Exotic Newcastle Disease
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Emergency Management Warning 88:

Exotic Newcastle Disease Confirmed in the United States

Exotic Newcastle disease (END) was confirmed on October 1, 2002, in the State of California, and has now spread beyond backyard flocks to affect 22 commercial operations in California. On January 16, 2003, END was also confirmed in a backyard flock in the State of Nevada. A backyard flock was confirmed with END on February 4, 2003, in the State of Arizona. On April 9, 2003, END was confirmed in backyard fowl in Texas. Clinical signs in infected birds include respiratory, nervous, and gastrointestinal signs. Mortality is up to 90% of exposed birds. Investigations are on-going and all figures are pending final validation. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) personnel and other federal government personnel are working with the States to consider additional resources to meet the labor demands at the Task Forces. APHIS has implemented a plan for enhanced national END surveillance.

Current Statistics (as of 8:00 p.m. PST, April 27, 2003)

Operations in Progress

	California	Texas	Total
Personnel Assigned	1,025	84	1,109
Premises Currently Quarantined	16,863	443	17,306
Current Positive Premises	877 backyard 21 commercial	1 backyard 0 commercial	878 backyard 21 commercial
Current Contact Premises	771 backyard 1 commercial	39 backyard 0 commercial	810 backyard 1 commercial
Premises Pending Depopulation	20	0	20

	California	Texas	Total
Total Premises Quarantined	17,000 (+134)	443 (+220)	17,443 (+354)
Total Premises Released	137 (+13)	0 (no change)	137 (+13)
Total Positive Premises	891 backyard (+2) 21 commercial	1 backyard (no change) 0 commercial	892 backyard (+2) 21 commercial (no change)
Total Premises Depopulated	2,429 (no change)	40 (no change)	2,469 (no change)
Total Birds Depopulated	3,491,154	2,006	3,493,160
Counties with Quarantined Premises	Los Angeles Riverside Orange San Bernadino San Diego Ventura	El Paso

Completed Operations (Final Numbers)

	Arizona	Nevada	Total
Total Infected Premises	1	10	11
Total Contact Premises	3	128	131
Total Premises Quarantined	0	145	145
Total Premises Released	61	9	70
Total Premises Depopulated	4	138	142
Total Birds Depopulated	269	2,746	3,015
Last Infected Premises Deopulated	2/7/03	1/29/03

Operational Update

• Effective January 7, 2003, APHIS imposed a federal quarantine that regulates the interstate movement of all species of birds and poultry products from Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties, CA.

• Effective January 17, 2003, APHIS imposed a federal quarantine that regulates the interstate movement of all species of birds and poultry products from Clark and a portion of Nye County, NV.

• Effective February 10, 2003, APHIS imposed a federal quarantine that regulates the interstate movement of all species of birds and poultry products from all of La Paz and Yuma Counties and a portion of Mohave County, AZ.

• Effective April 10, 2003, APHIS imposed a federal quarantine that regulates the interstate movement of all species of birds and poultry products from all of El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, TX, and Dona Ana, Luna, and Otero Counties, NM. The federal quarantine was placed on counties beyond the infected county due to their proximity to the infected county.

• A quarantine was placed on a portion of New Mexico because of its proximity to the infected area in the State of Texas

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared an extraordinary emergency for the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, and New Mexico. These declarations allow USDA to apply federal authority within Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.

• Currently there are 22 commercial flocks in the State of California affected by END. The breakdown of the commercial premises involved is as follows: 4 premises in Riverside County (3 infected and 1 contact), 7 premises in San Diego County (7 infected), and 11 premises in San Bernardino County (11 infected).

• DNA sequencing analysis confirms that the Texas END outbreak was caused by a separate introduction of virus and not by movement of virus from the affected areas in California, Nevada, or Arizona. Intensified surveillance in El Paso County, TX, and the surrounding areas has yielded no further positive cases, suggesting that our early detection and swift response has worked well to contain and eliminate this outbreak.

• The South Coast Incident Command Post and the Inland Desert Incident Command Post are finalizing plans to merge all operational activities into the South Coast location in Garden Grove. During late April, all communications, ground support, mobilization and demobilization functions are expected to shift to South Coast with the remainder of operational activities moving shortly after.

• APHIS’ enhanced surveillance plan includes the surveillance of 13,638 premises from the Central California Incident Command Post (ICP). Surveillance numbers for the Inland Desert and South Coast ICP’s were unavailable at the time this report was prepared.

Outreach Activities

• Over the next several weeks, the Task Force will be participating in celebrations in California's Hispanic and Latino communities to help educate citizens about End. Approximately 500,000 people will receive Spanish-language educational materials at the Fiesta Broadway event. The Task Force will also participate in the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Lincoln Park.

Definitions

Emergency Management Issue is for information with no impact on APHIS.
Emergency Management Notice is an ongoing incident with potential impact on APHIS.
Emergency Management Warning is an ongoing incident with almost certain impact on APHIS.