. Also, Hudson said his office, following state recommendations, has curtailed inspections at egg-packing plants.
That action eliminates the possibility, however small, of inspectors' spreading exotic Newcastle disease as they move from egg plant to egg plant.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The USDA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Hawkins said.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, would not identify the commercial poultry farm where the outbreak occurred.
The farmer was participating in a mandatory reporting procedure put in place in October and contacted authorities after noticing a slightly higher than normal mortality rate among chickens.
''At this point, we have euthanized the flock, and they have been safely disposed of,'' Rico said. ''The facility is being cleaned and disinfected.''
The Press-Enterprise of Riverside said the diseased chickens were discovered at Orchard Egg Farms. The owner of the farm did not return calls Friday from The Associated Press.
A task force made up of state and federal agriculture officials and scientists has been monitoring the outbreak since it was first reported among backyard flocks and pets in Southern California. The task force has been monitoring and advising commercial farms on security measures.
''We're recommending to them that their biosecurity programs should be as stringent as possible,'' Rico said. ''The disease doesn't discriminate between commercial and backyard birds.''
Egg Industry Threatened by Avian Virus
Canton Repository - Canton, OH
REF: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=5&ID=77870&r=0
Saturday, December 28, 2002
By Ralph Frammolino Los Angeles Times
An outbreak of a rare poultry disease — harmless to humans but fatal to birds — has shown up in California’s commercial egg industry, forcing state officials to destroy more than 100,000 hens at a ranch in Riverside County and raising fears it could spread to major livestock operations in Central California.
A team of state and local officials began destroying the hens last weekend after tests revealed some were infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease, a highly contagious viral disorder that can kill birds without warning, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins said Friday.
The 100,000 birds destroyed in Riverside County is a small fraction of the 280 million chickens and turkeys on commercial farms in California. But the fact that the virus has crossed over into commercial poultry production has some people worried about trade embargoes, and the $3 billion industry is scrambling to adopt stricter safety standards.
“We can’t afford to let it move north ... into the largest poultry-growing area of the state,” said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, which represents 160 operators.
He said Central Valley ranchers, who produce more than 90 percent of the meat birds and 40 percent of the state’s eggs, are “concerned, with capital letters. If it gets into a commercial area in Fresno, that could be devastating.”
The spreading disease has cast a pall over trading relations since it was first spotted in a flock of backyard chickens in the Los Angeles County town of Compton Sept. 27, said Mattos and others. Only 2 percent of the industry’s revenues come from overseas sales. Already Mexico, which buys 40 percent of the exports, has barred the importation of California poultry and eggs because of the outbreak, Mattos said, as have some Far East countries including Taiwan.
“The big economic risk is of domestic trading partners and foreign trading partners imposing sanctions against California, or against the entire United States, as a result of having the disease here,” said USDA spokesman Hawkins.
The current outbreak began with flocks of backyard birds in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, prompting state and federal officials to invoke quarantines. Inspectors searched nearly 4,200 backyards and have destroyed 40,000 birds at 1,043 residences, government statistics show.
The quarantine also covered about 100 commercial ranches, part of a Southern California poultry sector that produces 60 percent of the state’s eggs from an estimated 9 million hens. It was on one of the egg ranches, in western Riverside County, that an owner contacted authorities about an “unusual mortality in his flock” and tests last weekend confirmed Exotic Newcastle.
The crossover of the disease into the commercial sector prompted conference calls between poultry producers and food inspectors this week, Mattos said. He said the industry is urging all producers to enact stricter health protocols for the chicken ranches. Those include forbidding visitors to poultry farms; requiring all personnel to have their clothes disinfected.
The Press-Enterprise
REF: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nnewcst28.57b9d.html
Poultry disease's spread alarms officials
INLAND: A large chicken ranch in San Bernardino County is now suspected of harboring the virus.
12/28/2002
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Less than a week after Exotic Newcastle disease was discovered in two commercial chicken flocks near Riverside, a large chicken ranch in San Bernardino County is suspected of harboring the disease.
"We are very close to diagnosing a second ranch," Richard Breitmeyer, the state veterinarian, said Friday.
Breitmeyer said he expects to have the diagnosis confirmed when laboratory tests are completed. He declined to identify the ranch, other than to say it is very large. He said he expects a finding will be made over the weekend.
Earlier this week, about 105,000 chickens in two flocks were destroyed at Orchard Egg Farms in the Mockingbird Canyon area, near Riverside, after Exotic Newcastle was diagnosed in the remains of some birds.
Meanwhile, veterinarians, state and federal authorities and egg producers are coordinating biocontrol efforts to stop the spread of the disease, which threatens the Inland area's $82 million egg industry.
