Bird owners put on alert for Newcastle disease
HENRI BRICKEY
Staff Writer
A highly contagious bird disease capable of killing anything from a
chicken to an ostrich is spreading through Southern California and has
recently been detected in Riverside County, officials with the state
Department of Food and Agriculture said this week.
Exotic Newcastle, as the disease is called, is one of the most
infectious diseases affecting poultry and has a death rate of almost 100
percent in unvaccinated flocks, according to the United States Department
of Agriculture.
The disease poses no threat to humans but has the capability of
decimating millions of birds if it gets into commercial stocks like it did
30 years ago.
The first case of the disease was reported on Oct. 1, when it was
discovered in some backyard chickens in a Compton neighborhood, said
Laticia Rico, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Food and
Agriculture in Ontario.
The yard was quarantined, but the disease has since been found in other
parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties ---- including
Norco and Corona. The disease has not been reported in San Diego County.
As of this week, there have been 39 quarantines in the three counties
and more than 5,500 effected animals have been destroyed, Rico said.
"We're still in the very early stages of the investigation and it's
hard to know if we've contained it," she said.
The disease most commonly infects chickens, Rico said. But other birds
are also susceptible to the disease. Officials say the disease may have
been brought to the area by Amazon parrots, who are known carriers of the
disease but do not show symptoms and can carry the virus for more than 400
days.
"There is illegal bird smuggling in Southern California where exotic
birds come in from south of the border," Rico said.
Birds can catch the disease through contact with other infected birds
or contaminated materials. Symptoms include sneezing, coughing, nasal
discharge and paralysis, according to Department of Agriculture officials,
who said that animals infected with the disease often die suddenly without
showing any symptoms.
The last major outbreak of Newcastle disease in California occurred in
1971, when it got into the commercial poultry stock and resulted in 12
million birds being destroyed and cost $56 million in eradication efforts,
which lasted for three years.
While the state has seen smaller outbreaks of Newcastle disease since
the 1971 epidemic, they were all easily contained, according to Rico, who
says the current outbreak is the largest since 1971.
No commercial poultry farms in California have reported finding the
disease in their flocks as of Tuesday, Rico said.
To prevent the disease from spreading any further, the California
Department of Food and Agriculture is urging bird owners not to take birds
into or out of the three counties effected by the disease.
Until the disease is under control, the Department of Food and
Agriculture is suspending poultry exhibitions at all local fairgrounds,
including the Farmers Fair and Festival, which runs from Oct. 19-27 at the
Lake Perris Fairgrounds.
"We need to take every precaution necessary," said Lyndal Graff, the
fair's general manager. "It's an unfortunate situation for the children
raising poultry to show at the fair, but it's a safety issue for everyone
involved."
Others were unaware of the potential risk.
Herman DeJong, who owns DeJong's Dairy on Corydon Street in Wildomar,
has a petting zoo and farm with close to 50 birds, including peacocks,
ducks, geese, doves, finches and chickens.
"I haven't heard anything from the county about it (the disease), and I
haven't noticed any problems with any of my birds," DeJong said Wednesday.
Contact staff writer Henri Brickey at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or
hbrickey@californian.com.
10/17/02
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