Media Coverage
February 13, 2003 to February 20, 2003
Most Current is Listed First

Media Coverage - Main Page
North County Times, CA

Feared infection of another ranch proves groundless
KATHRYN GILLICK
Staff Writer

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030220/44937.html

VALLEY CENTER ---- No news is probably good news, and the no-news Wednesday on the Exotic Newcastle disease that devastates chicken ranches when it strikes was this: The fourth ranch that officials feared had been infected hadn't.

"It's good news," Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, said Wednesday. "We were concerned that a fourth farm would mean that the process would seem to be speeding up, but that's excellent good news. There's still hope for containment."

Larry Cooper, spokesman for the state's Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, refused to identify or give a location for the fourth ranch. He also refused to identify a third ranch, in Valley Center, declared Tuesday to have fallen victim to Exotic Newcastle. He said he could not say where the farms are because the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is overseeing the containment and eradication effort, did not tell him.

"The policy is not to give the names," Cooper said. "That is because there is a fear that people will drive out to look and may contract or carry the disease away, spreading it. Also, it would disturb the area." USDA spokesman Larry Hawkins said he, too, would not disclose the name or address of the farm.

The North County Times has filed state and federal Freedom of Information Act requests with the task force and with state and county officials.

"This information should be public," said Kent Davy, the paper's editor. "It is essential for citizens to know what possibly neighboring properties may have been infected."

The deadly avian disease was first found in San Diego County in late December at Sylvester International Farm on Old Julian Highway in Ramona. The farm's 85,000 birds were euthanized.

The next time the disease was discovered in North County was earlier this month at Armstrong Egg Ranch in Valley Center. There, 150,000 birds were killed.

Exotic Newcastle was found a few days later at the third ranch, where all 69,000 chickens will be killed.

Officials said the disease spreads so quickly that all chickens at a ranch must be killed to keep other birds from being infected. Symptoms of the disease include sneezing, coughing, muscle spasms and drooping wings.

Each of the farms where the virus is discovered must go through a state decontamination process.

The disease, which affects every species of bird, is harmless to humans.

So far, more than 2.2 million commercial birds and 100,000 noncommercial birds have been euthanized since the disease was discovered in Compton in October, threatening the state's $3 billion poultry industry. About 300,000 of the commercial birds are from the three San Diego County farms, according to the Farm Bureau's Larson.

"That's a lot of birds, but not enough to damage the industry at this point in time," he said.

Eggs are a $48 million business in San Diego County, according to Larson, who said the impact of the disease will not be known until it is contained and eradicated.

Quarantines have been issued in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Eggs produced in the quarantined counties cannot be moved from the counties until they are washed and sanitized.

More than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens are in the quarantine zones.

There are 37 poultry ranches in San Diego County, 27 of which are egg-raising facilities. The ranches had a total of 4.5 million chickens before the outbreak of Exotic Newcastle, according to San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Kathleen Thuner.

Exotic Newcastle disease last broke out in California in the 1970s, causing many local producers to close permanently, Thuner said. During that outbreak, approximately 12 million birds were killed, costing the state $56 million in eradication costs.

To prevent that kind of impact on the local poultry industry, the Farm Bureau's Larson said farm owners are taking precautions such as limiting where on the farms guests can go and how their eggs are transported.

"People are just not taking any risks right now at all," he said.

Contact staff writer Kathryn Gillick at (760)740-5412 or kgillick@nctimes.com.

2/20/03



Tuscon Citizen, AZ

Deadly bird virus near Yuma sparks warnings to owners
LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
Feb. 20, 2003
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/2_20_03newcastle.html

Arizona officials are trying to put the kibosh on a bird disease that has taken the lives of nearly a million birds in southern California and recently was reported in this state.

It apparently was introduced through organic fertilizer spread on a field near Yuma.

The disease, exotic Newcastle disease, is caused by a virus and is considered a foreign animal disease in this country, said S. Peder Cuneo, an veterinarian with the University of Arizona.

He spoke at a news briefing yesterday.

The virus represents a potent threat to the poultry industry, he said. It is most severe when it invades flocks of chickens, peafowl, guinea, pheasants, quail, cockatiels, cockatoos and pigeons.

The disease so far has been confined to the Yuma area in Arizona, and no cases have been reported in Pima County.

The mortality rate of infected birds is nearly 100 percent, he said. Turkeys, Amazon parrots and other parrotlike birds develop a milder form of the disease, but they may be carriers. There have been no reported cases of wild birds being infected.

California officials predict 2 million birds will be killed and disposed of before the disease is under control there, he said. It's suspected that the California epidemic began in a small private flock and spread to commercial growers.

There has been progress in controlling the virus in commercial flocks, but many so-called backyard operations are still affected in California.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Janet Napolitano declared a state of emergency following the discovery of the infection near Yuma. The declaration prohibits the transport of live or dead birds of all types into the state. And Napolitano ordered Yuma County, La Paz County and portions of Mohave County quarantined. In an effort to halt the spread of exotic Newcastle disease, Cuneo said people with fowl should step up measures around their flocks and make sure any transport, sale or contact with birds is done only with certified-healthy animals.

Flock handlers are urged to clean and disinfect areas where fowl are housed and to reduce or eliminate visits from people who are in contact with other flocks, he said.

"Birds do not have to look sick to spread disease," Cuneo noted. But many show a decline in egg production, a nasal discharge, diarrhea and finally drooping, as the virus attacks the central nervous system.

One potentially urgent threat here is the possibility birds may be smuggled in for cockfighting, an illegal blood sport, said Pima County sheriff's Detective M.W. Duffey. Cockfighting was made a felony in 1999, but law enforcement officials have found signs that it still takes place, Duffey said. "We are trying to locate and educate those people with cockfighting birds."

Intentionally or recklessly passing the disease to other animals via an infected fowl is a Class 5 felony, Duffey noted. If the disease were to infect humans, it would be considered a Class 2 felony.

Generally, exotic Newcastle disease does not affect humans, he said.

However, some eye irritation, "a pinkeyelike condition," has been reported by people handling infected birds.

Cuneo said other precautions include not handling or introducing any new bird to a flock; keeping any equipment used with other flocks away, including motor vehicles, which can carry the disease in debris on tires and the undercarriage; and not sharing feed between flocks. Also, personal attire worn around flocks should be considered a possible source in infection, he said.

The virus can be transported on clothing, shoes, in hair, even in the nasal and ear cavities of a person.

Bird swap meets, flea markets, bird markets, bird shows, aviaries, feed stores and pet shops should be considered possible places of contamination, he said.

"If your visitors have birds of their own, do not let them near your birds."

For more information on the disease, call the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at 621-2356 Ext. 18 or e-mail Cuneo at cuneo@u.arizona.edu.



Antec International

Antec sends over 20 tons of Virkon S to California as Newcastle Disease crisis worsens

Recently found
http://www.antecint.co.uk/main/california.htm

California, USA, February 4th 2003. In response to the escalating Exotic Newcastle Disease crisis in California - which has so far required the slaughter of over two million birds - Antec International has dispatched by air freight over 20 tons of Virkon S from its UK base to meet increased disinfectant demands in the troubled state. The supplies arrived in the US on Friday 31st January and will be followed by a further 100 tons sent via sea freight.

The decision to initiate emergency shipments came on Monday after Antec staff were notified by USDA* veterinarians that vital disinfectants necessary to combat the spread of Newcastle Disease were in critically short supply. Antec responded immediately and within 24 hours a shipment of 1,000 cases of Virkon S (enough to make over 1.5 million gallons of disinfectant) was on its way to the Memphis warehouse of Antec's US distributor AgVet Associates for immediate dispatch to California.

Newcastle Disease was first confirmed in California in October 2002 and rapidly spread beyond backyard flocks to affect commercial poultry operations. As of this month, it has also been detected in the state of Nevada. While posing no danger to human health, Newcastle Disease is one of the most feared diseases of commercial poultry and egg producers. Classified as an emergency disease ("List A") by the OIE*, the world organization for animal health, the disease - once confirmed in a flock - can only be controlled by the slaughter of affected and potentially exposed birds.

Earlier this month Antec issued a Product Information Bulletin confirming that Virkon S can be used against Newcastle Disease at the higher dilution of 1:256 (half an ounce per gallon), making the world's most proven veterinary biosecurity disinfectant even more cost-effective. Virkon S is suitable for use on surfaces such as wood (the predominant construction material for poultry housing) and is appropriate for both vehicle and bootbath disinfection. With more US EPA* label claims against the OIE List A viruses than any other product, Virkon S is widely recognized globally as the disinfectant of choice for governments keen to secure their farm animal and border biosecurity.

Francis Auchincloss, North American Sales Director at Antec International, comments, "Antec pulled out all the stops to come to the aid of USDA APHIS in its fight against Newcastle Disease in California. Time is of the essence in a situation of this nature which is why we responded within a matter of hours and dispatched the supplies by air freight at the earliest possible opportunity".



North County Times, CA

Exotic Newcastle virus found at third egg ranch
BARBARA HENRY
Staff Writer

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030219/105751.html

VALLEY CENTER ---- A third commercial poultry ranch in North County has tested positive for Exotic Newcastle disease, and it is highly probable that a fourth case will be declared today, state and federal agriculture officials announced Tuesday.

"There's another prospect but it hasn't been confirmed and probably won't be until tomorrow," said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force.

The third San Diego case of the highly contagious avian virus was discovered during routine weekly testing at a Valley Center ranch that is home to 69,000 birds. The second Valley Center case involved a ranch with 150,000 birds and a case in Ramona involved a 85,000-bird operation.

Because the virus spreads so easily, officials kill all chickens at a ranch even if only one ill bird is found.

All of the cases have been at commercial egg ranches and the potential fourth case also is at a Valley Center egg ranch, San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Kathleen Thuner said.

Before confirming the fourth case, the task force ---- a coalition of state and federal officials ---- is awaiting blood test results from a chicken that has the symptoms of Exotic Newcastle, Cooper said. Symptoms include sneezing, gasping for breath, coughing, or having muscle tremors or drooping wings.

The virus, which is spread through mucus or feces, has struck chickens and other birds across three states, resulting in the destruction of more than 2.2 million birds since October.

"It's very discouraging every time we hear it's reared its ugly head once more," said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau. "As contagious as it is, I won't be surprised to hear it (has been confirmed) again, but I certainly hope I won't."

Officials are not releasing the addresses of the farms where the virus has been found, saying that tactic prevents curiosity-seekers from visiting and potentially spreading the virus.

San Diego County is home to 37 poultry ranches, and 27 of them are egg-raising facilities. The egg ranches have a total of 4.5 million chickens, and while the loss of the some 300,000 birds may seem a small percentage, it could have repercussions for the entire industry, Thuner said.

Ranchers whose chickens have the virus may decide to close their businesses permanently, rather than spend the time and money to obtain new chickens and start over, she said.

Each of the ranches where the virus was discovered must go through an extensive state decontamination process. It can take up to six months for a ranch to get back into full operation, Thuner said.

After the last outbreak of Exotic Newcastle in the 1970s, many of the area's chicken-meat producers closed permanently, although the egg-production operations survived, she said. There are fewer egg ranches today, but about the same number of eggs produced ---- roughly 101 million one-dozen-egg packages a year. Most of the businesses are family-owned and their owners are very concerned about the virus spreading, Thuner said.

Charley Steiner, owner of Swiss Mountain View Egg Farm in Ramona, said he is taking extensive precautions to keep his 40,000 birds safe. He is disinfecting all trucks that come onto his ranch, he said.

"If this continues to many more ranches, it will cost a lot more than (in 1971) because everything is more expensive now," he said. "Hopefully, it will be contained."

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 739-6673 or bhenry@nctimes.com.

Staff writer Jeff Frank contributed to this report.

2/19/03



CFBF

FOOD & FARM NEWS
(Issue date: Thursday, February 20, 2003)

Poultry disease takes financial toll

http://www.cfbf.com/ffn/default.asp#h3

Losses from exotic Newcastle disease will be felt for months to come, by poultry farmers whose birds must be destroyed. More than 2 million chickens from commercial flocks in Southern California have been euthanized. The government compensates farmers for the lost birds. But farmers may have to wait months to buy new chickens and return to egg production. In the meantime, both they and their workers suffer lost income.



Washington Post, DC
Poultry Disease Spreads To Another Farm in California
Thursday, February 20, 2003

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32879-2003Feb19.html

An infectious avian disease has spread to another commercial poultry farm in California despite health officials' killing more than 2 million birds to control the outbreak, the Agriculture Department said.

Exotic Newcastle Disease, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, has infected flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona. It is easily spread by vehicles and wild birds and is tough to eradicate because many birds die with no signs of infection.

California, the ninth-largest U.S. poultry producer, has been hardest hit by the disease. Thirteen commercial poultry farms in California have been infected, the USDA said. The disease was first discovered in October in Southern California.

About 1,700 state and federal officials are randomly stopping cars and going door-to-door looking for infected birds in the three states. The only way to eradicate the disease quickly in commercial poultry is to destroy infected flocks and impose a quarantine.



The Bakersfield Californian, CA

Kern firefighters to combat bird disease
By AMY HILVERS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: ahilvers@bakersfield.com

http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/2649480p-2692256c.html

Wednesday February 19, 2003, 10:29:10 PM

Two teams of Kern County firefighters will go to Southern California and Nevada today to help battle exotic Newcastle disease.

The teams will help coordinate efforts, tools and resources to help combat the highly contagious bird disease, which has spread to Arizona and Nevada. The disease is deadly to birds but cannot be contracted by humans.

One team of three firefighters will go to Nevada and another team of four firefighters will go to Southern California, according to county fire Capt. Doug Johnston.

The goals are identifying the poultry commercial sites that have been affected, quarantining those areas and then disposing of infected birds and coops.

The U.S. and state Agriculture and Health departments are some of the agencies involved in efforts to contain the disease.

Both teams will be at their sites for at least two weeks, Johnston said. If the tasks are not completed, their stay will be extended or another team may take over.

"It's a huge undertaking," Johnston said.

Another firefighting team has also been sent out of the county recently.

Six Kern County firefighters were sent to Texas Sunday to help recovery of debris from space shuttle Columbia.



Union Tribune, CA

3rd county ranch has deadly poultry virus

69,000 birds must be destroyed at new site

By Elizabeth Fitzsimons
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20030219-9999_1mi19ranch.html

February 19, 2003

CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune

At the Armstrong Farms ranch in Valley Center, workers in protective clothing gather eggs to be removed and buried, with chickens, in a landfill.

VALLEY CENTER – The county's poultry ranchers have been fiercely guarding their birds against a fatal avian virus for months, but officials announced yesterday that a third commercial ranch had been infected with exotic Newcastle disease.

About 69,000 birds will be destroyed at the site of the newest outbreak. The ranch is close to a Valley Center ranch owned by Armstrong Farms that tested positive for the virus last week, sources said.

But officials with the state and federal Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, following a long-standing policy, would not disclose its name or location.

At the Armstrong ranch, on Cole Grade Road, state and federal workers wearing white disposable suits went about the process of euthanizing its 150,000 birds yesterday.

Ranch owner Alan Armstrong, like other ranchers in the county and elsewhere, had been following strict bio-security measures since the outbreak of exotic Newcastle was confirmed in a backyard flock of chickens in Los Angeles County in October.

But it seems that even the most careful security is no guarantee the virus won't somehow creep onto a ranch.

"It's just that constant threat. It's so nerve-wracking," said Frank Hilliker of Hilliker Egg Ranch, which has about 30,000 birds in Lakeside.

"Every time the federal people come and the state people come to take some birds to the lab, the anxiety goes up," Hilliker said of the weekly testing by the task force. It is done at each commercial ranch in a quarantine zone that covers eight Southern California counties and two counties in Arizona and Nevada.

Commercial ranches have reduced the traffic onto their ranches, allowing access only to those people who must be there, such as task force members and ranch workers. Every truck is disinfected, as are visitors' shoes.

The Fluegge Egg Ranches maintain about 60,000 chickens at a ranch in Valley Center and about 95,000 at an Escondido facility.

August Fluegge Jr., who owns the ranch with his father, August Sr., said he spends about $50 a week on disinfectant.

But the bigger burden is the extra labor, Fluegge said.

"Every time a truck comes in, we spray it, and we spray all our racks," he said. "What really costs is all the time to do everything."

The disease, which is harmless to humans, appeared in San Diego County late in December when it was detected in a flock of 73,000 chickens at Ramona Egg Enterprises in Ramona.

There have also been three cases of exotic Newcastle in backyard flocks of birds in the county.

The outbreak is the worst since exotic Newcastle last spread through commercial chicken ranches in the 1970s, when it took officials three years to eradicate the disease.