"Obviously, time is of the essence," Breitmeyer said. "Once we get the disease in a commercial flock, the risk to other commercial flocks skyrockets."
The risk of cross-contamination is exacerbated by the sharing of feed trucks, egg-processing facilities and vaccinating and manure-hauling crews that move from ranch to ranch, he said.
Not keeping up
Breitmeyer said the state has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more personnel and funds to assist in the disease eradication effort, especially in backyard flocks. He said the present staff can't keep up with the quickening spread of the disease in back yards dangerously close to commercial farms.
While Exotic Newcastle poses no threat to human health, authorities say, the virus is almost always fatal in chickens, capable of killing them in just a couple of days.
Half of California's 24 million egg-laying hens are in Southern California. An estimated 9.6 million hens are in an Exotic Newcastle disease quarantine area encompassing western Riverside and San Bernardino counties and Los Angeles County.
Movement of poultry and poultry meat out of the quarantine area has been prohibited since Saturday. Eggs can still be shipped to markets outside the quarantine area if they are properly sanitized.
An outbreak of Exotic Newcastle between 1971 and 1974 devastated the U.S. poultry industry. Nearly 12 million birds were destroyed in eight Southern California counties. Eradicating the disease cost $56 million.
Before Exotic Newcastle was diagnosed last week at Orchard Egg Farms, the commercial egg industry had been spared from the disease. Nonetheless, the virus had been spreading since early October in backyard poultry.
"We are finding new cases in new places every day," said Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the U. S. Department of Food and Agriculture. He said the largest number of the approximately 40,000 backyard birds diagnosed with the disease have been in San Bernardino, Norco, Corona, Mira Loma, Perris and South El Monte.
Fighting roosters targeted
Sharon Hietala, a virologist at UC Davis who is working on ways to more quickly diagnose Exotic Newcastle, said containing the disease "is very difficult, because it is in fighting cocks, which don't have the same biosecurity as commercial egg ranches."
Hietala said the number of fighting roosters kept in back yards is very large. They can easily spread the disease from one to the other at cockfights, she said. Cockfighting is illegal in California.
"Fighting cocks is where the infection is right now and where everyone is focusing their attention," Hietala said.
Mark Campbell, general manager at Norco Ranch, one of the region's largest egg producers with 3 million egg-laying hens in the Inland area, said he believes the chance of stopping the spread of Exotic Newcastle is "very slim."
"The bulk of our employees have probably attended a rooster fight in the last six months," he said. "I think the government (whose officials have been conducting a door-to-door search for birds with Newcastle disease) is astounded at how many backyard flocks they have found of these fighting roosters."
Campbell said Norco Ranch is requiring its employees to sign "releases" promising that they will not raise poultry at home. In addition, he said, they are asked not to attend cockfights where their shoes and clothing could pick up feathers or soil contaminated with the Exotic Newcastle virus.
"We try to counsel them they might ruin this business," Campbell said.
Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com
Disease leads to quarantine, killing of poultry in California
AP Story - Other references - Check Google
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REF: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021228_132.html
REF: http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-poultry-disease1228dec27,0,7584026.story?coll=sns-ap-science-headlines
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
The Associated Press
12/28/02 2:15 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- State and federal agriculture officials have quarantined poultry and some poultry products in three counties after destroying more than 100,000 chickens infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease.
The disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. This week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Friday.
"It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners," he said.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Hawkins said.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
A task force made up of state and federal agriculture officials and scientists has been monitoring the outbreak since it was first reported among backyard flocks and pets in Southern California. The task force also has been advising commercial farms on security measures.
"We're recommending to them that their biosecurity programs should be as stringent as possible," Rico said. "The disease doesn't discriminate between commercial and backyard birds."
Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, would not identify the commercial poultry farm where the outbreak occurred.
The farmer was participating in a mandatory reporting procedure put in place in October and contacted authorities after noticing a slightly higher than normal mortality rate among chickens.
"At this point, we have euthanized the flock, and they have been safely disposed of," Rico said. "The facility is being cleaned and disinfected."
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
Stricken Chickens at Farm Jolt Poultry Industry in California
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
REF: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/28/national/28CHIC.html?ex=1041742800&en=b1f163bd66436aa5&ei=5062
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 For the first time in the recent efforts to locate and destroy chickens infected with Exotic Newcastle Disease in Southern California, contaminated birds have been found at a commercial poultry farm.
The discovery led state officials this week to destroy more than 100,000 chickens used for egg production, sending a shiver through the state's $3 billion poultry industry.
