Calif. Destroys Disease - Infected Poultry
December 27, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:46 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- State officials have destroyed 100,000
infected chickens and quarantined poultry in three Southern
California counties because of a potentially ruinous
outbreak of a deadly farm disease.
The outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease, which is deadly
to poultry but cannot be contracted by humans, was first
detected in backyard flocks in October. This week,
officials confirmed it had been discovered at a poultry
farm near Riverside.
``Finding it in a commercial flock is a first in California
since 1974,'' said U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman
Larry Hawkins. ``It's not only serious because there is a
direct threat to the poultry industry in California, but
because it also brings about quarantines from our trading
partners.''
A statewide outbreak of the disease in the early 1970s
threatened the entire U.S. poultry and egg supply and led
authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. It cost
$56 million to eradicate the disease.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture have prohibited the movement
of all poultry, poultry products and nesting materials from
Los Angeles County and portions of Riverside and San
Bernardino counties, Hawkins said.
Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs
are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the
quarantine zone.
California is the nation's third-largest egg producer. More
than 9 million of the state's 12 million egg-laying hens
are in the quarantine zone.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture would not
identify the commercial poultry farm where the outbreak was
discovered.
``At this point, we have euthanized the flock, and they
have been safely disposed of,'' spokeswoman Leticia Rico
said. ``The facility is being cleaned and disinfected.''
A task force of state and federal agriculture officials and
scientists has been monitoring the outbreak and advising
commercial farms on security measures.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company. |