About 12 million birds were destroyed and $56 million spent on the effort before the outbreak was contained.

The current outbreak has already cost the state and federal governments about $35 million. The disease's spread has prompted authorities to order the destruction of 2.6 million birds, and the task force has pleaded with bird owners to follow safety precautions such as keeping pet birds isolated from other birds.

Information on safety precautions can be found on the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site, at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov

Valley Center farmers are also still dealing with an infestation of Mexican fruit flies and a 130-square mile quarantine area established to prevent the flies from spreading.

A fourth round in a series of aerial treatments of pesticide in a 28-square-mile core area of the quarantine zone was scheduled for last night.

The quarantine requires growers to repeatedly treat their crops with a pesticide-laced bait before they can pick and ship any fruit.

Elizabeth Fitzsimons: (760) 752-6743; elizabeth.fitzsimons@uniontrib.com



KOLD-TV, AZ

02/19/03
Illegal Cockfighting May Spread Disease

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=1140339&nav=14RTE6U6

Arizona voters banned cockfighting in 1998, but local authorities say it's still going on, and that's putting chickens across Pima County at risk for a deadly disease. Members of the Animal Cruelty Task Force held a news conference in Tucson Wednesday morning about Exotic Newcastle Disease. E-N-D has arrived in Arizona from California where it already has killed nearly one million birds. Three Arizona counties are under quarantine. Officials say it's just a matter of time before the disease reaches Pima County. The Animal Cruelty Task Force wants people who raise chickens for illegal cockfighting to be aware of the highly contagious disease and its symptoms. Pima County Sheriff's Detective Mike Duffey says the fear is that they will have a diseased bird and spread the disease around the state. Duffey says, to protect their flocks they should learn about symptoms and treatment and how to contain the contagious disease. E-N-D affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of birds. It does not pose a major risk for people, but can cause pink eye in rare circumstances.



Daily Courier, AZ

Local firefighters, Forest Service personnel help with shuttle search
By JOANNA DODDER
The Daily Courier
February 19, 2003

http://www.communitypapers.com/dailycourier/myarticles.asp?P=722575&S=400&PubID=10331&EC=0

PRESCOTT – Seven Prescott-area firefighters were to fly out of Arizona this morning to help in the search for space shuttle Columbia parts in Texas.

Four men from the Prescott Fire Department and three from the Central Yavapai Fire District will be part of a 20-person Arizona crew enlisted to help in the effort to recover parts of the shuttle, which disintegrated as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere Feb. 1.

Several Forest Service employees in Prescott also are helping with the recovery effort.

So far, people have recovered thousands of pieces, but no one has found any west of Texas.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is beefing up the search force from the current 350 to 2,000 people by the end of the week, and it’s focusing its recruitment efforts on people with wildland firefighting experience, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.

“It’s very tough to get out there in those piney woods,” he said, and wildland firefighters are trained to deal with the conditions.

It also helps that the firefighters are well versed in the incident command system.

Prescott Fire Department engineer Mark Diedrick will be part of the Arizona crew.

“It’s an honor to be asked, for sure,” Diedrick said. “You watch a lot of this on the news and wonder how you can help. This is a way to give something back.”

It’s also an opportunity for Prescott-area firefighters to learn more about other areas, and vice versa.

“We’re representing not only the fire department, but the people of our community,” Diedrick said.

He’s been told the work probably will last two to three weeks.

Other firefighters on the team include Capt. Paul Williams and firefighters Jeff Jones and Troy Steinbrink of the Prescott Fire Department, plus Capt. Brian Cole, Capt. Scott Bliss and engineer Jack Dale from Central Yavapai.

Humphries doesn’t know exactly where the Prescott-area firefighters will work. People can track the search’s progress through the NASA Web site at spaceflight.nasa.gov by clicking on “mishap status reports.”

It’s a strong statement of the professionalism of Prescott- area firefighters that seven of them will join the 20-person Arizona crew, department officials noted.

“They know when they call us that we can come and do a good job for them,” CYFD Fire Marshal Charlie Cook said.

Cook noted that this is a relatively slow time of year for the departments.

The federal government will reimburse the departments’ costs, Prescott Fire Chief Darrell Willis noted.

Backing up the shuttle recovery effort, the Central West Zone dispatch center at the U.S. Forest Service’s Prescott Fire Center has been coordinating the movements of Arizona firefighters as well as some of their fellow Forest Service employees at the Fire Center.

Dave Alexander and Debbie Maxam from the Fire Center’s cache center will travel to the Forest Service’s cache center in Kentucky to help supply those searching for shuttle parts with the equipment they need.

The Forest Service has 11 caches around the country that supply firefighters and other federal disaster relief workers. The cavernous warehouses contain everything imaginable to support the search crews. Prescott’s has approximately 1,000 different types of equipment valued at more than $3 million.

The Central West Zone dispatch center receives requests for help in all kinds of disasters through the National Incident Command Center in Boise, Idaho, and also relays requests back, zone Coordinator Tom Tobin explained.

The dispatch center has a long list of disaster relief workers and contractors to call at a moment’s notice.

“We’re all risk, any time,” Tobin said. “We have the ability to set up and run logistics to accelerate the mission, no matter what the mission may be. Even the military has come to us to see how we can mobilize people.”

He and his crew have dispatched people everywhere from the World Trade Center on 9-11 to California in recent days to help fight back the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease in poultry.

Since its discovery in October, the disease has led to the destruction of more than two million birds while costing state and federal governments $35 million and the poultry industry $2 million. The last California outbreak, in the early 1970s, cost U.S. poultry and egg supply companies and taxpayers $56 million, and led to the death of 12 million birds.

The Prescott Fire Center has dispatched ground support units, public affairs officers, logistics chiefs and other personnel to help keep the outbreak in check.

Contact Joanna Dodder at jdodder@prescottaz.com or 445-8179, ext. 2035.



KNBC-TV, CA

Nearly 70,000 More Birds To Be Euthanized Due To Poultry Disease
Newcastle Now Taking Hold In San Diego County

POSTED: 3:20 p.m. PST February 19, 2003

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/1991814/detail.html

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. -- A third commercial poultry ranch in San Diego County has been hit by the exotic Newcastle disease, meaning 69,000 more birds will have to be destroyed.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, citing unnamed sources, said the ranch is close to a Valley Center ranch owned by Armstrong Farms which tested positive for the virus last week. State and federal officials do not disclose the location of affected ranches.

State and federal workers have begun euthanizing 150,000 birds at the Armstrong ranch.

The disease appeared in the county in December when it was found in a flock of 73,000 chickens at a ranch in Ramona.

Exotic Newcastle disease is highly contagious among poultry and other birds but does not pose a significant health risk to humans.

Gov. Gray Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded a quarantine zone for the disease.

Since October, when the disease was discovered in backyard flocks in Los Angeles County, more than 2 million birds have been destroyed.



Forbes

Chicken virus spreads to new Calif farm - USDA
Reuters, 02.19.03, 4:40 PM ET

http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2003/02/19/rtr884078.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An infectious avian disease has spread to another commercial poultry farm in California despite health officials killing more than 2 million birds to control the outbreak, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

Exotic Newcastle disease, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, has infected flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona.

Some experts theorized the outbreak began with illegal fighting cocks used for gambling or in small backyard flocks kept for food. Exotic Newcastle is easily spread by vehicles and wild birds and is tough to eradicate because many birds die without showing signs of infection.

California, the 9th-largest U.S. poultry producer, with sales of $3 billion annually, has been hardest hit by Exotic Newcastle Disease.

Thirteen commercial poultry farms in California have been infected, the USDA said. The disease was first discovered in October in a backyard flock in Southern California.

About 1,700 state and federal officials are randomly stopping cars and going door-to-door in search of infected birds in the three states.

The only way to eradicate the disease quickly in commercial poultry is by destroying infected flocks and imposing a strict quarantine. Health officials have killed 2.12 million birds and targeted 542,000 more. All contaminated or exposed chickens are killed, double-bagged and buried.

Industry officials said they were concerned about the continued spread of the disease but remained confident the virus would not cut total U.S. poultry exports. Foreign countries have banned poultry from the infected states.

Of the three affected states, California is the only major poultry producer. However, it is not a major exporter.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service



Tucson citizen, AZ

Deadly bird virus near Yuma sparks warnings to owners
LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
Feb. 20, 2003

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/2_19_03newcastle.html

Arizona officials are trying to put the kibosh on a deadly bird disease that already has taken the lives of nearly a million feathered creatures in California and recently was reported in this state, apparently introduced through fertilizer spread on a field near Yuma.

The disease, Exotic Newcastle Disease, is caused by a virus, considered a foreign animal disease in this country, said S. Peder Cuneo, an veterinarian with the University of Arizona, speaking at a news briefing today.

The virus represents a very potent threat to the poultry industry, he said. It is most severe when it invades flocks of chickens, peafowl, guinea, pheasant, quail, cockatiels, cockatoos and pigeon, he said. The mortality rate on infected birds is nearly 100 percent. Turkeys, Amazon parrots and other parrotlike birds develop a milder form of the disease, but they may be carriers.

In an effort to halt the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease, Cuneo said people with fowl should step up measures around their flocks and make sure any transport, sale or contact with birds is done only with certified-healthy animals.

Flock handlers are urged to clean and disinfect areas where the fowl are housed and to reduce or eliminate visits from people who are in contact with other flocks, he said. "Birds do not have to look sick to spread disease," he noted

Cuneo said other precautions include not handling or introducing any new bird to a flock, keeping any equipment used with other flocks away, including motor vehicles, which can carry the disease on debris on tires and undercarriage, and not sharing feed between flocks. Also, personal attire worn around other flocks should be considered as a possible source in infection, he said. The virus can be transported on clothing, shoes, in one's hair, even in the nasal and ear cavities of a person.

Bird swap meets, flea markets, bird markets, bird shows, aviaries, feed stores and pet shops should be considered possible places of contamination, he said. "If your visitors have birds of their own, do not let them near your birds."



San Jose Mercury News, CA

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5216157.htm

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. (AP) - A third commercial poultry ranch in San Diego County has been hit by the exotic Newcastle disease, meaning 69,000 more birds will have to be destroyed.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, citing unnamed sources, said the ranch is close to a Valley Center ranch owned by Armstrong Farms which tested positive for the virus last week. State and federal officials do not disclose the location of affected ranches.

State and federal workers have begun euthanizing 150,000 birds at the Armstrong ranch.

The disease appeared in the county in December when it was found in a flock of 73,000 chickens at a ranch in Ramona.

Exotic Newcastle Disease is highly contagious among poultry and other birds but does not pose a significant health risk to humans.

Gov. Gray Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded a quarantine zone for the disease.

Since October, when the disease was discovered in backyard flocks in Los Angeles County, more than 2 million birds have been destroyed.



KGTV, CA

Poultry Disease Hits Third San Diego Ranch
Exotic Newcastle Disease Costing Million Of Dollars To Fight

http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/1991083/detail.html

POSTED: 11:13 a.m. PST February 19, 2003
UPDATED: 11:19 a.m. PST February 19, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- Poultry on a third San Diego Ranch have been found to be infected with the exotic Newcastle disease, requiring the destruction of 69,000 birds, it was reported Wednesday.

The infection was discovered in Valley Center, close to a ranch owned by Armstrong Farms, whose birds tested positive for the virus last week, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Officials with the state and federal Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force would not disclose the ranch's name or location.

At the Armstrong ranch, on Cole Grade Road, state and federal workers were in the process of euthanizing its 150,000 birds

. The highly contagious avian virus has prompted state and federal authorities to quarantine eight Southern California counties and two in Arizona and Nevada.

Exotic Newcastle disease, which is harmless to humans, appeared in San Diego County in December when it was found in a flock of 73,000 chickens at Ramona Egg Enterprises in Ramona.

The disease's spread has forced authorities to order the destruction of 2.6 million birds.

County poultry farmers have been following strict measures to stop the spread of the disease, including restricting access to their ranches and requiring visitors to disinfect their shoes and vehicles before entering.



Agriculture.com

State ag depts. warn residents on poultry disease

http://www.agriculture.com/default.sph/AgNews.class?FNC=sideBarMore__ANewsindex_html___49381

Several State Departments of Agriculture are warning residents to keep an eye out for unusual clinical signs or unexplained deaths in poultry after a flock in Arizona was diagnosed with Exotic Newcastle Disease. The highly contagious viral disease originated in California and has now spread to Nevada and Arizona. Though not a threat to public health, the outbreak has officials concerned about a possible spread across the US. Movement of any type of birds out of quarantined areas would be illegal, since it poses a threat of spreading the disease, which could devastate poultry flocks and trade by preventing poultry exports. 02/17/2003 12:49 p.m.CDT



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Newcastle outbreak dampens County Fair contests
Students bummed about poultry shows being canceled
By L.C. GREENE, STAFF WRITER

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1188390,00.html

INDIO - Jurupa Valley High School agriculture students Danielle Kane and David Summers won't be showing their poultry at this week's Riverside County Fair.

David's 25 chickens remain quarantined in Jurupa and the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force euthanized Danielle's turkeys and chickens in December after the fowl apparently tested positive for the lethal and highly-contagious virus.

"They said they had to kill them," Danielle said.

Though the task force paid the 16-year-old Jurupa Valley Future Farmers of America chapter president some money for her birds, the final tally left her about $200 in the hole, she said.

"They're not cheap to feed," Danielle said.

The poultry-killing exotic Newcastle disease virus was initially detected in California in October.

Federal and state agriculture officials established quarantines for poultry and other birds in Riverside, San Bernardino and the five other Southern California counties. In addition, all poultry shows, including the Riverside County Fair's, were canceled.

The disease task force has been systematically testing commercial and backyard flocks, destroying those potentially or actually infected with the virus.

As of Tuesday, the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force reported killing more than 2.1 million commercial birds, with another 540,000 pegged for destruction.

More than 99,000 backyard birds at nearly 1,600 properties have been destroyed.

Danielle questioned whether her turkeys and chickens were actually infected, despite what task force members said about the test results. Thirty days passed between the tests and the day the fowl were euthanized, she said.

"If my birds had it, they should have died," she said.

A chicken will usually die three days after contracting the virus, she said.

Sixteen-year-old David Summers of Jurupa said his egg-laying chickens tested negative for the virus, however the birds remain quarantined.

Late last year before the disease outbreak, David's fowl earned $700 in prize money at the Perris Farmers Fair.

However, unable to enter contests or sell birds since the outbreak, David said he's now $300 to $400 in the red.

Efforts to find roosters to breed with his prize hens have also proved futile, he said.

"I couldn't find a person who wasn't quarantined," David said.

So, at this year's fair, FFA members are left with entering their non-feathered animals.

After winning a first place in Novice Showmanship and a second in Advanced Showmanship at the Farmers Fair, David said he expects his yet-to-be-named swine to fare well at this week's Riverside County Fair.

L.C. Greene can be reached by e-mail at l_greene@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9337.



Press-Enterprise, CA

Shelters deal differently with bird quarantine
QUARANTINE: Some Inland facilities won't accept or adopt out birds. Others are destroying them.

02/19/2003

By PAIGE AUSTIN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nashelter.a14d4.html

Lost and abandoned pet birds may be checking into local animal shelters, but chances are they won't be finding their way out.

Shelters in Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties have been put under quarantine because of exotic Newcastle disease. Some are destroying birds thought to have come in contact with the disease, officials said Tuesday.

Most shelters are not actively accepting or adopting out birds. People who want to retrieve their lost avian pets may have little luck if the wandering bird is at risk for exposure to the disease.

In the last month, the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force tested and destroyed birds at the Moreno Valley Animal Shelter and San Bernardino County's Devore shelter. Birds at the San Fernando Valley Animal Shelter also tested positive for the disease.

The task force said the state has not issued any directives to the shelters. However, most shelter officials know they should not be letting birds come and go, said Larry Cooper, task force spokesman.

Pet owners who want to retrieve their birds can "probably pay to test the birds," said Cooper. If a bird tests negative, the ownercan apply for a permit allowing the bird to be kept alive but quarantined, he said.

Some officials at local animal shelters aren't sure what the quarantine means.

"It's a confusing situation," said Betsy Ritchie, chief officer at the Moreno Valley Animal Shelter, where 63 fighting birds were destroyed last month.

The Devore shelter has destroyed all but one of its fighting birds after four tested positive for the disease. Only Olive, the shelter's pet ostrich, remains, said supervisor Chris Springer.

At the Riverside Animal Shelter, seemingly unexposed birds are safe to go.

"Can you bring birds out . . . and take them home? Yes, but you cannot leave the county with them," said Ralph Rivers, shelter spokesman.

Norco animal control officers have stopped picking up or adopting out birds, but that hasn't stopped the birds from coming into the shelter.

