NEWCASTLE DISEASE, GAME BIRDS, POULTRY - USA (CA) (02)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org/>
ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org/>


[1]
Date: 3 Jan 03
From: Thomas E Walton <thomas.e.walton@usda.gov>
Source: Official APHIS release [edited]


Emergency Management Warning 14: Newcastle Disease Confirmed in California
----------------------------------------
Newcastle Disease has Been Confirmed in Commercial Poultry in California

Officials with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are conducting an
eradication campaign for Newcastle disease.  The disease was confirmed on 1
Oct 2002 and has now spread beyond backyard flocks to affect 3 commercial
operations.  Clinical signs in infected birds include respiratory, nervous,
and gastrointestinal signs.  Mortality is up to 90 percent of exposed birds.
Investigations are ongoing, and all figures are pending final validation.
Veterinary Services (VS) is working to rapidly expand staff on the task
force.  Over the next 3 months, VS expects to deploy 100 people per week to
the task force for 3-week rotations and is canceling meetings and training
to meet the personnel demands.

Situation Update:
---------------
Investigations are ongoing and all figures are pending final validation.
Number of premises positive: 280
Number of contacts:  846
Number of premises depopulated: 614
Premises waiting to be depopulated: 512
Birds depopulated to date:  143 525 (approximate)

Counties with positive flocks:  Los Angeles, Riverside,  San Bernardino, San
Diego

Operational Update:

The request for additional funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation has
been approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and is at the Office of
Management and Budget awaiting approval.

3 commercial flocks have been confirmed with Newcastle disease in Riverside,
San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties, CA.  The 3 operations house
approximately 1.2 million birds.  Approximately 131 030 of these birds have
already been depopulated.

To date, the last reported positive case of Newcastle disease in California
was 2 Jan 2003.

The California State Veterinarian has imposed a quarantine (Food and
Agriculture Code Section 9562) on the following counties: All of Los Angeles
County; All of Orange County; Portions of Riverside County; Portions of San
Bernardino County; and All of San Diego County.

Effective 21 Nov 2002, APHIS imposed a federal quarantine that regulates the
interstate movement of poultry and poultry products from Los Angeles,
portions of Riverside, and portions of San Bernardino Counties, CA.  APHIS
is working on extending the federal quarantine to also include all of Orange
and San Diego Counties.

Poultry species affected by California's quarantine are: Chickens, Turkeys,
Ducks, Geese, Partridges, Pheasants, Quails, Guinea Fowl, Pea Fowl
(Peacocks), Doves, Pigeons,  Swans, Ratites, Ratite Eggs

Veterinary Services has worked with the U.S. Postal Service to affirm that
poultry will not be able to move out of the quarantined areas through the
mail.

State and animal health officials are conducting door-to-door surveys to
identify fowl and other birds in the affected areas and are following up on
epidemiological associations.

To date, depopulation, cleaning and disinfecting, and carcass disposal are
being conducted by CDFA and APHIS.

CDFA has closed all poultry exhibits and fairs and expositions within the
State of California.

Affected and exposed poultry are being euthanized and double-bagged. Task
Force members are disinfecting the bags and transporting the carcasses to
restricted landfills for burial.

All door-to-door surveillance, along with interviews has established that
there have been no links to eastern States within the United States and no
exposure to other poultry in other States.

Local commercial table egg layer birds are being closely monitored and will
only be allowed to move intrastate under CDFA monitoring and spent-hen
movements restricted to the day they are scheduled for processing.

New Trade Issues:
---------------
Effective immediately, Canada has placed a ban on all poultry meat and
poultry meat products from the State of California.  Canada has also banned
all hatching eggs and live poultry from the State of California.

The following website was established by the State of California regarding
the Newcastle disease outbreak.
<http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/Newcastle_info.htm>

The following website contains general information regarding Newcastle
disease.
<http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/enc/exoticnc.html>

Please forward this information to your federal, State, and industry
counterparts as necessary.

If you have questions about this situation, please feel free to call USDA,
APHIS, Veterinary Services, Emergency Programs at 800-940-6524,
301-734-8073, or e-mail at EMOC@APHIS.USDA.GOV.

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

--
Thomas E. Walton
<thomas.e.walton@usda.org>

******
[2]
Date: 03 Jan 03
From: Pablo Nart <p.nart@virgin.net>
Source Signonsandiego.com 3 Jan 2003 [edited]
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20030103-9999_1mi3bird.html>


Mexico, Canada ban state poultry in wake of avian virus outbreak
Local farm killing 73 000 in its flock
-------------------------------------
Mexico and Canada have banned shipments of poultry and poultry products from
California because of the outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease, a highly
contagious avian virus, the California Farm Bureau said yesterday.

The California Poultry Federation, which represents about 160 poultry
farmers, was lobbying for the bans to be modified to include only 6
quarantined counties in Southern California. Mexico is the state's leading
export market for poultry.