"This was one commercial flock infected," said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the United States Agriculture Department in Sacramento. "Is that huge? Is that a killer for California poultry? No, but this is a very serious discovery. It adds a new dimension to the problem. If we don't get a handle on this, we may find ourselves with many flocks infected, and that would certainly not be good news."
Exotic Newcastle Disease, which does not affect humans, has bedeviled California poultry on occasion for decades. The last serious outbreak was in the 1970's, when a statewide outbreak threatened the industry across the country and led to the destruction of almost 12 million chickens, at a cost of more than $50 million.
Most of California's commercial poultry operations are in the central part of the state. The recent outbreaks have been confined to the south in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, where state officials in November initiated a quarantine against the export of any birds or of any eggs that had not been washed, sanitized and packed in new material.
Until recently, all contaminated birds had been privately owned chickens kept in backyards.
But last Saturday, after noticing that his birds were dying at an unusual rate, the operator of a modest-size poultry farm at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County notified state officials, who confirmed the disease, and the birds and their eggs were destroyed. State officials did not identify the farmer.
Bill Mattos, executive director of the California Poultry Federation, a trade group, said the discovery of diseased birds in Southern California, where chickens are raised mainly for their eggs, "has put up red flags" throughout the industry, raising fears that the disease might spread into the central part of the state, where the bulk of California poultry farms are.
"Southern California is still a long way from the major meat-production of chicken and turkeys," Mr. Mattos said. "It does not create a big problem until it gets farther north. Then we're talking about millions and millions of eggs, and that could definitely become an economic problem."
Still, the quarantine has forced dozens of other poultry farms in Southern California to halt shipments outside the area in a freeze that could remain in effect for months.
California destroys thousands of chickens to contain Newcastle
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
Last modified: December 27. 2002 8:37PM
AP Story - Other References - Check Google
REF: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Poultry_Disease_93151C.shtml
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021227&Category=APN&ArtNo=212270884&Ref=AR
State officials have destroyed more than 100,000 infected chickens and quarantined poultry in three counties because of a potentially ruinous outbreak of a deadly disease.
Exotic Newcastle Disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. This week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Friday.
"It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners," he said.
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Hawkins said.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, would not identify the commercial poultry farm where the outbreak occurred.
The farmer was participating in a mandatory reporting procedure put in place in October and contacted authorities after noticing a slightly higher than normal mortality rate among chickens.
"At this point, we have euthanized the flock, and they have been safely disposed of," Rico said. "The facility is being cleaned and disinfected."
The Press-Enterprise of Riverside said the diseased chickens were discovered at Orchard Egg Farms. The owner of the farm did not return calls Friday from The Associated Press.
A task force made up of state and federal agriculture officials and scientists has been monitoring the outbreak since it was first reported among backyard flocks and pets in Southern California. The task force has been monitoring and advising commercial farms on security measures.
"We're recommending to them that their biosecurity programs should be as stringent as possible," Rico said. "The disease doesn't discriminate between commercial and backyard birds."
CNN
Poultry destroyed, quarantined in Southern California
Friday, December 27, 2002 Posted: 8:29 PM EST (0129 GMT)
REF: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/27/poultry.outbreak/index.html
RIVERSIDE, California (CNN) -- Poultry farms in southern California have been quarantined and 100,000 chickens destroyed after officials detected a fast-spreading poultry disease.
While the malady, called Exotic Newcastle Disease, isn't harmful to humans, it could be devastating to the poultry industry because it's deadly to birds. To prevent it from spreading, the California Department of Food and Agriculture euthanized 100,000 chickens at a farm in western Riverside County.
A regional quarantine is in effect for Los Angeles County and western sections of Riverside and San Bernadino counties. Poultry will not be allowed out of the quarantined areas.
Exotic Newcastle Disease can be spread by people who carry it on clothes and shoes, said Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the CDFA.
According to The Associated Press, the disease was first detected in backyard flocks in October. This week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at the poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins told the AP. "It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners."
In the 1970s, an outbreak in California prompted the destruction of nearly 12 million chickens, with nearly $56 million spent on eradication efforts.
While most of California's poultry industry is in the Central Valley between Sacramento and Bakersfield, the California Poultry Federation says about 9 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantined area, or about 60 percent of the egg-laying chickens in the state. The state is the nation's No. 3 egg producer.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone, the AP reports.
A task force of state and federal agriculture officials and scientists has been monitoring the outbreak and advising commercial farms on security measures.
Copyright 2002 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
KNBC- TV - NBC 4 News - Los Angeles, CA
Exotic Disease Leads To Quarantine, Killing Of Local Poultry
100,000 Chickens In Three Counties Destroyed
POSTED: 11:59 a.m. PST December 27, 2002
UPDATED: 12:34 p.m. PST December 27, 2002
REF: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/1858066/detail.html
LOS ANGELES -- California agriculture officials have quarantined commercial poultry in three counties and destroyed 100,000 chickens infected with Exotic Newcastle disease.