"We've had a lot of over-the-fence drop offs," said City Manager Ed Hatzenbuhler. "We put down the roosters and only keep some of the hens."

Reach Paige Austin at (909) 893-2106 or paustin@pe.com



Press-Enterprise, CA

Cost of Newcastle rises to $35 million
02/18/2003

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.pe.com/localnews/statenews/stories/PE.STATE.2003.0218.ap-newcastle.2187209a.html

LOS ANGELES -- Governments have spent more than $35 million and imposed quarantines in three states to stop the spread of a poultry disease that has stripped many farmers of their flocks and forced others to pay high disinfecting costs, industry officials say.

Since October, when the disease was discovered in backyard flocks in Los Angeles County, the federal government has spent $22 million and the state $13 million to pay for operating the Los Alamitos-based task force dealing with Exotic Newcastle Disease, Larry Cooper of the California Department of Agriculture said.

The poultry and egg industries are also drowning in new costs, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture-commissioned study. Those costs include disinfection and biosecurity upgrades, and losses in sales, exports and marketing.

"Even simple things, like disinfecting, are beyond the reach of a lot of farmers," Bahan said. "We're pretty much running on empty and have been for a while," said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in Riverside County's San Jacinto Valley.

Disinfectant alone is costing AAA between $400 and $600 a week, he said.

About 2.1 million birds have been destroyed since the disease was discovered.

Gov. Gray Davis and the USDA last month declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded the quarantine zone for the disease.

The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties without a USDA permit. The outbreak also has spread to Arizona and Nevada.

In the latest case, four Southern California commercial farms within the quarantine area tested positive for the disease in mid-February. About 410,000 chickens were ordered destroyed.

The disease, which does not affect humans, is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily discharges of infected birds.

The last California outbreak, in the early 1970s, cost U.S. poultry and egg supply companies and taxpayers $56 million, according to the USDA. It affected more than 1,300 flocks and 12 million birds.

"It's definitely costing industry big money in Southern California," said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation.

Poultry and egg producers have accumulated losses up to $2 million and face losing 5 percent of their business due to export bans, Mattos said.

Russia, Canada and Mexico all have placed bans on poultry and egg imports from the three infected states. Producers outside the quarantine areas are feeling the squeeze.

Metzer Farms, a duck and goose hatchery in Central California, has not been able to export internationally since November. The hatchery relied on Los Angeles International Airport to ship its live birds, but can no longer use it because it is within the quarantine area.

"We used to export quite a bit, mainly Canada, but some into Mexico," said owner John Metzer. "We've lost maybe 5 percent of business."

Squab Producers of California lost 10 percent to 20 percent of its business more than $100,000 in sales because it could not export its pigeons to Canada for the Chinese New Year this month. The Modesto-based company is the largest squab processing facility in the world.

"If indeed it isn't eradicated, and we do have problems with the actual disease, it could virtually, almost permanently, wipe out our entire industry," Squab president Bob Shipley said.

Facilities forced to destroy chickens lose production income for months or longer, said Ralph Ernst, a poultry specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Although the disease has not yet raised egg prices, egg farms have had to spend extra money on pressure sprayers, fencing, disinfectant and labor to fight the disease.

Time is important, for producers and consumers.

"We want things to move faster. ... Government moves like a battleship, industry moves like a speedboat. We'd like government to get into the speedboat," Mattos said.



Contra Costa Times, CA, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, Press-Enterprise, CA

Posted on Tue, Feb. 18, 2003

Cost of fighting Exotic Newcastle Disease rises to $35 million

NADA EL SAWY
Associated Press -Many Sources

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/5207756.htm
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030218&Category=APN&ArtNo=302180767&Ref=AR
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_AGR_Poultry_Disease_97947C.shtml

LOS ANGELES - The state and federal government have spent $35 million to fight a deadly poultry disease in Southern California that has led to the destruction of 2.1 million birds and losses are mounting for poultry and egg producers inside and outside a seven-county quarantine area, industry and state officials said.

The outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease was first discovered in October in backyard flocks in Los Angeles County and the disease has since spread to nearby counties and into Arizona and Nevada.

"END (Exotic Newcastle Disease) is clearly not under control," said Ralph Ernst, a poultry specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Gov. Gray Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded the quarantine zone within the state for the disease. The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties without a USDA permit.

In the latest case, four Southern California commercial farms within the quarantine area last week tested positive for the disease. About 410,000 chickens will be destroyed.

As of the first week of February, the federal government had spent $22 million and the state $13 million to finance the operational costs of the Los Alamitos-based task force dealing with the poultry disease, said Larry Cooper of the California Department of Agriculture.

The disease also has led to a multitude of costs for the poultry and egg industry, according to a USDA-commissioned study. Expenses include the costs of disinfections and biosecurity upgrades, and losses in sales, exports and marketing.

The disease, which does not affect humans, is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily discharges of infected birds.

The last California outbreak, in the early 1970s, cost U.S. poultry and egg supply companies and taxpayers $56 million, according to the USDA. It affected more than 1,300 flocks and 12 million birds.

"It's definitely costing industry big money in Southern California," said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation.

Poultry and egg producers have absorbed production losses of at least $1 million to $2 million and also face losing 5 percent of their business due to export bans, said Mattos.

Russia, Canada and Mexico all have placed bans on poultry and egg imports from the three infected states, and the bans are affecting producers inside and outside the quarantine area.

Metzer Farms, a duck and goose hatchery in central California, has not been able to export internationally since November. The hatchery also relied on Los Angeles International Airport to ship its live birds, but can no longer use LAX because it is within the quarantine area.

"We used to export quite a bit, mainly Canada, but some into Mexico," said owner John Metzer. "We've lost maybe five percent of business."

Squab Producers of California lost 10 to 20 percent of its business - more than $100,000 in sales - because it could not export squab this month to Canada for the Chinese New Year. The Modesto-based company is the largest squab processing facility in the world.

"If indeed it isn't eradicated, and we do have problems with the actual disease, it could virtually, almost permanently, wipe out our entire industry," said Bob Shipley, president of Squab Producers.

Facilities forced to destroy chickens lose production income for months or longer, said Ernst of the UC Cooperative Extension.

Although the disease has not yet impacted egg prices, egg farms have had to spend extra money on pressure sprayers, fencing, disinfectant and labor to fight the disease.

Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in Riverside County's San Jacinto Valley, said he has been spending between $400 and $600 a week on disinfectant alone.

"Even simple things, like disinfecting, are beyond the reach of a lot of farmers," said Bahan. "We're pretty much running on empty, and have been for a while."

Cooper, who is part of the poultry disease task force, said it is "certainly possible" that there will be more reports of the disease, especially within the quarantine area.

"It's a huge task, and it's a dangerous problem," Cooper said. "I'm not sure how you can measure that in low-cost, high-cost terms."



Buckmasters Online

Feb 18, 2003
Exotic Bird Disease Found in Arizona
From the Arizona Game and Fish Dept.

http://www.buckmasters.com/more_buckmasters/zones/features/030211Z11Exotic.html

Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) has been confirmed in Arizona. On Feb. 4 END was confirmed in a backyard poultry flock in western Arizona, leading to the quarantine of portions of three Arizona counties.

End is a contagious viral disease affecting many species of birds including poultry and wild birds. The Arizona Game and Fish Department asks hunters and bird watchers to be on the alert for wild birds that may exhibit symptoms of this disease. This is probably one of the most infectious diseases of poultry in the world with a death rate of almost 100 percent in unvaccinated poultry flocks and so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. The disease can even infect and cause death in vaccinated poultry.

END is extremely contagious. The spread is primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily fluids of infected birds. It can be transmitted through infected bird droppings as well as secretions from the nose, mouth and eyes. It spreads rapidly among confined birds like commercially raised chickens. The disease is also easily spread by virus-bearing material picked up on shoes and clothing and carried from an infected flock to a healthy one. END can also spread from poultry flocks to wildlife as wild birds come into contact with infected poultry, possibly when wild birds enter a pen to feed on spilled grain. Although experiments have documented that several wild species including ducks and pheasants can develop the disease, widespread illness and death has only been documented in double-crested cormorants in the United States and Canada.

This disease affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems, with an incubation period ranging from two to 15 days. Infected birds may exhibit the following signs:

* Respiratory: sneezing, gasping for air, nasal discharge, coughing
* Digestive: greenish, watery diarrhea
* Nervous: muscular tremors, droopy wings, twisting head & neck, circling, complete paralysis
* Partial or complete reduction in egg production
* Production of thin-shelled eggs
* Swelling of the tissues around the eyes & in the neck
* Sudden death
* Increased number of deaths in a flock

The available information suggests that Newcastle disease can affect people, however, it does not pose a significant health risk. In humans, the disease is usually limited to conjunctivitis, which is a mild inflammation of the tissues around the eyes and is seen in persons associated with infected birds or facilities where infected birds are housed. It should be noted that poultry products in the Arizona marketplace, including eggs and meat, continue to be safe to consume.

Anyone interested in additional information or an update of restrictions in the movement of birds in Arizona can contact the Arizona Department of Agriculture hotline at 1-888-742-5334 or the Arizona Department of Agriculture Web site: agriculture.state.az.us. Specific questions are being handled through e-mail to statevet@agric.state.az.us.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture also maintains a current web site with information on Newcastle Disease: aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/enc/exoticnc.html



Las Vegas Sun, NV

February 17, 2003

No new Newcastle infections reported
By Mary Manning

LAS VEGAS SUN

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/2003/feb/17/514674701.html

Federal and state officials are getting closer to declaring Nevada free of exotic Newcastle disease.

No cases of infection in Southern Nevada birds have been confirmed in a few weeks, but before officials can say the disease has been eradicated in the Silver State, further monitoring is necessary, said Dr. David Thain, state veterinarian.

The quarantine that took effect Jan. 16, after the infection was discovered in chickens near Nellis Air Force Base, remains in place.

"We have eliminated the risks of known infected or contaminated birds and materials spreading the disease to other areas," Thain said.

Once an area a little over a half-mile around the previously infected area is declared disease-free, fresh poultry will be introduced. The disease-free birds are known as sentinel birds, Thain said.

"If our sentinel birds remain healthy, then we can declare eradication," Thain said.

To date, nine citations have been issued for violating the quarantine. Ten investigations have been initiated.

Violators of the quarantine order could result in fines up to $600 and other civil penalties up to $25,000.

Owners can protect their poultry, racing pigeon flocks or pet birds by avoiding contact with infected birds, officials said.

Exotic Newcastle disease does not pose a risk to humans.



Union Tribune, CA

More infected birds reported in county
Exotic Newcastle disease hits flocks
By Elizabeth Fitzsimons
STAFF WRITER
February 16, 2003

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/sun/metro/news_1m16newcast.html

Two more cases of exotic Newcastle disease have been found in San Diego County, a state and federal task force announced.

One of the new cases of infected birds were involved backyard chickens, Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said Friday. But he would not say where the infected flock was found. Details about the newest case, announced yesterday, were unavailable.

Earlier in the week, Cooper said it was the policy of the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force not to release locations of diseased flocks. He said the policy was a safeguard against further spread of the disease.

"The danger is spreading the virus and the more people that know, the more curious they get," Cooper said. "Even reporters hanging around and not taking the right precautions. And they go onto the property that's infected, and they go somewhere else and then it's infected."

Cooper said the task force also does not name commercial ranches where infections have been found because doing so could imply the ranch had done something wrong and the publicity could hurt its business.

Officials also announced Friday that a San Bernardino poultry ranch tested positive for the disease. That ranch was the 13th commercial facility to become infected in Southern California since the outbreak was confirmed in Los Angeles County in October.

The ranch has about 16,000 chickens that will be destroyed. The task force has not finished appraising those birds or the ones in four commercial facilities that tested positive for exotic Newcastle earlier last week, including one in Valley Center.

Ranch owners are paid fair market value for their flock before the birds are euthanized.

The task force has changed the way it will handle some birds inside a quarantine zone, which includes eight Southern California counties and one each in Arizona and Nevada.

Birds that test positive for exotic Newcastle will continue to be euthanized. But in cases where birds are near infected birds, but haven't caught the disease and the owners can show they have a bio-security program in place, the birds will not be destroyed.

Further information about exotic Newcastle disease and the quarantine can be found on the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site, http://www.cdfa.ca.gov,cq or by calling the Exotic Newcastle Disease Hotline: (800) 491-1899.

Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.



KESQ, CA

Local Country Club battles geese

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=1135805&nav=9qrxE32n

For some it's the sand, for others it's the wind. The things that cause headaches for folks living in the desert. For one group in Rancho Mirage, it's the snowbirds.

Let's be clear, these really are snowbirds. Canada geese on their way to Mexico stopping in and making a home out of it here. But anyone who knows anything about geese knows they can be a real pain.

It's a story for the birds, or about them as the case may be.

Lake Mirage Country Club prides itself on it's swan population, but Canada geese and other migratory birds have been crashing the party.

"They're not supposed to stay," says one resident. "They're supposed to keep going to Mexico. But when people feed them, they stay. They're getting a free lunch."

The problem isn't so much the birds but what the birds leave behind again the free lunch.

The droppings are so bad dozens of homeowners met Monday morning to figure out what to do about the situation.

A few solutions to the problem have been proposed. One: reduce the number of feeders intended for the swans, but taken advantage of by the geese. Many folks we talked to today however seem reluctant about this.

"I love the geese. I don't want to see them go."

And there's some question of whether it's the food that's attracting the birds in the first place.

"I believe it's the 25 acres of lake that and the freshly mowed grass."

While the debate over what to do about the problem continues the problem itself is getting messier by the day. The only thing everyone seems to be able to agree on is that these snowbirds aren't going anywhere anytime soon. They're here to stay at least until it's time to head back home for the summer.

Recently there's been a lot of talk about Newcastle disease, a highly contagious disease that affects pretty much anything with a feather.

Newcastle disease has hit the southland hard. The highly contagious poultry infection has spread from chickens to exotic birds and beyond. What are the chances then that migratory birds could bring the disease to the desert?

All this water fowl has some residents concerned about Newcastle disease. Homeowners flocked to an informational meeting Monday morning, and heard good news. Linda York with the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center says there's not much to worry about.

"The Newcastle with the water fowl is not a major problem."

So if the health risks are minimal, folks here say the problem somewhat boils down to aesthetics. Who wants bird droppings all over the place? Aesthetics and, practicality.

But while the abundance of bird droppings bothers some, others say the trade off is worth it.

"The swans, the geese. It's a small price to pay for watching your step."

And experts say likely, they won't have to go. Not because of Newcastle Disease anyway. The droppings may be another matter. Especially if these snowbirds decide they like Country Club living.



Elk Valley Times, TN

TDA issues precaution to poultry producers, bird enthusiasts

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1618&dept_id=160496&newsid=7081572&PAG=461&rfi=9

February 17, 2003

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has recommended precautionary measures for commercial poultry producers, game fowl breeders and bird enthusiasts to guard against the possible spread of exotic Newcastle disease (END) to the state. "Tennessee's poultry industry in one of the fastest growing sector of agriculture and the second largest generators of farm income," said state Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens. "We want to do everything we can protect our producers and to work with bird breeders in guarding against this potentially catastrophic poultry disease."

END is an especially virulent and fatal disease affecting all species of birds. In October, the disease was diagnosed in game fowl in California and since has been found in several commercial poultry operations and, most recently, in game fowl in Nevada and Arizona. USDA has joined state health officials in mounting an intensive effort at culminating the costly disease from the U.S. So far, more than 2 million birds have been depopulated in the western states.

"Although there is no indication that Tennessee is directly threatened by this poultry disease, it is important that poultry growers and bird enthusiasts be aware of the signs of exotic Newcastle disease and take steps to safeguard their investment," said state veterinarian Ron Wilson, DVM.

END is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily discharges of infected birds.

The disease does not affect human health but can be easily transmitted from farm to farm through virus-bearing material picked up on shoes, clothing and machinery.

According to Wilson, END affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of birds. Incubation for the disease ranges for two to 15 days. An infected bird may exhibit respiratory problems such as sneezing, nasal discharge, coughing, nervous disorders such as muscular tremors, circling or paralysis, a decrease in egg production or the production of thin-shelled eggs; swelling around the eyes and neck; sudden death or increased death loss.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture offers some tips to poultry producers for strengthening biosecurity for the protection of their flocks: permit only essential workers and vehicles on the premises; provide clean clothing and disinfection facilities for employees; clean and disinfect vehicles (including tires and undercarriages) entering and leaving the premises; avoid visiting other poultry operations; maintain an "all-in," "all-out" philosophy of flock management with single age flocks; control movement of all poultry and products from farm to farm; do not "skim" mature birds for sale to live-poultry markets; clean and disinfect poultry houses between each lot of birds; do not keep pet birds on the farm.

