APHIS confirms 26 Newcastle disease cases in 1 week

Twenty-six new cases of virulent Newcastle disease (vND) were reported in the United States during the week beginning Jan. 25 and ending Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported.

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(cgdeaw | Bigstock)
(cgdeaw | Bigstock)

Twenty-six new cases of virulent Newcastle disease (vND) were reported in the United States during the week beginning Jan. 25 and ending Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported.

Of those cases, none were in commercial poultry flocks, and all cases were located in southern California. There was one case each in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, while the remaining 24 were in Riverside County. All cases but two were in “backyard exhibition chickens,” according to APHIS. There was one case in a flock of backyard hobby turkeys and another in a retail feed store, both in Riverside County.

All birds affected by vND were euthanized, APHIS reported.

An additional 84 cases were confirmed between Dec. 21, 2018 and Jan. 24, 2019.

Since May 18, 2018, APHIS has reported 340 cases of vND in California, and one vND case in Utah. The Utah case, according to APHIS, was in a bird that was moved to Utah from Los Angeles County, California.

Of the confirmed cases to date, three of them have been in commercial poultry flocks, with all three of those flocks located in Riverside County.

The most recent vND case in commercial poultry was in a commercial layer flock that included at least 100,000 birds. That case was confirmed on Jan. 10. Prior to that, another commercial layer flock was affected. That case was confirmed on Jan. 8, and there were 159,000 laying hens in that flock. The first case of vND confirmed in a commercial flock during this outbreak was in a flock of 110,000 layer pullets, and that case was announced on Dec. 15, 2018.

The new vND cases come in spite of an order from California State Veterinarian Annette Jones, in which all birds in certain communities in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties be euthanized.

There has also been one case of vND in a backyard exhibition chicken in Ventura County, California.

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