CDFA Expands Newcastle Quarantine For Southern California

CDFA Quarantine Order - Feb 27th

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Since May of last year we've been following a stubbornly persistent outbreak of   Virulent Newcastle Disease (vND) in Southern California - the first in 15 years in the United States - which began spreading among backyard exhibition poultry.

Until mid-December, all of the outbreaks had been in backyard birds, but on December 14th the virus was discovered in commercial table egg pullets in Riverside county, marking the first such detection in American commercial poultry since 2003.

Since then, three additional commercial operations have been hit (see USDA Confirms 3rd Commercial Poultry Flock Hit With Virulent Newcastle Disease), and 5 weeks ago we learned the virus had been exported to a backyard exhibition flock in Utah.

As of their last posted update (February 19th), the USDA's official count of Newcastle outbreaks/detections in Southern California had reached: 

381 cases of vND in California, including 112 in San Bernardino County, 229 in Riverside County, 41 in Los Angeles County and 1 in Ventura County. USDA also confirmed 1 case in Utah County, Utah

While we've not seen an outbreaks or detections reported in Los Angeles County since late January, yesterday the CDFA (California Department of Food & Agriculture) released a modified Newcastle quarantine that includes all of Los Angeles County and large areas of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Virulent Newcastle Disease Update: Quarantine Boundaries Modified in Southern California

SACRAMENTO, February 27, 2019 – California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones today modified Southern California’s quarantine area to further restrict bird movement as work continues to eradicate virulent Newcastle disease (VND). The quarantine mandates the reporting of sick birds and prohibits poultry owners from moving birds in all of Los Angeles County, and in large areas of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The modified quarantine extends from the northern and southern borders of western Riverside County to the Salton Sea—including the Coachella Valley—and as far east as Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County, with a northern boundary of State Route 58 at the Kern County line. The quarantine language and a map may be found at CDFA’s VND Web site.

The quarantine requires bird owners to allow diagnostic testing, to isolate poultry from other species, to cease exhibitions, to stop the shipping and receiving of birds, and to enhance biosecurity.

“By modifying the quarantine area in Southern California, we are building upon an ongoing effort to eradicate virulent Newcastle disease,” said Dr. Jones. “The primary way that VND spreads is by people moving sick birds. Extending the prohibition of bird movement across a larger area is the next logical step in being able to stop the spread of the virus and to eradicate the disease.”

VND is a nearly-always fatal respiratory infection in poultry. Birds may seem healthy but will die within days of being infected. There is no cure. The virus is also transmitted by people who have VND on their clothes or shoes, and by equipment or vehicles that can transport the disease from place to place.

There are no human health concerns provided that any meat or eggs are cooked properly. People who come in direct contact with the virus may develop conjunctivitis-like symptoms or run a mild fever.

The only way to stop the virus and eradicate the disease is to euthanize birds. This includes all infected birds as well as birds within heavily-infected areas.

Since May 2018, staff from the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been working in joint incident command to eradicate VND in Southern California.

The highly contagious virus has resulted, or will soon result, in the euthanasia of more than one million birds in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties.

Birds from four poultry industry producers in Riverside County and two poultry industry producers in San Bernardino County have also been infected with VND and all birds in those facilities have been or will be euthanized.

For more information about movement restrictions, biosecurity, and testing requirements, please call the Sick Bird Hotline (866) 922-2473 or email SFSPermits@cdfa.ca.gov

According to the California Dept. of Food & Agriculture, the last outbreak in commercial poultry - back in 2003 - led to the depopulation of 3.16 million birds at a cost of $161 million.  Prior to that, in 1971, an outbreak in Southern California led the culling of 12 million birds. 

Yesterday's revelation that a million birds have been lost in this latest round of outbreaks is a reminder of how damaging diseases like VND can be to the agricultural community.

We should see a fresh update from the USDA on the number of outbreaks in the next couple of days.