Do not hire employees who own pet birds; exclude service personnel who may have been in contact with other poultry operations within 24 hours; protect flocks from wild birds that may try to nest in poultry houses or feed with domesticated birds; control movements associated with the disposal and handling of bird carcasses, litter and manure; take diseased birds to a diagnostic laboratory for examination.

For pet bird and backyard poultry enthusiasts, the department recommends the following: request certification from suppliers that birds are legally imported or are of U.S. stock, are healthy prior to shipment and will be transported in new or thoroughly disinfected containers; maintain records of all sales and shipments of flocks; isolate all newly purchased birds for at least 30 days; and restrict movement of personnel between new and old birds.

TDA's Kord Animal Disease Laboratory at Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville offers a wide range of diagnostic services. More information about END can be found at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service web site at www.aphis.usda.gov.

©Elk Valley Times 2003



Wisconsin Ag Connection, WI

More Poultry Disease Found in California
USAgNet Editors - 02/17/2003

http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.cfm?Id=197&yr=2003

Four more commercial poultry farms in California have been found with birds infected with exotic Newcastle disease. Exotic Newcastle disease, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, has infected flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona. Some experts believe the outbreak began with illegal fighting cocks used for gambling or as part of backyard flocks kept for food.

Exotic Newcastle is easily spread by vehicles and wild birds and is tough to eradicate because many birds die without showing signs of infection. California, the 9th largest U.S. poultry producer with sales of $3 billion annually, has been hit the hardest by the outbreak.



CFBF.com : Food & Farm News

FOOD & FARM NEWS
(Issue date: Monday, February 17, 2003)

http://www.cfbf.com/ffn/default.asp

Egg prices unaffected by chicken disease

The devastating disease hitting Southern California chickens has had little impact on egg prices, so far. More than 2 million chickens and other birds have been destroyed as a result of exotic Newcastle disease. But industry analysts say the birds were a small percentage of California's overall laying flock. The disease was confirmed (Friday) in a 13th commercial flock, within the current quarantine zone in San Bernardino County



San Bernardino Sun, CA

Article Last Updated: Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 11:25:18 PM MST
Farmers: Illness adds injury to economy's insult
By ALAN SCHNEPF, Staff Writer

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1185000,00.html

YUCAIPA - Jim Hoover used to get paid a few cents each for the hens culled out of his egg ranch in Yucaipa when they became too old to be productive.

But thanks to the outbreak of a deadly and highly contagious disease called exotic Newcastle, the old hens that once were an asset as an ingredient in things like canned chicken soup have turned into a liability.

The 670,000 birds at Hoover's ranch on the north side of Yucaipa do not have the disease. But like most egg ranchers in Southern California, he is seeing its effects on his bottom line.

And the added expense of dealing with Newcastle has arrived during the California egg industry's worst slump in history.

The disease, which does not pose a danger to humans, is now in its fifth month of ravaging Southern California poultry flocks.

Since its discovery in a backyard chicken flock in Compton in September, state and federal agriculture officials mandated a quarantine for all of Southern California. From San Diego to Needles to Ventura, birds can come in, but they can't go out.

Before the quarantine went into effect, Hoover shipped his old hens to Tulare County, where they were slaughtered and processed as canned chicken. The tough older birds don't make good fryers.

But with the quarantine in effect, Hoover can't send his non-productive birds up north. He has to kill his birds at his ranch and send them to a rendering plant in Los Angeles County.

Last week, for the first time since the Newcastle outbreak, Hoover had some chickens to cull. Instead of shipping live hens up to Tulare County as he had for years, Hoover had to figure out how to kill 100,000 birds. Because it was a job he had never done before, Hoover said, he had to learn on the fly, and it became a logistical nightmare.

The problem expanded as the truck loaded with the dead hens sat outside during a warm weekend. The mass of birds swelled in the heat. By Monday, they were overflowing the side of the truck. A neighbor complained to San Bernardino County Vector Control.

The problem has since been cleared up, and Hoover isn't going to let chickens sit outside over weekends any more, said Joan Mulcare, a manager for the San Bernardino Division of Environmental Health Services.

Hoover's problem, and the expense and extra work associated with it, is just one example of how exotic Newcastle is straining an already distressed California egg industry.

Hoover's delivery drivers spend an hour disinfecting themselves and their clothes and trucks every day so they don't spread the disease. One infected feather or a speck of chicken manure on the bottom of a shoe or a tire can transfer exotic Newcastle disease.

The time spent dealing with Newcastle is time that used to be spent packing and shipping eggs. The eggs also have to be sanitized before being shipped. Plastic shipping materials are being used instead of paper, and that can cost more, too. Hoover said the expenses add up.

But it's not as bad as having infected chickens.

If a single bird in a flock of 1 million tests positive, all of them will be destroyed in an attempt to eradicate the disease. The government pays owners fair market value for the euthanized birds.

The discovery of the disease at five more commercial ranches recently brings the number of infected ranches to 13. An emergency task force of more than 1,300 workers has also found the disease in about 1,700 backyard flocks.

About 2.4 million birds have been euthanized or are slated to be killed to slow the spread of Newcastle. Fighting the disease so far has cost taxpayers more than $30 million.

But the people who are suffering the most are egg ranchers. The producers say that since 1999, it has cost more to produce the eggs than wholesalers are willing to pay.

Egg ranchers have always experienced up and down markets, but the current downturn has been the most severe today's farmers can remember.

"These last 3 years have easily been the worst in history,' said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in Lakeview. "A lot of guys who were here in the fall of '99 are gone.'

And now those who are still around have to deal with an epidemic of one of the world's most destructive poultry diseases.

"Everybody's down on their knees, and if you get the disease it could be the difference between surviving and not surviving,' Hoover said.

Bahan, who maintains a flock of 640,000 birds, said gigantic Midwestern farms are difficult to compete with. Their land is cheaper, they deal with fewer regulations and they can save money growing their own feed. Feeding chickens can amount to 60 percent of an egg rancher's expenses, he said.

So when a flock tests positive for Newcastle, producers must decide whether it's time to depart the business.

"For a guy who's been losing money for three years, this could be the first sizable check in a long time,' Bahan said of egg ranchers who are reimbursed if birds are euthanized because of the disease. "Do you put it back in? For the producer, that has to be a powerful thought.'

Ron Arnott, the owner of Arnott Citrus and Poultry Ranch in Mentone, had more than 130,000 hens in 2001.

But the tough market prompted him to sell off his Redlands land for a housing development and move to Mentone. Today he has 300 birds and is shooting for a niche market selling "range-laid' eggs.

His family has been in the business since the late 1940s and he's not sure how long it can keep going.

"If you put out 5,000 or 7,000 dozen a day, you can't do that for long,' Arnott said. "We have been selling assets property to pay for our habit of staying in the egg industry.'

Don Bell, a poultry specialist now retired from the University of California, said the industry will survive, but that there will be a shakeout of some of the smaller producers who get hit with Newcastle.

He said it helps that California is at an egg deficit: More eggs are eaten by Californians than are produced in the state.

"Is there a future for the egg industry in Southern California? Yes, there is. It's important to be close to your market,' Bell said.

And even though Newcastle is hitting the industry during an already tough period, it may hurt less than if it had struck when farmers were turning a profit.

"I think (egg farmers) would probably be more irritated if it happened when it's doing good,' said John Gardner, deputy chief agricultural commissioner for San Bernardino County. Still, Gardner said, he knows one rancher who would get out of the business if his flock were hit with Newcastle.

"I can't say I blame him. How long do you stay in something where you're losing money?'



Union Tribune, CA

Exotic Newcastle disease hits flocks

By Elizabeth Fitzsimons
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 16, 2003

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030216-9999_1m16newcast.html

Two more cases of exotic Newcastle disease have been found in San Diego County, a state and federal task force announced.

One of the new cases of infected birds were involved backyard chickens, Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said Friday. But he would not say where the infected flock was found. Details about the newest case, announced yesterday, were unavailable.

Earlier in the week, Cooper said it was the policy of the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force not to release locations of diseased flocks. He said the policy was a safeguard against further spread of the disease.

"The danger is spreading the virus and the more people that know, the more curious they get," Cooper said. "Even reporters hanging around and not taking the right precautions. And they go onto the property that's infected, and they go somewhere else and then it's infected."

Cooper said the task force also does not name commercial ranches where infections have been found because doing so could imply the ranch had done something wrong and the publicity could hurt its business.

Officials also announced Friday that a San Bernardino poultry ranch tested positive for the disease. That ranch was the 13th commercial facility to become infected in Southern California since the outbreak was confirmed in Los Angeles County in October.

The ranch has about 16,000 chickens that will be destroyed. The task force has not finished appraising those birds or the ones in four commercial facilities that tested positive for exotic Newcastle earlier last week, including one in Valley Center.

Ranch owners are paid fair market value for their flock before the birds are euthanized.

The task force has changed the way it will handle some birds inside a quarantine zone, which includes eight Southern California counties and one each in Arizona and Nevada.

Birds that test positive for exotic Newcastle will continue to be euthanized. But in cases where birds are near infected birds, but haven't caught the disease and the owners can show they have a bio-security program in place, the birds will not be destroyed.


Further information about exotic Newcastle disease and the quarantine can be found on the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site, http://www.cdfa.ca.gov,cq or by calling the Exotic Newcastle Disease Hotline: (800) 491-1899.



San Bernardino Sun, CA

Article Last Updated: Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 12:45:36 AM MST

Bird owners cry fowl at community meeting about exotic Newcastle
By L.C. GREENE, Staff Writer

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1183355,00.html

PEDLEY - Angry fowl owners and breeders charged the Exotic Newscastle Disease Task Force on Friday with applying its rules haphazardly, at times eradicating the wrong flocks, and in general failing to provide adequate information to bird and poultry breeders.

Those owners leveled the criticism during a three-hour task force information meeting sponsored by the Mira Loma Chamber of Commerce that attracted more than 60 people to the Jurupa Valley Community Center in Pedley.

"You may have rules, but you don't go by them,' Susan Swallow of Norco said of the task force's methods.

Some poultry ranchers breeding and improperly transporting game cocks for illegal fighting are getting bypassed while uninfected pet birds are being destroyed without adequate avenues for appeal, she said.

The poultry-killing exotic Newcastle Disease virus was first detected in California in October last year. The disease Task Force, consisting of state and federal agencies, has established quarantines in all seven Southern California counties and is systematically testing commercial and backyard flocks.

Infected or potentially infected flocks are targeted for destruction.

Though some of the harsh assessments Friday night might spring from misperceptions or false rumors, the task force is making every effort to listen to bird owners and correct problems, said David Castellan, task force member and California Department of Food and Agriculture veterinarian.

"If it's broke, we want to fix it,' he said.

Castellan agreed the task force's toll free information line has experienced problems with callers complaining they can't reach the right people.

"We need to make that 800 system work better,' Castellan said.

The task force is also attempting to speed up its appeals process for ranchers whose birds are slated for destruction, he said.

Susan Henry, of Muscoy, said a slow and unresponsive appeals process failed to save her flock of mostly pet geese, ducks and chickens.

"I've lost every bird I owned,' she said, noting that her birds were not tested for the disease.

Castellan agreed to look into the complaints lodged by Henry and other bird owners.

Flocks selected for destruction either have tested positive for exotic Newcastle or have come into contact with infected flocks, he said.

The Mira Loma Chamber of Commerce agreed to host a second information meeting in about 45 days.

Though Swallow criticized the task force for unfair enforcement, she appealed to fellow ranchers to support the effort to eradicate the virus.

"They are not the enemy,' she said of the task force members. "They have a really hard job.'



San Bernardino Sun, CA

Another area egg ranch is stricken
16,000 more birds destruction target
By ALAN SCHNEPF, Staff Writer

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1183244,00.html

A state agriculture official said Saturday that a seventh commercial egg ranch in San Bernardino County has tested positive for exotic Newcastle disease, adding 16,000 more chickens to the list of birds to be killed.

Larry Cooper, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, would not disclose the name or address of the ranch. But he said he believes it is southwest of the Cajon Pass, where several cases of Newcastle have been confirmed recently.

Last week, workers from a task force set up to eradicate Newcastle started the process of destroying about 72,000 birds at the 6-M Ranch near Fontana.

Authorities say exotic Newcastle disease poses no danger to humans and that poultry and eggs are safe to consume.

Although the disease appears occasionally on an isolated basis, the current outbreak is the worst since the early 1970s, when agriculture workers spent about $56 million and killed 12 million chickens.

About 2.4 million chickens have been or are scheduled to be killed since Newcastle's presence was confirmed in a backyard flock of birds in Compton on Oct. 1.

Because of its highly contagious nature, state and federal officials will destroy an entire flock if a single bird tests positive for the disease.

After finding Newcastle in backyard flocks, officials quickly set up a quarantine in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties on Oct. 3.

The quarantine banned taking birds outside of each county, but it failed to keep the disease out of the region's commercial egg ranches.

About 60 percent of the state's eggs are produced in Southern California, according to Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation.

Positive tests for the disease have since widened the quarantine to San Diego, Orange, Imperial and Ventura counties, as well as counties in western Nevada and Arizona.

Cooper said a flurry of positive tests in recent weeks does not necessarily indicate the spread of Newcastle is accelerating because there is a time lag between infection and the confirmation of a positive test.

The emergency task force has set up a weekly testing regimen at commercial egg ranches to prevent Newcastle from spreading.

Noncommercial bird owners, meanwhile, are being encouraged to monitor their flocks and call California's Newcastle hotline at (800) 491-1899 if they suspect the disease may be present.

For more information, go to www.cdfa.ca.gov



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Article Last Updated: Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 3:46:00 AM MST

Newcastle enforcers accused of bungled job
By L.C. GREENE, STAFF WRITER

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1183329,00.html

PEDLEY -- Angry fowl owners and breeders charged the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force Friday with applying its rules haphazardly, at times eradicating the wrong flocks, and in general failing to provide adequate information to bird and poultry breeders.

Those owners leveled the criticism during a three-hour task force information meeting sponsored by the Mira Loma Chamber of Commerce that attracted more than 60 people to the Jurupa Valley Community Center in Pedley.

"You may have rules, but you don't go by them," Susan Swallow of Norco said of the task force's methods.

Some poultry ranchers breeding and improperly transporting game cocks for illegal fighting are getting bypassed while uninfected pet birds are being destroyed without adequate avenues for appeal, she said.

The poultry-killing exotic Newcastle disease was first detected in California in October of last year. The disease task force, consisting of state and federal agencies, has established quarantines in all seven Southern California counties and is systematically testing commercial and backyard flocks.

Infected or potentially infected flocks are targeted for destruction.

Though some of the harsh assessments Friday night might spring from misperceptions or false rumors, the task force is making every effort to listen to bird owners and correct problems, said task force member and California Department of Food and Agriculture veterinarian David Castellan.

"If it's broke, we want to fix it," he said.

Castellan agreed the task force's toll free information line effort has experienced problems with callers complaining they can't reach the right people.

"We need to make that 800 system work better," Castellan said.

The task force is also attempting to speed up its appeals process for ranchers whose birds are slated for destruction, he said.

A slow and unresponsive appeals process failed to save her flock of mostly pet geese, ducks, and chickens, said Susan Henry of Muscoy.

"I've lost every bird I owned," she said, noting that her birds were not tested for the disease.

Castellan agreed to look into the complaints lodged by Henry and other bird growers.

Flocks selected for destruction either have tested positive for exotic Newcastle disease or have come into contact with infected flocks, he noted.

The Mira Loma Chamber of Commerce agreed to host a second information meeting in about 45 days.

Though Swallow criticized the task force for unfair enforcement, she appealed to fellow ranchers to support the effort to eradicate the virus.

"They are not the enemy," she said of the task force members. "They have a really hard job."

L.C. Greene can be reached via e-mail atl_greene@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9337.



READ THIS ONE!

Los Angeles Times, CA

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ontario/news/la-ivo-newcastlenu15feb15,1,5514565.story

February 15, 2003
Inland Valley Voice
By Matthew Chin, Inland Valley Voice

A government task force assigned to eradicate a deadly avian disease has scaled back its rules for destroying backyard flocks.

Previously, all birds housed close to a flock infected with exotic Newcastle disease were scheduled to be destroyed. There was no distinction between commercial flocks and a family's pet chicken, nor whether a bird was infected or likely to become infected.

Area bird owners protested that policy, saying their animals were more than a commercial commodity or producer of eggs, but beloved family pets.

"They have to remember that these are people's pets," said Mike Swallow, a Corona resident with 17 chickens, 20 ducks and two geese.