The outbreak of the disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. But this week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a commercial poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners."
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and caused nearly 12 million chickens to be destroyed. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
In November, State agriculture inspectors raided chicken farms in a one-mile-square section of Riverside County and destroyed hundreds of birds due to the outbreak.
Empty cages are all that remain at Joseph Ravida's exotic bird-breeding business in Mira Loma.
Ravida said he was devastated because all of his birds were gassed and hauled away in garbage cans.
"They just came to my door... and notified me that every bird, every bird has to be killed," said Ravida.
November's raid was triggered by a discovery of some diseased birds at a nearby illegal cock-fighting operation.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Hawkins said because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs have been sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer and more than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine area.
Disease leads to quarantine, killing of poultry in California
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
December 27. 2002 1:42PM
AP Story - Appeared in Many Sources
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021227&Category=APN&ArtNo=212270797&Ref=AR
REF: http://boston.com/dailynews/361/economy/Disease_leads_to_quarantine_ki:.shtml
REF: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Exotic_Newcastle_Disease_93113C.shtml
REF: For More - Check Google
California agriculture officials have quarantined commercial poultry in three counties and destroyed 100,000 chickens infected with Exotic Newcastle disease.
The outbreak of the disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. But this week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a commercial poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," said Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners."
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and caused nearly 12 million chickens to be destroyed. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties,
Hawkins said because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs have been sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer and more than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine area.
Disease Leads to Killing of Poultry
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press
AP Story - Appeared in Many Sources
Posted on Fri, Dec. 27, 2002
REF: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/4824268.htm
REF: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021227&Category=APA&ArtNo=212270803&Ref=AR
REF: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021227&Category=APA&ArtNo=212270803&Ref=AR
REF: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021227_1127.html
REF: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-poultry-disease1227dec27,0,1840916.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines
REF: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021227&Category=APA&ArtNo=212270803&Ref=AR
REF: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2276162,00.html
REF: http://www.gocarolinas.com/shared/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5945.AP-Poultry-Disease.html
REF: Many More - Check Google!
LOS ANGELES - State officials have destroyed 100,000 infected chickens and quarantined poultry in three Southern California counties because of a potentially ruinous outbreak of a deadly farm disease.
The outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease, which is deadly to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first detected in backyard flocks in October. This week, officials confirmed it had been discovered at a poultry farm near Riverside.
"Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California since 1974," said U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins. "It's not only serious because there is a direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but because it also brings about quarantines from our trading partners."
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost $56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Hawkins said.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zone.
Press-Enterprises - Inland Southern Calif
REF http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nanewcast.a166f.html
Egg farms on alert
INLAND: Officials destroy 105,000 chickens near Riverside and restrict poultry movements.
12/27/2002
By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
About 105,000 chickens were euthanized this week after Exotic Newcastle disease was discovered in two commercial flocks near Riverside.
The outbreak, which previously had been found in Inland and Los Angeles-area backyard flocks, jeopardizes the Inland $82 million egg industry.
In the wake of the new find, state agriculture officials are prohibiting the movement of commercial poultry beyond quarantine boundaries that encompass western Riverside and San Bernardino counties and Los Angeles County.
An estimated 9.6 million of California's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine area, said Richard Matteis, executive director of the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association. California is the third-largest egg-producer in the nation.
The state has prohibited "until further notice" the movement of live poultry or poultry meat out of the quarantine area, said Leticia Rico, spokesperson for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Eggs can still be shipped to markets outside the quarantine area if they are properly sanitized, Rico said.
Larry Hawkins, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the disease poses no threat to human health.
Location confirmed
State officials would not identify where the outbreak occurred. However, Mary Cramer confirmed that the virus was discovered at Orchard Egg Farms, owned by her husband, Bill Cramer. The outbreak was discovered at Orchard Egg Farms operations in the Mockingbird Canyon area, near Riverside.
Bill Cramer owns several other Inland egg operations and is president of Star Milling Co., a livestock feed manufacturer in Perris. He also is an executive at Norco Ranch, where the Cramers send their eggs for processing.
State agriculture officials are intensifying biosecurity measures at the region's ranches. At Norco Ranch, one of the region's largest egg producers, with 3 million egg-laying hens in the Inland area, round-the-clock guards are assigned to keep out intruders who might carry the virus in and out on their shoes, clothing or cars.