Ventura County will join 5 other Southern California counties with
quarantine restrictions, state officials announced yesterday, after the
discovery of a Newcastle infection there. The Ventura case, which was
confirmed Wed 1 Jan 2003, involved a pet bird, not a commercial flock, said
Larry Cooper, spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
Authorities are in the process of destroying more than 1.2 million  chickens
in Southern California as a result of the outbreak.

Yesterday, about a dozen people -- ranch employees and government staff --
were working to euthanize nearly 73 000 birds at Ramona Egg Enterprises Inc.
The ranch's manager, Gerardo Ochoa, said he expected it would take until
tomorrow to finish the work. The birds are killed with carbon dioxide gas.
Officials were pursuing agreements with landfills to bury the dead birds
there. How the Ramona ranch became infected was still undetermined, but
officials were studying records and looking for links between the ranch and
other sites where the disease has struck.

San Diego and Orange counties were added to the quarantine Monday after
state tests confirmed that exotic Newcastle had killed 2 birds on the Ramona
ranch. Los Angeles County and parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties
have been under quarantine since 13 Nov 2002, after the virus was found in
backyard flocks. The quarantine bans the transportation of live  birds or
poultry products, except eggs that have been sanitized, outside the
quarantine area.

Officials have emphasized that chicken and eggs remain safe to eat, and that
the virus does not harm humans even if an infected chicken is consumed.

There is no cure for the disease. It affects all kinds of birds, and is
spread through contact between birds and through their waste. The disease
can be carried on people's clothing and shoes and on vehicles, and it
thrives in warm humid environments found on chicken ranches. Among birds,
cockatiels, budgies, amazons [parrots], and cockatoos are highly
susceptible, according to the state agriculture department. Symptoms of  the
disease vary by species, and include tremors and involuntary shaking of the
head and body, anorexia, diarrhea, paralysis, twisting of the neck, and
respiratory difficulty, among others. Some birds die without displaying any
symptoms.

******
[3]
Date: 03 Jan 03
From: Pablo Nart <p.nart@virgin.net>
Source ABC news 3 Jan 2003 [edited]
<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030103_1721.html>


A Zoo Shuts Aviaries to Keep Out Virus
LA Zoo Closes Aviaries to Protect Rare Birds From Poultry Disease
-----------------------------------------------
The Los Angeles Zoo closed aviaries and gathered up free-roaming peacocks
Friday to keep visitors from inadvertently spreading a virus threatening
California's $3 billion poultry industry. Humans cannot catch Exotic
Newcastle Disease, but could spread the virus, fatal to birds, to the zoo's
rare and endangered species, including California condors. The condors, once
nearly extinct, are being bred in an attempt to reintroduce them to the
wild.

The zoo, which has more than 500 exotic birds, closed 2 walk-through
aviaries, changed its "World of Birds" show to eliminate audience contact
with birds, and removed birds from educational demonstrations. Peafowl that
range freely through the zoo were being collected, and strict cleanliness
guidelines were set for animal keepers and volunteers working in or near
bird enclosures. Similar precautions were taken earlier this week to protect
birds at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park.

"We believe the risk of this disease infecting LA Zoo birds remains low, but
since the consequences would be extreme, we need to take additional steps to
protect our priceless birds," said Susie Kasielke, curator of birds.
Kasielke said that once the disease appears in a group of birds, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture recommends "depopulation." Asked if any appearance
of Newcastle at the zoo would mean the end to all its birds, she said, "I
think that we would certainly have to have long discussions with USDA."  The
risk to the zoo's California condors was considered low because they are not
on display and already were protected by strong bio-security measures,
Kasielke said.

--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[see also:
Newcastle disease, game birds, poultry - USA (CA)      20030103.0014
2002
----
Newcastle disease, game birds, poultry - USA (CA) 20021228.6147
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (11) 20021221.6104
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (10) 20021216.6077
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (09) 20021208.6014
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (08) 20021203.5958
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (07) 20021125.5893
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (06) 20021112.5780
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (05) 20021101.5689
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (04) 20021026.5646
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (03) 20021019.5603
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (02) 20021012.5533
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (TX): warning      20021006.5482
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA): OIE      20021004.5468]
.......................tg/pg/jw


*##########################################################*
ProMED-mail makes every effort to  verify  the reports  that
are  posted,  but  the  accuracy  and  completeness  of  the
information,   and  of  any  statements  or  opinions  based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by  ProMED-mail.   ISID
and  its  associated  service  providers  shall not be  held
responsible for errors or omissions or  held liable for  any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon  posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org/>.
Send  all  items  for   posting  to:   promed@promedmail.org
(NOT to  an  individual moderator).  If you do not give your
full name and  affiliation, it  may  not  be  posted.   Send
commands  to  subscribe/unsubscribe,   get  archives,  help,
etc. to: majordomo@promedmail.org.    For assistance  from a
human  being  send  mail  to:   owner-promed@promedmail.org.
############################################################
############################################################