The new policy released by the disease eradication task force spares birds who are not infected on property where the owner has demonstrated valid "biosecurity" steps to prevent the spread of Newcastle disease. Still, the owners must keep the birds quarantined.

The disease is not considered harmful to humans.

While the backyard bird owners can feel more at ease, the task force has not scaled back its operations.

Disease eradication task force officials said Friday that fowl at a seventh commercial egg ranch in San Bernardino County are infected with the disease.

The ranch's 17,000 hens pushed the county's total of birds that have been or will be destroyed to more than 1.7 million. That's a significant portion of the estimated 4 million to 4.5 million egg-laying hens in the county. Eggs are San Bernardino County's fourth-largest agriculture commodity, bringing in about $26.2 million a year.

This latest outbreak of the disease was first found in backyard flocks in Los Angeles County in October. The outbreak has since spread to five other Southern California counties and is concentrated in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It also has spread to Nevada and Arizona.

Thirteen Southern California egg ranches are infected with the disease. They house 2.4 million birds that will be or have been destroyed.

To keep their contracts, area egg ranches have to import eggs from outside the state, said Grif Thomas, a San Bernardino County agriculture enforcement officer.

Thomas said an outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s forced several smaller egg ranches out of business. It could happen again, he said.

"It would not surprise me that some businesses might not be here when this is all said and over with," Thomas said.



Los Angeles Times, CA

February 15, 2003
Landfills accept diseased chickens

Workers take precautions to ensure that carcasses or trucks will not spread avian virus.
By Buck Wargo, Inland Valley Voice
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ontario/news/la-ivo-landfill15feb15,1,2947086.story

A San Bernardino County-owned landfill in north Rialto has been the center of controversy over perchlorate contamination of ground water, but few have batted an eye over it becoming the dumping ground for tons of diseased, dead chickens. Nearly 190 tons of birds killed at egg ranches across the county have been dumped at the Mid-Valley Landfill and more truckloads are expected as exotic Newcastle disease continues to spread among commercial and backyard flocks, said Peter Wulfman, manager of the county agency that oversees the landfill.

More than 1.7 million birds have been infected in San Bernardino County and nearly 2 million birds in California have been killed. The carcasses are being disposed of at landfills near the viral outbreaks, but Mid-Valley has been the busiest.

There is no danger from the decomposition of the birds leaching into the ground water supply, Wulfman said. Perchlorate, a component of solid rocket fuel, leeched into the ground water from munitions and fireworks storage on what is now county-owned land adjacent to the landfill. News of the chemical contamination prompted outrage from water companies serving Rialto and Fontana because perchlorate was found in their wells.

The portion of the landfill where the chickens are being disposed of opened a year ago and is a state-of-the-art cell with clay lining and a rubber membrane to contain the waste, Wulfman said.

"We feel totally safe that the chickens will not cause any problems and seep in the water," Rialto Councilman Kurt Wilson said. "I am sure our best interests are being looked at."

The lone complaint over dumping diseased birds at the 45-year-old landfill came in mid-January when landfill operators were leaving carcasses uncovered until the end of the day. Rialto officials and others were concerned the disease would be spread by birds picking at the carcasses, but workers began covering the birds immediately with dirt and trash. Landfill workers also use noisemakers to scare away any birds that fly into the site.

"I think they are taking serious precautions now, and we don't have any concern of the disease spreading," said Rich Scanlon, Rialto's director of airport and waste management.

There has never been a case of wild birds contracting the diseases from diseased carcasses, said Larry Cooper, a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

The precautions being taken at the landfill to prevent the disease from spreading are extensive, Wulfman said. Dump trucks that arrive with the dead carcasses are isolated from other vehicles and are disinfected before they leave the grounds.



Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA

Article Last Updated: Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 9:40:40 PM MST

Fighting off bird disease proves costly
By Alan Schnepf
Staff Writer

http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21478~1183425,00.html

YUCAIPA - Jim Hoover used to get paid a few cents each for the hens culled from his egg ranch in Yucaipa when they became too old to be productive.

But thanks to the outbreak of a deadly and highly contagious virus called exotic Newcastle disease, the old hens once considered an asset as staple ingredients for foods like canned chicken soup have become a liability.

Hoover, who has 670,000 birds at his ranch on the north side of Yucaipa, hasn't been hit by the disease. But, like most egg ranchers in Southern California, he finds the disease is hitting his bottom line.

And the added expense of dealing with Newcastle has arrived during the California egg industry's worst slump in history.

The disease, which does not pose a danger to humans, is now in its fifth month of ravaging Southern California poultry flocks.

Since the discovery of an infected backyard chicken flock in Compton last September, state and federal agriculture officials mandated a quarantine for all of Southern California. From San Diego to Ventura, birds can come in, but they can't go out.

Before the quarantine went into effect, Hoover used to ship the old hens to Tulare County, where they were slaughtered and processed into canned chicken. The older birds don't make good meat for fryers.

But with the quarantine in effect, Hoover can't send his nonproductive birds up north. He has to kill his birds at his ranch and send them to a rendering plant in Los Angeles.

Earlier this month, for the first time since the Newcastle outbreak, Hoover had some chickens to cull. Instead of shipping live hens up to Tulare County as he had for years, Hoover had to figure out how to kill 100,000 birds. Because it's a job he'd never done before, Hoover said he had to learn how to do it on the fly - and it became a logistical nightmare.

A truck loaded with dead hens sat outside during a warm weekend. The subsequent expansion made the mass of dead hens swell. By Monday, bird remains were pouring over the side of the truck.

The problem has since been cleared up. Hoover isn't going to let chicken carcasses sit outside during weekends any more, said Joan Mulcare, a manager for the San Bernardino Division of Environmental Health Services.

Hoover's problem, and the expense and extra work associated with it, is just one example of how Newcastle is straining an already distressed California egg industry.

Hoover's delivery drivers spend an hour disinfecting themselves and their clothes and their trucks every day so they don't spread the disease. One infected feather or a speck of chicken manure on the bottom of a shoe or a tire can transfer exotic Newcastle disease.

The time spent dealing with Newcastle is time that used to be spent packing and shipping eggs. The eggs also have to be sanitized before being shipped. Plastic shipping materials are being used instead of paper, and that can cost more, too. Hoover said the expenses add up.

But that's not as bad as dealing with birds infected with the disease.

If a single bird in a flock of 1 million tests positive, all of them must be destroyed in an attempt to eradicate the disease. The government pays owners fair market value for the euthanized birds.

The discovery of the disease at four more commercial ranches recently brought the total number of infected ranches to 12. An emergency task force of more than 1,300 workers has also found the disease in about 1,700 other "backyard" flocks.

About 2.4 million birds have been euthanized or are slated to be killed to slow the spread of Newcastle. Fighting the disease so far has cost taxpayers more than $30 million.

But the people who are suffering the most are egg ranchers. The producers say that since 1999, it has cost more to produce the eggs than wholesalers are willing to pay.

Egg ranchers have always experienced up and down markets. But the current downturn is devastating, the most severe that today's farmers can remember.

"These last 3-1/2 years have easily been the worst in history," said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in Lakeview. "A lot of guys who were here in the fall of '99 are gone."

And now the ones who are still around have to deal with an epidemic of one of the world's most destructive poultry diseases.

"Everybody's down on their knees and if you get the disease it could be the difference between surviving and not surviving," Hoover said.

Bahan, who maintains a flock of 640,000 birds, said gigantic Midwestern farms are difficult to compete with. Their land is cheaper, they deal with fewer regulations and they can save money growing their own feed. Feeding chickens can amount to 60 percent of an egg rancher's expenses, he said.

So when a flock tests positive for Newcastle, producers now face the decision of whether it's time to depart the business.

"For a guy who's been losing money for three years this could be the first sizable check in a long time," Bahan said of egg ranchers reimbursed when they must euthanize their birds because of the disease. "Do you put it back in? For the producer, that has to be a powerful thought."

Ron Arnott, owner of Arnott Citrus and Poultry Ranch in Mentone, in San Bernardino County, said he had more than 130,000 hens in Redlands in 2001.

But the tough market prompted him to sell off the Redlands property for a housing development and move to Mentone. Today he has 300-plus birds and is shooting for a niche market selling "range-laid" eggs.

His family has been in the business since the late 1940s, but he's not sure how long it can keep going.

"If you put out 5,000 or 7,000 dozen a day, you can't do that for long," Arnott said. "We have been selling assets - property - to pay for our habit of staying in the egg industry."

Don Bell, a poultry specialist now retired from the University of California, said the industry will survive, but that there will be a shakeout of some of the smaller producers who get hit with Newcastle.

He said what helps is the fact California is at an egg deficit - more eggs are eaten by Californians than are produced in the state.

"Is there a future for the egg industry in Southern California? Yes, there is. It's important to be close to your market," Bell said.

And even though Newcastle is hitting the industry during an already tough period, it might hurt less than if it had struck when farmers were turning a profit.

"I think (egg farmers) would probably be more irritated if it happened when it's doing good," said John Gardner, deputy chief agricultural commissioner for San Bernardino County.

Still, Gardner said he knows one rancher who would get out of the business if his flock were hit with Newcastle.

"I can't say I blame him. How long do you stay in something where you're losing money?"



Antelope Valley Press

Vets seek help to fight deadly bird disease
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press Saturday, February 15, 2003.

By HEATHER LAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer

http://www.avpress.com/n/sasty7.hts

LAKE LOS ANGELES - Nearly 50 people turned out at the Littlerock Town Council meeting Thursday night where the main draw was a presentation on exotic Newcastle disease, which is wiping out the area's chicken population.

Three veterinarians from around the country were on hand with a slide presentation, detailing what the disease is, where they believe it came from and what is being done about it.

Numerous properties in Los Angeles County have been depopulated since the outbreak in October that has wreaked havoc in seven counties throughout Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

"We are concerned it's going to get over the mountain pass into Central California," said Mike Davidson, a battalion chief with the U.S. Forest Service and public information officer for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force.

Dr. Terry Beals, a disease eradication veterinarian from Maryland, explained that this strain of the disease is one never before found in the United States. Its name is derived from Newcastle, England, where the first outbreak occurred in the 1920s.

Most susceptible to the deadly disease are chickens, turkeys, cockatiels, amazons, cockatoos and budgies.

At this point, experts believe the disease traveled to the United States from Mexico because it is genetically identical to a virus outbreak that occurred there. Eradicating the virus in Southern California has become a constant battle and reluctant cooperation by bird owners only serves to magnify the problem.

The virus is easily spread via feces, saliva, direct contact, on people, clothing and equipment, as well as by illegally imported birds.

Gory photographs of diseased chickens did little to impress some in attendance Thursday who wanted straight answers as to whether their flocks were next.

Davidson explained that as calls of reported outbreaks come in, they are investigated; if the disease is detected, the birds are depopulated. Depopulated birds are appraised and the owners are compensated at fair market value. There is no compensation for dead birds, a seeming incentive for some bird owners to call at the earliest hint of trouble.

"If you wait until (birds) show signs ... they are generating the disease," Davidson said.

The task force is imploring the community to work with them to fight the disease.

"We need healthy poultry ... and we need your help," Davidson said. "If we don't do something ... it will continue to spread, it's an endless cycle."

In fighting the spreading virus, the task force is hiring individuals off the street, and reports of armed men shooting birds out of the sky has some residents concerned.

Pellet guns and other similar weapons are in fact being used by specially trained U.S. Forest Service task force members, who were trained by the FBI.

Many present Thursday had questions about the methods used to determine which properties need to be depopulated and tales of unjustified depopulations sparked emotions.

"Testing for END is not all that dependable," Davidson said.

To that end, the task force is depopulating not only birds that test positive, but those it believes to have been in "dangerous contact." That includes flocks who have possibly been in contact with loose birds, where good biosecurity measures are not being implemented, or where rodents are rampant.

Recent rains only served to improve the climate for the virus that lives longer in wet conditions but doesn't last well in dry, warm conditions.

The END hotline number is (800) 491-1899.

Members of the task force also will be at the next Lake Los Angeles Town Council meeting, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Vista San Gabriel Elementary School, 18020 East Ave. O.



San Diego Union Tribune, CA

More chickens found infected with the exotic Newcastle virus

By Elizabeth Fitzsimons
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 15, 2003

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030215-9999_2m15newcast.html

Another case of exotic Newcastle disease has been found in San Diego County, a state and federal task force announced yesterday. The infected birds were back-yard chickens, said Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Cooper would not say where the infected flock was found.

Earlier in the week, Cooper said it was the policy of the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force not to release locations of diseased flocks. He said the policy was a safeguard against further spread of the disease.

"The danger is spreading the virus and the more people that know, the more curious they get," Cooper said. "Even reporters hanging around and not taking the right precautions. And they go onto the property that's infected and they go somewhere else and then it's infected."

Cooper said the task force also does not name commercial ranches were infections have been found because doing so could imply the ranch had done something wrong and the publicity could hurt its business.

Officials also announced yesterday that another San Bernardino poultry ranch tested positive for the disease. That ranch was the thirteenth commercial facility to become infected in Southern California since the outbreak was confirmed in Los Angeles County in October.

The ranch has about 16,000 chickens that will be destroyed. The task force has yet to finish appraising those birds or the ones in four commercial facilities that tested positive for exotic Newcastle earlier this week, including one in Valley Center.

Ranch owners are paid fair market value for their flock before the birds are euthanized.

It was not clear yesterday how the newest San Bernardino flock was infected. "There's no particular way we can for certain tell where this virus came from on a given property unless it's really obvious," Cooper said.

The task force has changed the way it will handle some birds inside the quarantine zone, which includes eight Southern California counties and one each in Arizona and Nevada.

Birds that test positive for exotic Newcastle will continue to be euthanized. But in cases where birds are in close proximity to infected birds, but haven't caught the disease and the owners can show they have a bio-security program in place, the birds will not be destroyed.

Further information about exotic Newcastle disease and the quarantine can be found on the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site, http://www.cdfa.ca.gov,cq or by calling the Exotic Newcastle Disease Hotline: (800) 491-1899.



Oregon farmers cautious of bird virus
Extra measures sought to prevent deadly disease

Saturday, February 15, 2003
By MICHAEL ROSE

http://www.courier-journal.com/business/news2003/02/15/biz-2-chik15-5526.html

The (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal
Poultry farmers on the West Coast are increasing biosecurity measures, fearing the spread of a lethal bird virus that could wipe out a lucrative flock.

The virus — known as Exotic Newcastle Disease — has appeared in backyard flocks and eight commercial operations in California; in a backyard flock in La Paz County, Ariz.; and in a backyard flock in Las Vegas. Quarantines have been established in eight Southern California counties and in two counties in Nevada, and one is being developed for Arizona.

As was the case with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in British cattle in 2001, the infected birds and birds that may have come into contact with them must be destroyed. About 2 million birds have been "depopulated" to date, according to a report issued this week by the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The virus does not harm people, but people can spread the virus to farms by carrying it on their clothing, shoes or car tires.

That's why Karen Ingram, who describes herself as the "mama hen" to 72,000 chickens at her Polk County, Ore., farm, has banned some friends from her home because they keep parrots, which can carry the disease.

"It sounds crazy, but we would rather err on the side of caution," Ingram said.

People with business on her farm are asked whether they own birds before they are allowed to pass. Trucks that enter the farm are sprayed with disinfectant, and workers who make deliveries wear white, disposable coveralls and boots. Ingram keeps the car she drives into town far from the chicken barns.

Agriculture officials said the stringent precautions against the disease make sense.

Oregon's agriculture department, fearing damage to the state's $100 million poultry industry, has placed a quarantine on birds and equipment from areas where Exotic Newcastle disease has been found. It also has printed brochures in English and Spanish to alert bird owners, whether they run full-scale chicken farms or are hobbyists with backyard coops.

Birds suffering from the disease may have respiratory problems, diarrhea, paralysis and a drop in egg production. The last time Exotic Newcastle cut a swath through U.S. farms was more than 30 years ago.

"Its mere mention sends shivers up the spines of even the most stalwart in the industry," said James Hermes, a poultry specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

So far, no cases of Exotic Newcastle disease have turned up in Oregon. But the highly contagious disease continues to spread among birds in California and Nevada.

"That is what is causing us big alarm: It's crossing mountains," said Nicole Negulesco, administrator of the Oregon Fryer Commission. The commission is issuing warning signs that its members can post on farm gates to keep people away from birds.

Spreading contagion from one farm to another has so concerned Oregon poultry producers that some were reluctant to meet face-to-face to discuss a response to Exotic Newcastle disease, said Jonathan Schlueter, of the Northwest Poultry Council.