"You have to limit visitors the best you can. A lot of this is new territory," said Norco Ranch general manager Mark Campbell.
Since Oct. 1, when Exotic Newcastle disease was found in backyard birds in Southern California, about 40,000 birds exposed to the disease have been destroyed. On Nov. 13, state and federal agriculture officials imposed a quarantine to restrict movement of birds kept by hobbyists.
Birds exposed to the disease are euthanized with carbon dioxide at the site, then transported to landfills, said David Goldberg, poultry industry liaison with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Close monitoring
Agriculture officials say they have been closely monitoring commercial flocks.
"We had a weekly reporting regimen. Commercial poultry owners were required to report any disease or unusual death, loss or reduction in production," Hawkins said. It was through this process, Hawkins said, that state and federal officials learned there was a problem with two flocks near Riverside owned by the same rancher.
Hawkins said that on Saturday, a state laboratory in Davis confirmed that birds in one of the flocks had died of Exotic Newcastle. Officials also determined that a second nearby flock had been exposed and should also be destroyed.
Cramer said her husband has been told that the government will compensate him for the value of the chickens but was uncertain of the amount.
Matteis said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to determine how much California farmers will be reimbursed for euthanized flocks.
Hawkins said government officials are investigating how the disease infected the commercial flocks. He also said the state is awaiting confirmation of its lab results from a federal laboratory that is also studying the birds' remains.
Mary Cramer, who was appointed by Gov. Davis to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, said the disease probably was spread to her husband's ranch by wild birds that flew onto the property.
"It (the disease) most likely will not be confined to one farm," she said.
Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com
The Press Enterprise - Inland Southern California
REF http://www.pe.com/localnews/riverside/stories/PE_NEWS_nrmira15.a12eb.html
5,400 birds destroyed in Mira Loma
AGRICULTURE: The fowl had to be euthanized in order to fight deadly Newcastle disease.
12/15/2002
By SANDRA STOKLEY
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
MIRA LOMA - State agriculture workers have killed an estimated 5,400 birds in Mira Loma over the past two months in an effort to eradicate what they are calling a "serious outbreak" of deadly exotic Newcastle disease.
"With nearly one out of three birds testing positive for the disease, we have a serious situation out there," said Leticia Rico, spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
The highly contagious virus kills chickens and other birds but poses no danger to humans.
In mid-November, the department imposed a three-county bird quarantine to stop the spread of the disease. It includes parts of western Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as Los Angeles County. In Mira Loma, a 2.7-mile area is under investigation.
Veterinarians have tested 150 backyard flocks in the Mira Loma area since mid-October and have confirmed the disease in 42 of those groups, Rico said. In November, workers first swept through the area, killing fowl to the dismay of pet owners.
Most of the birds euthanized have been chickens, ducks and geese, but residents also have lost parakeets, canaries, doves and cockatiels.
Susan Ryan, who lives on William Avenue, said she understands the situation, but she added that misinformation and miscommunication have made the process hard.
Ryan said that when state workers showed up at her 1-acre property the day after Thanksgiving, she was led to believe her 19 birds were being quarantined.
"There was no mention of destroying them," she said. "They said someone would be back to check on the birds periodically. They said they would call when the quarantine was lifted."
On Dec. 5, workers returned, informed Ryan that a neighbor's flock had tested positive for Newcastle and said her birds would be appraised prior to being euthanized that day.
"I thought they would come back and test the birds before killing them," she said.
Although the quarantine order advised of the right to file an appeal of the quarantine, Ryan said she was never advised of her right to appeal the killings.
"I never got a destroy order," she said. "It all happened so fast."
Rico said state workers try to give owners advance notice when their birds are to be euthanized but added that it isn't always possible.
"If there is active disease in the area and we have established a route of exposure, notification time may be shorter," Rico said.
Other residents have complained that when they call the state's information hotline, they are being told no birds will be killed unless they are tested first.
Despite that message, residents say hundreds of seemingly healthy birds are being killed without being tested.
Rico said she checked with hotline operators, who denied making such assurances to callers.
"Our operators are not telling people that no birds will be killed until they are tested," Rico said.
If people call in with questions about having their birds tested, operators have a veterinarian call them , Rico said.
A major outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease started in Fontana in 1971 and spread throughout California, threatening the entire United States poultry and egg industry.
Rico said the department is not solely concerned with protecting the state's poultry and egg industry.
"We're trying to protect all birds," she said. "This is a very virulent disease, and it does not discriminate."
Riverside County is California's biggest egg producer, according to local agriculture officials. In 2001, Riverside's six egg ranches earned $56 million in revenue.
Reach Sandra Stokley at (909) 368-9647 or sstokley@pe.com
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