030109 California Declares Poultry EmergencyJanuary 9, 2003Los Angeles, CA - Gov. Gray Davis and the federal Department of Agriculture declared states of emergency over an outbreak of a disease threatening the state's $3 billion poultry industry. The federal declaration expanded the quarantine zone for Exotic Newcastle Disease to include all of Southern California. It came hours after Davis released money and manpower to combat the disease, which is harmless to humans but fatal in birds. The outbreak has required the slaughter of more than 1.2 million chickens since it was discovered in December at the state's commercial farms. In the 1970s, a statewide outbreak of the disease threatened the nation's poultry and egg supply and led authorities to destroy nearly 12 million chickens. Eradicating the disease cost $56 million. The new outbreak was first discovered in September in backyard chicken flocks in Los Angeles County. Chickens in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange counties were quarantined in late December. Santa Barbara, Ventura and Imperial counties were the latest added to the quarantine zone. Because the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, eggs are being sanitized and allowed to pass through the quarantine zone. Since the outbreak, Canada temporarily stopped all shipments of poultry and poultry products from California. Mexico, the state's leading export market for poultry, enacted a similar ban. The outbreak has had little effect on the industry so far, analysts said. Poultry and egg prices have remained stable.
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