With new cases of Exotic Newcastle turning up in California and Nevada daily, the situation is "not very heartening," said Oregon state veterinarian Andrew Clark. The agriculture department already has drawn up a list of suppliers for the equipment it would need to deal with an outbreak in Oregon.

The department also has sent a field veterinarian to Nevada to help officials respond to the disease and to gather information. Oregon's poultry producers hope it's an academic exercise, not a dress rehearsal.



The News Journal, DE

West Coast farmers watch for lethal chicken virus

By MICHAEL ROSE
The (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal
02/15/2003

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/business/2003/02/15westcoastfarmer.html

On the West Coast, poultry farmers are stepping up biosecurity measures, fearing the spread of a lethal bird virus that can wipe out a lucrative flock.

The virus - known as Exotic Newcastle Disease - has appeared in backyard flocks and eight commercial operations in California; in a backyard flock in La Paz County, Ariz.; and in a backyard flock in Las Vegas. Quarantines have been established in eight Southern California counties, in Clark and Nye counties in Nevada, and one is being developed for Arizona.

There are no reported cases of Exotic New Castle disease in Delmarva, said Dr. H. Wesley Towers, Delaware's state veterinarian.

"We are monitoring the situation out there very closely," Towers said. The state is sending brochures about the disease to people who have show chickens, game birds and backyard chickens, he said.

The Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc., which lobbies on behalf of poultry companies and farmers, posted information on its Web site in January asking growers to take precautions: "Though this area is about 3,000 miles away, there is still a risk to Delmarva's chicken industry."

As was the case with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in British cattle in 2001, the infected birds and birds that may have come into contact with them must be destroyed. About 2 million birds have been "depopulated" to date, according to a report issued Tuesday by the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The virus does not harm people, but people can spread the virus to farms by carrying it on clothing, shoes or car tires.

That's why Karen Ingram, who describes herself as the "mama hen" to 72,000 chickens at her Polk County, Ore., farm, has banned some friends from her home because they keep parrots, which can carry the disease.

"It sounds crazy, but we would rather err on the side of caution," Ingram said.

People with business on her farm get grilled about whether they own birds before they are allowed to pass. Trucks that enter the farm are sprayed with disinfectant, and workers who make deliveries wear white, disposable coveralls and booties. Ingram keeps the car she drives into town far from the chicken barns.

Agriculture officials said the stringent precautions against the disease make sense.

Oregon's agriculture department, fearing damage to the state's $100 million poultry industry, has placed a quarantine on birds and equipment from areas where Exotic Newcastle disease has been found. It also has printed brochures in English and Spanish to alert bird owners, whether they run full-scale chicken farms or are hobbyists with backyard coops.

Birds suffering from the disease may have respiratory problems, diarrhea, paralysis and a drop in egg production. The last time Exotic Newcastle cut a swath through U.S. farms was more than 30 years ago.

"Its mere mention sends shivers up the spines of even the most stalwart in the industry," said James Hermes, a poultry specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

So far, no cases of Exotic Newcastle disease have turned up in Oregon. But the highly contagious disease continues to spread among birds in California and Nevada.

Staff reporter Luladey Tadesse contributed to this story.



Press-Enterprise, CA

Quarantine fails to slow disease
NEWCASTLE: The deadly poultry virus spreads among egg farms, despite biosecurity efforts.

02/14/2003

http://www.pe.com/business/local/PE_BIZ_nnewcst14.f3a3.html

By LESLIE BERKMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Exotic Newcastle disease has been diagnosed at four more commercial egg farms: one in Riverside County, two in San Bernardino County and one in San Diego County.

The joint federal/state task force charged with eradicating the highly infectious virus said these farms house 409,782 hens that will be euthanized.

That will bring to nearly 2.4 million the number of commercial hens destroyed in the attempt to stop the spread of the disease that is threatening California's egg industry. In addition, 94,441 backyard birds have been killed.

Task force epidemiologists said despite their stress on the need for biosecurity, the virus, which is nearly always fatal to poultry, has been moving between commercial farms or between commercial and backyard flocks.

Exotic Newcastle disease is not considered a public health risk, although it can cause pinkeye in people who come in direct contact with infected birds. The virus can be carried on people's clothing and feet or on trucks and other equipment.

Infection sources identified

Task force epidemiologists said Thursday that they had identified several risk factors that may have contributed to the latest outbreaks: One newly infected farm had employees with connections to another infected farm; a second was close to infected backyard birds; and the remaining two infected farms used the same industry-service company.

"I'm disappointed. I had big hopes the biosecurity we implemented would do the trick. Obviously it hasn't," said Doug Kuney, a poultry industry adviser who works for the University of California Cooperative Extension.

"We continue to have things slipping through the cracks, and that is why we have these new outbreaks," he added.

Kuney said some of the likely avenues of infection are farm employees who keep poultry at home or visit friends who own infected birds and contaminated egg racks that are not properly washed before they are moved between egg processing plants and farms.

Kuney said he is part of a Cooperative Extension team, headed by a veterinarian, that for the last several months has visited egg processing and packing facilities to make recommendations on improving biosecurity. "We completed Southern California and are in the San Joaquin Valley," Kuney said.

Meanwhile, egg ranchers and their neighbors are coping with a federal quarantine that prohibits the shipment of poultry beyond the boundaries of an eight-county federal quarantine area.

Old hens also euthanized

Since Saturday, Jim Hoover, a Yucaipa egg farmer, has been in the process of euthanizing 120,000 hens at a 650,000-hen ranch at Center Street and Jefferson Avenue. The birds do not have exotic Newcastle disease, Hoover said.

Instead, he explained that the birds are being discarded as part of a routine cycling of birds out of the henhouses as when they have grown too old to be productive.

Normally he said, such birds would be shipped alive to a processing plant in Turlock where they would be slaughtered and their meat used for hot dogs, chicken soup and other food products.

However, under new biosecurity regulations, the hens cannot be shipped to Turlock. So Hoover said he is euthanizing the hens on the farm with carbon dioxide gas and having Baker Commodities, a Los Angeles rendering firm, pick up the carcasses.

Joe Krygier, supervising environmental health specialist with the San Bernardino County Vector Control program, said Monday that agency and other city and county officials began receiving calls from people living near the Hoover ranch and from passersby saying they were repulsed by the sight and odor of dead birds piled in a trailer in the street.

Hoover said he had never been forced to euthanize "spent" hens before and was surprised how fast they deteriorated.

Krygier said Hoover has agreed to remove the birds from his property within 24 hours after they have been euthanized and to keep the bird carcasses covered. Krygier said his office will be monitoring for compliance.

Staff writer Karin Marriott contributed to this story. Reach Leslie Berkman at (909) 893-2111 or lberkman@pe.com



North County Times, CA

Newcastle hits again in North County
KIMBERLY EPLER
Staff Writer

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030214/93247.html

VALLEY CENTER ---- A second North County poultry farm has tested positive for Exotic Newcastle disease. It's the latest outbreak of the highly contagious virus that has resulted in the destruction of nearly 2.1 million chickens in Southern California since October.

Armstrong Egg Ranch in Valley Center will lose 150,000 birds. An additional 250,000 chickens at two infected sites in San Bernardino County and one in Riverside County will be destroyed, state officials said.

Test results from the three sites released Wednesday confirmed the outbreaks. Destruction of the birds was scheduled to begin Thursday.

Reports of the latest infection has the San Diego County poultry industry on edge.

"We kind of hold our breath every time we hear about an infection," said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau. "We wonder where it's going to happen next and hope that will be the last."

"The entire poultry industry in San Diego County is under threat," he said. "In fact, the entire poultry industry in Southern California is under siege."

Meanwhile, the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, a coalition of state and federal officials, announced Thursday that it was changing the way some birds are handled within the quarantine zone.

In the future, when cases of the disease are discovered, veterinarians will weigh several factors before deciding whether to kill all of the birds at a given site, officials said.

Birds that test positive for Exotic Newcastle will be euthanized as will birds that don't have the disease but are in "dangerous contact" with infected birds, they said. However, other birds in the area may remain alive if their owners can demonstrate they have a program that protects and isolates the birds.

Last month, Gov. Gray Davis and the federal Department of Agriculture expanded a quarantine zone for the disease and declared states of emergency across Southern California. Eradication costs have risen to $35 million.

The state and the task force reported that the newest infections brought to 12 the number of commercial sites that have tested positive for the virus, which is usually fatal to poultry but will not harm humans.

The quarantine area covers Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.

"The quarantine will be here until we're positive there's no more virus," said Larry Cooper, a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

Commercial poultry operations are tested for the disease each week.

Cooper said one of the latest sites was adjacent to a backyard flock that had tested positive for the disease, while the other three were epidemiologically linked, meaning they may have shared workers or had a delivery truck in common.

A major outbreak of the disease last occurred in Southern California in 1971 and threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply. California is the nation's third-largest egg producer, and more than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying chickens are in the quarantine zone.

Larson said San Diego County poultry growers are working hard to try and halt the disease by restricting access to their ranches and running trucks through disinfectants, but Exotic Newcastle is extremely contagious.

"The growers are taking extraordinary precautions and here, boom, another grower gets infected," he said. "It's very discouraging."

Cooper said growers are reimbursed for chickens that are euthanized, but there are costs they have to bear that are associated with cleanup and prevention.

"I would not say, at this point, the industry considers this a devastating hit, yet, " he said.

For more information about Exotic Newcastle disease, call the California Department of Food and Agriculture at (800) 491-1899.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact staff writer Kimberly Epler at (760) 739-6644 or kepler@nctimes.com.

2/14/03



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Article Last Updated: Friday, February 14, 2003 - 2:17:31 AM MST

Newcastle disease task force meet with activists
By NAOMI KRESGE
STAFF WRITER

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203%257E21481%257E1178966,00.html

MARINA DEL REY — Leaders of the exotic Newcastle disease task force met with Norco bird owners and animal-rights activists from across the country Thursday afternoon to defend the killing of pet birds feared infected with the deadly avian virus.

In a freewheeling four-hour discussion, owners and activists criticized state officials for practices that have left some bird owners feeling confused about quarantines and powerless to protect their pets from being euthanized.

"Our goal is to just stop the disease, to keep it from spreading and impacting more people in the state," task force area co-commander Annette Whiteford said.

State and federal officials at the meeting promised to investigate some of the allegations personally and said they will fight exotic Newcastle with public education and outreach.

"That's the correct approach, not these dart-like things flying over the Internet," said chicken welfare activist Cherylynn Costner, who organized the meeting and invited most of the nearly two-dozen people in attendance. "There's real drama; there's real trauma, and this is the correct way to go about it.

In a 45-page public comment document submitted to the task force earlier this month, Costner calls for Gov. Gray Davis' state of emergency proclamation to be rescinded, for bird owners to be informed more clearly of their appeal options and for companion birds to be exempt from the euthanasia policy.

"We'll litigate if we have to," Costner's attorney, William Dailey, said before the meeting. "But it would be nice if the state proved as respectful to the needs of individual pet owners as they are to the needs of the industry."

Costner also enlisted Norco residents Mike and Sue Swallow, vocal critics of the task force, and the Randy Walker family to speak on behalf of pet owners at the session.

The Walkers made headlines earlier this winter when they threw task force officials who were aiming to euthanize their 150 apparently healthy birds off their property.

"Our birds eat just as well as we do," 13-year-old Kristin Walker said at the session. "They get vegetables from Grandma's house. They get our leftovers. It's not expired, just what we didn't finish and didn't want to eat."

Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns, Inc., traveled from Virginia to attend; she said the Walkers' story was what brought her.

"It put a face, it put a focus," she said.

For Davis, as for some of the other national animal-rights activists in attendance, exotic Newcastle is just one symptom of a fundamentally sick poultry industry.

She blames large poultry corporations for making birds more susceptible to disease, she says, by keeping huge flocks in cramped quarters.

"Now you've got California taxpayers bearing this huge burden because of the effects of this disease," she said.

The last exotic Newcastle disease outbreak, in the early 1970s, took $56 million -- about $128 million in today's dollars - to eradicate, according to task force officials.

Naomi Kresge can be reached by e-mail naomi.kresge@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9354.



Kingsport Times News, TN

Precautions urged to stop spread of poultry disease
Saturday, February 15, 2003

By Staff report

http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3181590

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) has recommended precautionary measures for commercial poultry producers, game fowl breeders and bird enthusiasts to guard against the possible spread of exotic Newcastle disease (END) to the state.

"Tennessee's poultry industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture and the second largest generator of farm income," said state Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens.

"We want to do everything we can to protect our producers and to work with bird breeders in guarding against this potentially catastrophic poultry disease."

END is an especially virulent and fatal viral disease affecting all species of birds. In October the disease was diagnosed in game fowl in California and since has been found in several commercial poultry operations and, most recently, in game fowl in Nevada and Arizona.

USDA has joined state health officials in mounting an intensive effort aimed at eliminating the costly disease from the United States. So far, more than 2 million birds have been depopulated in the western states.

"Although there is no indication that Tennessee is directly threatened by this poultry disease, it is important that poultry growers and bird enthusiasts be aware of the signs of exotic Newcastle disease and take steps to safeguard their investment," said state veterinarian Ron Wilson, D.V.M.

END is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily discharges of infected birds. The disease does not affect human health but can be easily transmitted from farm to farm through virus-bearing material picked up on shoes, clothing and machinery.

Wilson said END affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of birds. Incubation for the disease ranges from two to 15 days.

An infected bird may exhibit respiratory problems such as sneezing, nasal discharge, coughing; nervous disorders such as muscular tremors, circling or paralysis; a decrease in egg production or the production of thin-shelled eggs; swelling around the eyes and neck; sudden death or increased death loss.

The department is offering some tips to poultry producers for strengthening biosecurity for the protection of their flocks:

• Permit only essential workers and vehicles on the premises.

• Provide clean clothing and disinfection facilities for employees.

• Clean and disinfect vehicles (including tires and undercarriages) entering and leaving the premises.

• Avoid visiting other poultry operations.

• Maintain an "all-in, all-out" philosophy of flock management with single age flocks.

• Control the movement of all poultry and products from farm to farm.

• Do not "skim" mature birds for sale to live-poultry markets.

• Clean and disinfect poultry houses between each lot of birds.

• Do not keep pet birds on the farm. Do not hire employees who own pet birds.

• Exclude service personnel who may have been in contact with other poultry operations within 24 hours.

• Protect flocks from wild birds that may try to nest in poultry houses or feed with domesticated birds.

• Control movements associated with the disposal and handling of bird carcasses, litter and manure.

• Take diseased birds to a diagnostic laboratory for examination.

For pet bird and backyard poultry enthusiasts, the department recommends the following:

• Request certification from suppliers that birds are legally imported or are of U.S. stock, are healthy prior to shipment, and will be transported in new or thoroughly disinfected containers.

• Maintain records of all sales and shipments of flocks.

• Isolate all newly purchased birds for at least 30 days.

• Restrict movement of personnel between new and old birds.

TDA's Kord Animal Disease Laboratory at Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville offers a wide range of diagnostic services. For more information, call the state veterinarian's office or the laboratory at (615) 837-5120.



KESQ, CA

Newcastle means no birds at Date Fest

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=1132470&nav=9qrxE0lL

It's opening day of the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival in Indio. As usual, it will be packed with entertainment from carnival rides, nightly musical pageants, and even a pie eating concert. But this year, one of the annual attractions will be missing, because of a disease that is effecting California's bird population and now the Date Festival.

Animals and birds have always been a huge part of the Riverside County Fair, and they will be out in full force this year, even some additions to the lineup like camels and yak's. But the birds won't be here this year, including the ostrich races that have become so popular. The reason is Newcastle disease.

“Obviously it will affect the fair because there will be no chickens, ducks, or turkeys, but we don't want to leave out the kids who normally learn a lot. So we'll do our best to educate them,” says animal trainer Harold Hilliker.

The disease is a deadly virus, still taking its toll on Southern California chickens and other birds, and has now spread to Arizona and Nevada. That brings the total to more than 2.1 million birds destroyed, costing the industry 35 million dollars.

Now remember, this is very important, because we're not just talking about chickens, but parrots, wild birds and even ones at pet shops, so people looking to get a pet like a parakeet, that could be a problem.

But in their place, all types of exotic animals that wanted to get up close and personal with us, including a camel who gives a kisses.

“The ostrich's won't be here, but we are replacing them with other animals,” says Promotions Manager Joe Hedrick. “We're going to have yak, buffalo races, llamas and el pako, pony chariot races, and the camel races. So every race should be exciting and unpredictable.”

So, no birds this year, but certainly no lack of entertainment and races to enjoy. If you’re wondering about ticket prices, adults are $7, kids (5-12) $4, and under 5 are free.



High Plains Journal, KS

Friday, February 14, 2003 Good Afternoon!

USDA Warns Avian Disease Could Spread

http://www.hpj.com/testnewstable.cfm?type=story&sid=8181

DES MOINES (DTN) -- Exotic Newcastle Disease (END), the deadly avian virus that has affected poultry flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona, may be a threat to game fowl and pet birds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned Thursday.

The USDA urged bird owners to know the clinical signs of the disease, use safety precautions and report sick birds to appropriate state veterinary officials.

"This is an animal health emergency, if you do not cooperate game fowl everywhere could be endangered," the agency warned.

END poses a great threat to the caged-bird industry and poultry hobbyists. Birds illegally smuggled into the United States are not quarantined and tested by the USDA and may carry the END virus.

Owners of pet birds should request certification from suppliers that birds are legally imported or are of U.S. stock, are healthy prior to shipment, and will be transported in new or thoroughly disinfected containers.

END is a contagious and fatal viral disease affecting all species of birds and is difficult to detect because many birds die without showing any clinical signs of disease.

END affects the respiratory, nervous, and digestive systems. The incubation period for the disease ranges from 2 to 15 days. An infected bird may exhibit the following signs:

* Respiratory: sneezing, gasping for air, nasal discharge, coughing;

* Digestive: greenish, watery diarrhea;

* Nervous: depression, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of head and neck, circling, complete paralysis;

* Egg production: partial to complete drop in production and thin-shelled eggs;

* Appearance: swelling of the tissues around the eyes and in the neck;

* Mortality: sudden death and increased death loss in a flock.

The disease is transmitted through infected birds' droppings and secretions from the nose, mouth, and eyes. END spreads rapidly among birds kept in confinement, such as commercially raised chickens.

The disease can also be easily spread by means of shoes, clothing and vehicles that can pick up the virus and carry it from an infected flock to a healthy one.



Seafood.com

Bird Virus Continues to Spread in California Poultry Farms

http://www.seafood.com/news/current/87831.html

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS February 14, 2003 - By Ken Coons - Yesterday USDA announced that four more California poultry farms have been infected with the Exotic Newcastle disease.

The disease is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry flesh or eggs, but is devastating to flocks. The disease has appeared in Arizona and Nevada as well as California where twelve separate outbreaks have occurred. California is the nation's ninth largest poultry producer with annual poultry sales valued at about $3 billion.

According to Reuters, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has formally declared an 'extraordinary emergency' in all three states because of the avian virus. The disease is a 'threat to the U.S. poultry and bird industries,' Veneman said in a Federal Register notice. 'It constitutes a real danger to the national economy and a potential serious burden on interstate and foreign commerce.'

About 1,600 state and federal officials are randomly stopping cars and going door-to-door in search of infected birds in the three states.

In California, most poultry shows at county and local fairs have been canceled for the year. Commercial chicken farms are sanitizing workers and trucks to try to protect their flocks from infection.

The only way to eradicate the disease quickly in commercial poultry is by destroying infected flocks and imposing a strict quarantine. Health officials have killed, double-bagged and buried nearly 2 million exposed or infected chickens.

Industry officials said they were concerned about the continued spread of the disease but remained confident the virus would not cut total U.S. poultry exports. Foreign countries have banned poultry from the infected states.

Of the three affected states, California is the only major poultry producer. However, it is not a major exporter, according to Reuters.



Los Angeles Times, CA

Avian Virus Spreads to 4 More Poultry Farms
Infected chickens are discovered within Southern California's quarantine zone. Random inspections will continue.

02/14/2003 - 06:16 AM PST (14:16 GMT)

By Melinda Fulmer
Times Staff Writer

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chickens14feb14,1,2459272.story

A highly contagious avian virus has been found on four more commercial poultry farms within Southern California's quarantine zone, the most reported in a single day since the outbreak began more than four months ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday.

Exotic Newcastle disease, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, has infected flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona, causing Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to declare an "extraordinary emergency" in all three states.

About 1,600 state and federal officials are randomly stopping cars and going door-to-door in search of infected birds in the three states.

The emergency also is prompting California officials to begin surveying and sampling all flocks in Central and Northern California to assess the risk to the state's $3-billion poultry business, the bulk of which is in the Central Valley.

Of the latest infected farms, one was in Riverside County, two were in San Bernardino County and another in San Diego County. These discoveries bring the total number of farms affected to 12, and the number of birds destroyed or slated for destruction to 2.4 million.

Some agricultural experts believe the outbreak began with illegal fighting cocks used for gambling or small flocks kept in backyards for food. Indeed, one of the infected farms identified Thursday was next to a backyard flock in which birds had been found to have the disease.

Newcastle is easily spread by wild birds and by vehicles and is tough to eradicate because many birds die without showing signs of infection. The only way to wipe out the disease quickly in commercial poultry is by destroying infected flocks and imposing a strict quarantine.

The outbreak has cost the state more than $35 million to fight the disease and to compensate farmers for birds they are ordered to destroy, said Larry Cooper of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The disease was discovered in October in a backyard flock in Compton.

Despite strict quarantines in affected counties, it spread to Nevada in January and was found last week in Arizona.

The disease is a "threat to the U.S. poultry and bird industries," Veneman said in a Federal Register notice.

"It constitutes a real danger to the national economy and a potential serious burden on interstate and foreign commerce," she said.

Times wire services were used in compiling this report



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Article Last Updated: Friday, February 14, 2003 - 3:55:50 AM MST

Quarantine halts sale of hens too old to produce
By ALAN SCHNEPF
STAFF WRITER

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203%257E21481%257E1178875,00.html

YUCAIPA — Jim Hoover used to get paid a few cents each for the hens culled out of his egg ranch in Yucaipa when they became too old to be productive.

But thanks to the outbreak of a deadly and highly contagious disease called exotic Newcastle, the old hens that once were an asset as an ingredient in things like canned chicken soup have turned into a liability.

Hoover has 670,000 birds at his ranch on the north side of Yucaipa. As with most egg ranchers in Southern California, the disease is hitting his bottom line.

And the added expense of dealing with Newcastle has arrived during the California egg industry's worst slump in history.

The disease, which does not pose a danger to humans, is now in its fifth month of ravaging Southern California poultry flocks.

Since being discovered in a backyard chicken flock in Compton in September, state and federal agriculture officials mandated a quarantine for all of Southern California. From San Diego to Needles to Ventura, birds can come in, but they can't go out.

Before the quarantine went into effect, Hoover used to ship the old hens to Tulare County, where they were slaughtered and processed into canned chicken. The older birds don't make good meat for fryers.

But with the quarantine in effect, Hoover can't send his non-productive birds up north. He has to kill his birds at his ranch and send them to a rendering plant in Los Angeles County.

Last week, for the first time since the Newcastle outbreak, Hoover had some chickens to cull. Instead of shipping live hens up to Tulare County as he had for years, Hoover had to figure out how to kill 100,000 birds. Because it's a job he's never done before, Hoover said he had to learn how to do it on the fly and it became a logistical nightmare.

A truck loaded with dead hens sat outside during a warm weekend. The subsequent expansion made the mass of dead hens swell. By Monday, birds were pouring over the side of the truck. A neighbor made a complaint to San Bernardino County Vector Control.

The problem has since been cleared up. Hoover isn't going to let chickens sit outside during weekends any more, said Joan Mulcare, a manager for the San Bernardino Division of Environmental Health Services.

Hoover's problem, and the expense and extra work associated with it, is just one example of how exotic Newcastle is straining an already distressed California egg industry.

Hoover's delivery drivers spend an hour disinfecting themselves and their clothes and their trucks every day so they don't spread the disease. One infected feather or a speck of chicken manure on the bottom of a shoe or a tire can transfer exotic Newcastle disease.

The time spent dealing with Newcastle is time that used to be spent packing and shipping eggs. The eggs also have to be sanitized before being shipped. Plastic shipping materials are being used instead of paper, and that can cost more, too. Hoover said the expenses add up.

But it's not as bad as being infected with exotic Newcastle disease.

If a single bird in a flock of 1 million tests positive, all of them will be destroyed in an attempt to eradicate the disease. The government pays owners fair market value for the euthanized birds.

The people who are suffering the most are egg ranchers. The producers say that since 1999, it has cost more to produce the eggs than wholesalers are willing to pay.

Egg ranchers have always experienced up-and-down markets, but the current downturn has been the most severe today's farmers can remember.

"These last 3 years have easily been the worst in history," said Paul Bahan, owner of AAA Egg Farms in Lakeview. "A lot of guys who were here in the fall of '99 are gone."

And now the ones who are still around have to deal with an epidemic of one of the world's most destructive poultry diseases.

"Everybody's down on their knees and if you get the disease it could be the difference between surviving and not surviving," Hoover said.

Bahan, who maintains a flock of 640,000 birds, said gigantic Midwestern farms are difficult to compete with. Their land is cheaper, they deal with fewer regulations and they can save money growing their own feed. Feeding chickens can amount to 60 percent of an egg rancher's expenses, he said.

So when a flock tests positive for Newcastle, producers now face the decision of whether it's time to depart the business.

"For a guy who's been losing money for three years this could be the first sizable check in a long time," Bahan said of egg ranchers who are reimbursed if birds are euthanized because of the disease. "Do you put it back in? For the producer, that has to be a powerful thought."

Don Bell, a poultry specialist now retired from the University of California, said the industry will survive, but that there will be a shakeout of some of the smaller producers who get hit with Newcastle.

He said that what helps is the fact that California has an egg deficit; more eggs are eaten by Californians than are produced in the state.

"Is there a future for the egg industry in Southern California? Yes, there is. It's important to be close to your market," Bell said.

Alan Schnepf can be reached at (909) 335-9520.



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Article Last Updated: Friday, February 14, 2003 - 1:58:14 AM MST

Newcastle disease hits another ranch
By DAVID BRADVICA AND
NAOMI KRESGE
STAFF WRITERS

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1179116,00.html

LYTLE CREEK — Exotic Newcastle disease task force workers descended on the 6-M Ranch at the base of Cajon Pass Thursday, driving the now-familiar rental trucks seen at sites where chickens are targeted for death.

Dave Landmesser, owner of 6-M, confirmed Thursday that his flock was one of four commercial flocks that tested positive recently for the deadly exotic Newcastle disease.

The slaughter of Landmesser's 80,000-bird flock was initially scheduled to begin Thursday but was delayed because of wet weather that shut down a local landfill where the chicken carcasses will be disposed of.

"This is a rather painful time," said Landmesser as he sat in his sport-utility vehicle outside the gates of his ranch just west of Interstate 15. "I've been in this business for 40 years. But this is necessary because this is a bad disease that spreads really quickly."

Workers set up five large trash bins just outside the henhouses at 6-M Thursday morning, and some activity could be seen by people wearing the white "space suits" donned by those who kill the chickens.

A workman wearing a yellow slicker and mask washed off the tires of trucks before they were allowed to exit the ranch.

Newcastle Task Force workers outside the 6-M ranch said a backyard flock of about 600 fowl was killed - "depopulated" in their words - on Thursday. Landmesser said he didn't know if the Newcastle had spread from the smaller flock to his ranch, or vice versa.

The Exotic Newcastle Disease task force on Thursday relaxed its rules regarding home birds in areas near confirmed Newcastle cases. When birds are not infected and owners can demonstrate a biosecurity program and keep their birds isolated, the birds may be spared. Annette Whiteford, state area commander of exotic Newcastle disease task force, said the task force's goal when dealing with backyard flock owners is to educate.

"Our job is not running around killing birds," Whiteford said.

Rather, their goals are to educate the public about biosecurity measures.

"If nobody moves their birds for the next three months - nobody - we could stop this disease," she said. "Its easy to have one slip-up so, we're trying to be redundant."

Landmesser has seen the devastation of Newcastle before. A smaller ranch he used to own in Norco was decimated by a similar outbreak in the 1970s. That outbreak, which originated in the Fontana area, spread statewide and threatened the U.S. poultry and egg industry, leading to the slaughter of 12 million chickens.

Landmesser said this outbreak could be worse.

"I think that was just a small tornado compared to what's happening now," he said. "This is not slowing down."

For now, Landmesser said he's out of the egg business. He recently sold the land on which his chickens are housed to a developer, who will soon turn the land into a suburban housing tract.

"I might start one more flock if the development takes more time than expected," said Landmesser, who opened the Fontana ranch in 1965. "Otherwise, this is an end of an era."

David Bradvica can be reached by e-mail d_bradvica@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9318.

Naomi Kresge can be reached naomi.kresge@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8553.



Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA

Article Last Updated: Friday, February 14, 2003 - 1:58:14 AM MST

Newcastle disease hits another ranch
By DAVID BRADVICA AND
NAOMI KRESGE
STAFF WRITERS

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1179116,00.html

LYTLE CREEK — Exotic Newcastle disease task force workers descended on the 6-M Ranch at the base of Cajon Pass Thursday, driving the now-familiar rental trucks seen at sites where chickens are targeted for death.

Dave Landmesser, owner of 6-M, confirmed Thursday that his flock was one of four commercial flocks that tested positive recently for the deadly exotic Newcastle disease.

The slaughter of Landmesser's 80,000-bird flock was initially scheduled to begin Thursday but was delayed because of wet weather that shut down a local landfill where the chicken carcasses will be disposed of.

"This is a rather painful time," said Landmesser as he sat in his sport-utility vehicle outside the gates of his ranch just west of Interstate 15. "I've been in this business for 40 years. But this is necessary because this is a bad disease that spreads really quickly."

Workers set up five large trash bins just outside the henhouses at 6-M Thursday morning, and some activity could be seen by people wearing the white "space suits" donned by those who kill the chickens.

A workman wearing a yellow slicker and mask washed off the tires of trucks before they were allowed to exit the ranch.

Newcastle Task Force workers outside the 6-M ranch said a backyard flock of about 600 fowl was killed - "depopulated" in their words - on Thursday. Landmesser said he didn't know if the Newcastle had spread from the smaller flock to his ranch, or vice versa.

The Exotic Newcastle Disease task force on Thursday relaxed its rules regarding home birds in areas near confirmed Newcastle cases. When birds are not infected and owners can demonstrate a biosecurity program and keep their birds isolated, the birds may be spared. Annette Whiteford, state area commander of exotic Newcastle disease task force, said the task force's goal when dealing with backyard flock owners is to educate.

"Our job is not running around killing birds," Whiteford said.

Rather, their goals are to educate the public about biosecurity measures.

"If nobody moves their birds for the next three months - nobody - we could stop this disease," she said. "Its easy to have one slip-up so, we're trying to be redundant."

Landmesser has seen the devastation of Newcastle before. A smaller ranch he used to own in Norco was decimated by a similar outbreak in the 1970s. That outbreak, which originated in the Fontana area, spread statewide and threatened the U.S. poultry and egg industry, leading to the slaughter of 12 million chickens.

Landmesser said this outbreak could be worse.

"I think that was just a small tornado compared to what's happening now," he said. "This is not slowing down."

For now, Landmesser said he's out of the egg business. He recently sold the land on which his chickens are housed to a developer, who will soon turn the land into a suburban housing tract.

"I might start one more flock if the development takes more time than expected," said Landmesser, who opened the Fontana ranch in 1965. "Otherwise, this is an end of an era."

David Bradvica can be reached by e-mail d_bradvica@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9318.

Naomi Kresge can be reached naomi.kresge@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8553.



The Press-Enterprise, CA

Backyard flocks may be spared
02/14/2003

By PAIGE AUSTIN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nwalker14.f7bc.html

There is hope for owners of backyard bird flocks.

State food and agriculture officials announced Thursday that unaffected flocks within exotic Newcastle disease quarantine areas may be spared if their owners keep the birds in protective isolation.

The announcement came on the same day a group of bird owners, attorneys and animal rights supporters drove to Marina del Rey for a meeting with members of the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, trying to appeal a decision to eradicate some backyard flocks.

Among those bird owners was Randy Walker of Norco, who stumbled onto the battle three weeks ago when workers pulled up to his house with seven trucks prepared to haul off the carcasses of the 200 pet chickens, ducks, geese and emu slated to be killed. Walker appealed the euthanasia order before any birds were destroyed.

"These are our family pets and they showed no signs of being sick," said Walker.

More than 94,000 backyard birds have been destroyed in Southern California since the outbreak began in October in an effort to stop the disease from spreading, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Exotic Newcastle is a highly infectious and fatal disease among birds. Outbreaks have been confirmed in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura counties, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Until now, backyard flocks were destroyed within quarantine areas to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

Under the new guidelines, any birds that test positive for the disease, or that are in dangerous contact with infected birds will continue to be euthanized. Veterinarians in the field will determine whether a flock is suitable for protective isolation.

"We believe all will benefit from the new policy," said Benny Gallaway, president of the American Federation of Aviculture, "especially the many pet, cage and other birds which will be saved by the expanded opportunity for quarantine."

Task force members told the group in Marina del Rey that they had to start out by agressively killing off flocks to prevent the spread of the disease. As they have learned more, they said they realized what measures are effective at containing the disease without killing uncontamined flocks.

No announcement of the new policy on backyard flocks was made at the meeting.

To date, the task force has only depopulated about one-seventh, or 1,500 of the 10,321 flocks quarantined, said Annette Whiteford, state coordinator of the task force. "We're only depopulating the ones we know to be infected," she said.

Outbreaks struck Norco resident Mike Swallow's neighborhood in October. "I slept three hours a night for the past few nights thinking every noise is a big white truck coming for us. I've been afraid to leave my house."

Many at the meeting said they are angry at the state for killing pet birds and spending millions to protect the commercial industry from the outbreak. "It's the heartless, greedy factory whose interests are being served," said Jack Carone, vice president of Last Chance for Animals.

"We've had our birds for the past 10 years," said Kristin Walker, 13, as she fingered a family album filled with pictures of her pets. "We treat them like members of the family."

Many Inland area residents angrily blame the commercial egg and poultry industries and cock fighting for the outbreak, despite state claims that the start of the outbreak can't be pinpointed.

For information, call the Exotic Newcastle Disease Hotline at 1-800-491-1899.

Reach Paige Austin at (909) 893-2106 or paustin@pe.com



Article Last Updated: Thursday, February 13, 2003 - 11:56:13 PM MST Newcastle strikes 80,000-bird flock

By DAVID BRADVICA and NAOMI KRESGE

Staff Writers

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1178833,00.html

FONTANA - Exotic Newcastle disease task force workers descended on the 6-M Ranch at the base of Cajon Pass on Thursday, driving the now-familiar rental trucks seen at sites where chickens are targeted for depopulation.

Dave Landmesser, the owner of the 6-M near, confirmed Thursday that his Fontana area flock was one of four commercial flocks that have tested positive recently for the deadly disease.

The slaughter of Landmesser's 80,000-bird flock was initially slated to begin Thursday, but it was delayed because of wet weather that shut down a local landfill where the chicken carcasses will be taken.

"This is a rather painful time,' said Landmesser as he sat in his sport utility vehicle outside the gates of his ranch just west of Interstate 15. "I've been in this business for 40 years. But this is necessary because this is a bad disease that spreads really quickly.'

Workers set up five large trash bins just outside the hen houses at 6-M Thursday morning, and some activity could be seen by people wearing the white "space suits' donned by those who carry out chicken executions.

A workman wearing a yellow slicker and mask washed off the tires of trucks before they were allowed to exit the ranch.

Newcastle task force workers outside the 6-M ranch said a small backyard flock of about 600 was killed, depopulated in their words, on Thursday.

Landmesser said he didn't know if the Newcastle had spread from the smaller flock to his ranch or vice versa.

The task force on Thursday relaxed its rules regarding home birds in areas near confirmed Newcastle cases. When birds are not infected and owners can demonstrate a biosecurity program and keep their birds isolated, the birds may be spared.

Annette Whiteford, state area commander of the exotic Newcastle disease task force, said the goal when dealing with backyard flock owners is to educate.

"Our job is not running around killing birds,' Whiteford said.

Rather, the goal is to educate the public about biosecurity measures.

"If nobody moves their birds for the next three months nobody we could stop this disease,' she said. "It's easy to have one slip-up, so we're trying to be redundant.'

Landmesser has seen the devastation of Newcastle before. A smaller ranch he owned in Norco was decimated by a similar outbreak in the 1970s. That outbreak, which originated in the Fontana area, spread statewide and threatened the U.S. poultry and egg industry, leading to the slaughter of 12 million chickens.

Landmesser said the new outbreak could be worse.

"I think that was just a small tornado compared to what's happening now,' he said. "This is not slowing down.'

For now, Landmesser said he's out of the egg business. He recently sold the land on which his chickens are housed to a developer, who will soon turn the land into a suburban housing tract.

"I might start one more flock if the development takes more time than expected,' said Landmesser, who opened the Fontana ranch in 1965. "Otherwise, this is an end of an era.''



San Diego Union Tribune, CA

Valley Center operation must destroy 150,000 birds

By Elizabeth Fitzsimons
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 13, 2003

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20030213-9999_1mi13flock.html

VALLEY CENTER – A poultry ranch here has tested positive for exotic Newcastle disease, the highly contagious virus that has prompted state and federal authorities to quarantine eight Southern California counties and two in Arizona and Nevada.

Armstrong Egg Ranch on Cole Grade Road was the second commercial facility in the county to be infected with the disease. Although the disease kills all types of birds, it is harmless to humans, even if meat or eggs from an infected bird are consumed.

Ranch owner Alan Armstrong said he noticed a slight rise in mortality, and a drop in egg production, before tests results confirmed what he had been dreading for months: exotic Newcastle had somehow slipped through his safeguards and infected his flock.

"You hope so hard that it's something else," Armstrong said.

About 150,000 birds at the ranch will be destroyed.

The state and federal Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force said two more ranches in San Bernardino County and another in Riverside County have been determined to be infected, bringing the diseased commercial flocks to 12.

All of the commercial chickens infected with the disease have been egg-layers. The task force has already euthanized about 2.1 million birds.

The new cases mean about about 120,000 chickens will be euthanized in Riverside County. In San Bernardino County , 54,000 at one ranch and 86,000 at another will be destroyed.

Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said all the new commercial sites were epidemiologically linked to other infected sites. That means the sites may have shared workers, delivery trucks or other commonalities, Cooper said.

In San Diego County, the disease had been slow to spread. Since it was first detected in a Ramona egg ranch late in December and then in a flock of backyard birds, there had been no more cases.

County poultry farmers have been nervously watching the disease's spread, and following strict bio-security measures, which include restricting access to their ranches and requiring visitors to disinfect their shoes and vehicles before entering.

The Armstrong family has been in the poultry business for decades in Valley Center and Ramona.

The family patriarch, George Armstrong, who died in August 2001, went into the poultry business in the 1940s. In 1960, Armstrong's company, started in Bellflower, was the first egg ranch west of the Mississippi to use an egg grader. The machine could sort and package 130 cases of eggs in an hour.

In July, two Armstrong egg ranches in Ramona closed.

Though neighbors had been complaining about smells and flies, Alan Armstrong said at the time that it was not economical to run the aging businesses.

Yesterday, he said the quarantine of his ranch would put an extreme strain on his Valley Center operation. He said he had never been through anything like it.

His father and grandfather had weathered the last outbreak of exotic Newcastle in the early 1970s.



Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, Press-Enterprise, CA

Bird virus found at four more Southern California poultry ranches

Published: Thursday, February 13, 2003 12:25 PST

The Associated Press

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030213&Category=APN&ArtNo=302130957&Ref=AR
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Poultry_Disease_97608C.shtml
http://www.pe.com/localnews/statenews/stories/PE.STATE.2003.0213.ap-newcastle.7857a55.html

Four more poultry ranches in Southern California have tested positive for the highly contagious Exotic Newcastle Disease, state and federal officials said.

About 410,000 chickens will be destroyed at commercial facilities in the counties of San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego.

The new infections bring to 12 the number of commercial ranches where the virus has been found. At least 2.1 million birds have already been destroyed in Southern California.

Larry Cooper, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said all the new commercial sites were epidemiologically linked to other infected properties. He said the sites may have shared workers, delivery trucks or other commonalities.

The new cases include two ranches in San Bernardino County, where a total of 140,000 birds will be destroyed, and one ranch in Riverside County, where 120,000 will be destroyed. One ranch in San Diego County was infected, affecting 150,000 chickens.

Last month, Gov. Gray Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared states of emergency across Southern California and expanded a quarantine zone for the disease.

The quarantine prohibits the movement of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties without a USDA permit. Reports of the outbreak also have been reported in Arizona. Exotic Newcastle Disease is highly contagious among poultry and other birds but does not pose a significant health risk to humans.

Alan Armstrong owns a ranch in San Diego County where one of the latest outbreaks has been identified.

He said he noticed a slight rise in mortality and a drop in egg production before tests confirmed the disease.

"You hope so hard that it's something else," Armstrong said.



KNSD, CA

Newcastle Plague Infects Valley Center Ranch
About 150,000 Birds To Be Destroyed

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/1976188/detail.html

POSTED: 11:16 a.m. PST February 13, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- About 150,000 birds on a Valley Center ranch will be destroyed after testing positive for the exotic Newcastle disease.

The virus has led to state and federal authorities to quarantine eight Southern California counties and two in Arizona and Nevada.

Armstrong Egg Ranch, located on Cole Grade Road, was the second commercial facility to be hit by the virus, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Ranch owner Alan Armstrong said he noticed a drop in egg production before tests confirmed the virus had infected his flock.

"You hope so hard that it's something else," Armstrong said

A state and federal Exotic Newcastle Disease task force told the newspaper two other ranches in San Bernadino County and Riverside County have been detected with infected poultry.

About 2.1 million birds have been destroyed by the task force.

No cases had been found in San Diego since it was detected in poultry on a Ramona egg ranch in December, then in a flock of backyard birds.



KFMB, CA, KGTV, CA

VALLEY CENTER POULTRY RANCH TESTS POSITIVE FOR DISEASE

http://www.kfmb.com/topstory13776.html
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/1976394/detail.html

(02-13-2003) - Poultry on a ranch in Valley Center has tested positive for the exotic Newcastle disease, which will require the destruction of about 150,000 birds.

The highly contagious avian virus already has prompted state and federal authorities to quarantine eight Southern California counties and two in Arizona and Nevada.

Armstrong Egg Ranch on Cole Grade Road was the second commercial facility where infected poultry has been discovered.

Ranch owner Alan Armstrong said that he noticed a slight rise in mortality and a drop in egg production before test results confirmed that exotic Newcastle disease had infected his flock.

"You hope so hard that it's something else," Armstrong said.

About 150,000 birds at the ranch will now have to be destroyed.

The state and federal Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force said that poultry on two other ranches in San Bernardino County and in Riverside County have been determined to be infected, bringing the number of diseased commercial flocks to 12.

The task force has already euthanized about 2.1 million birds.

In San Diego County, the disease had been slow to spread. No cases had been found since it was first detected in poultry on a Ramona egg ranch in December and then in a flock of backyard birds.

County poultry farmers have been following strict bio-security measures to stop the spread of the disease, including restricting access to their ranches and requiring visitors to disinfect their shoes and vehicles before entering



KFMB, CA

http://www.kfmb.com/topstory13773.html

Valley Center Poultry Ranch Tests Positive for Disease

There's word this morning that poultry on a ranch in Valley Center has tested positive for exotic Newcastle disease. The highly contagious avian virus has already prompted state and federal authorities to quarantine eight Southern California counties and two in Arizona and Nevada. The latest outbreak was discovered on the Armstrong Egg Ranch. The ranch is the second commercial facility in San Diego County where the disease has been discovered. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that about 150-thousand birds at the ranch will now have to be destroyed.



Forbes

Poultry disease infects 4 more Calif. farms-USDA
Reuters, 02.13.03, 11:13 AM ET

http://www.forbes.com/work/careers/newswire/2003/02/13/rtr879161.html
http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2003/02/13/rtr879161.html

By Randy Fabi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A highly contagious virus infected four more commercial poultry farms in California, the most reported in a single day since the outbreak began more than four months ago, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The Exotic Newcastle disease, which is harmless to humans and does not affect the safety of poultry meat or eggs, has infected flocks in California, Nevada and Arizona.

Some experts theorized the outbreak began with illegal fighting cocks used for gambling, or in small backyard flocks kept for food. Exotic Newcastle is easily spread by vehicles and wild birds and is tough to eradicate because many birds die without showing signs of infection.

California, the 9th largest U.S. poultry producer with sales of $3 billion annually, has been hit the hardest by the outbreak.

With the discovery of the disease in four more flocks, a total of 12 commercial poultry farms in the state have been infected, the USDA said.

The disease was discovered in October in a backyard flock in Southern California. Despite strict quarantines on affected counties, it spread to Nevada in January and was found in Arizona last week.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has formally declared an "extraordinary emergency" in all three states because of the avian virus.

The disease is a "threat to the U.S. poultry and bird industries," Veneman said in a Federal Register notice. "It constitutes a real danger to the national economy and a potential serious burden on interstate and foreign commerce."

About 1,600 state and federal officials are randomly stopping cars and going door-to-door in search of infected birds in the three states.

In California, most poultry shows at county and local fairs have been canceled for the year. Commercial chicken farms are sanitizing workers and trucks to try to protect their flocks from infection.

The only way to eradicate the disease quickly in commercial poultry is by destroying infected flocks and imposing a strict quarantine. Health officials have killed, double-bagged and buried nearly 2 million exposed or infected chickens.

Industry officials said they were concerned about the continued spread of the disease but remained confident the virus would not cut total U.S. poultry exports. Foreign countries have banned poultry from the infected states.

Of the three affected states, California is the only major poultry producer. However, it is not a major exporter.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service



Las Vegas Review-Journal

Thursday, February 13, 2003
Chickens killed to fight bird disease

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Feb-13-Thu-2003/news/20678969.html

PARKER, Ariz. -- A western Arizona tribe has euthanized about 100 chickens in an effort to stamp out a highly infectious bird disease.

The state's first case of Exotic Newcastle Disease was reported on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation last month. As a precaution, all the birds in a one-mile radius of the infected flock were euthanized, tribe spokesman Eric Shepard said Wednesday.

None of the birds was part of a commercial operation. They're kept primarily as pets and for their eggs, Shepard said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture compensated the bird owners for the losses, he said.

"People have been pretty cooperative," Shepard said.

No other infected chickens outside the original flock have been found. But the entire reservation remains under quarantine.

How the disease, which forced large-scale quarantines in California and Nevada, got to Arizona is still under investigation, Shepard said.

Exotic Newcastle Disease is highly contagious among poultry and other birds but does not pose a significant health risk to humans. In rare cases, it has been known to cause human eye infections, which can be treated with antibiotics.

Nevada officials last week eased restrictions on pet stores selling birds, after spending $1.4 million to destroy 1,670 chickens, turkeys, ducks and pea fowl in a neighborhood near Nellis Air Force Base.

The state's chief veterinarian said officials thought the highly contagious disease had almost been stamped out in Clark and southern Nye counties after being discovered on Jan. 16.

The quarantine on poultry remains in effect in southern Nevada and California.



San Bernardino County Sun, CA

Chickens at 4 more egg ranches found infected with poultry disease
By NAOMI KRESGE, Staff Writer
Late Breaking News from February 12, 2003

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1176224,00.html

Chickens at four additional commercial egg ranches have tested positive for the deadly exotic Newcastle disease, state officials said Wednesday.

The new infection means more than 400,000 additional laying hens will be killed at two commercial properties in San Bernardino County, one property in Riverside County and a property in San Diego County, bringing the total number of birds slated for destruction across Southern California to more than 2.4 million.

The new sites bring to 12 the number of commercial ranches infected by the disease.

State officials declined to identify the infected properties or the cities in which they are located, but said all the flocks have been linked to previously infected commercial or backyard flocks.

Exotic Newcastle disease task force spokesman Larry Cooper said officials are unaware exactly how the disease spread to the four flocks.

"They may have identified some workers who worked at an infected property who then had reason to go to other properties, maybe to do the same job,' he said. "They could have identified a truck that wasn't properly cleaned that could have been on an infected property that went to another property.'

He said he was unaware of any business connections between the properties.

All commercial poultry operations within the Southern California quarantine area are being tested for exotic Newcastle on a weekly basis, Cooper said, but test results can take a week or longer to come back.

Veterinarians and animal technicians in laboratories in Los Alamitos, Colton and Las Vegas are all conducting tests for exotic Newcastle, U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian Daryl Johnson said last week.

"They're getting a load of field samples every day, so they're inoculating several hundred eggs a day,' he said.

Once technicians observe physical signs of exotic Newcastle, such as hemorrhages in the trachea and larynx, in a dead bird, they take a tissue sample and use it to inoculate 10-day-old eggs, Johnson said.

The virus in the tissue sample will kill the embryos inside the eggs within two to three days, he said, and a test of the egg fluid can then determine what disease killed the original bird.

Cooper said the task force continues to fear that the deadly virus will spread to the large-scale poultry farms in the San Joaquin Valley. Farms in that area are also being tested for exotic Newcastle.

California Department of Food and Agriculture statistics from 2001 show that Merced and Stanislaus counties led California chicken production, with 93.9 percent of the state's total production. Farms in San Bernardino County made up 2.4 percent of the state's production that year.

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