The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reported two confirmed cases of virulent Newcastle disease (vND) in California so far in 2020.
According to a report issued by APHIS on January 17, both cases were confirmed in backyard exhibition chickens in San Bernardino County, California. The first was confirmed on January 8 and the second on January 13.
With the two latest cases, APHIS, as of January 17, has confirmed the presence of the disease in 473 premises in California. There has also been one confirmed case in Utah and another in Arizona.
According to APHIS, the affected flocks were quickly euthanized to help prevent additional disease spread and to help eradicate the disease from the country.
Samples from the flocks were tested at the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS). The APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirms all findings. APHIS is working closely with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to respond to these findings and to conduct an epidemiological investigation. Federal and State partners are also conducting additional surveillance and testing in the area.
To date, the bulk of the vND cases have been in southern California. Riverside County has had the most confirmed cases with 262, while there have been 161 in San Bernardino County, 46 in Los Angeles County and one each in Ventura, Alameda and San Diego counties.
The majority of those cases have also been in backyard exhibition chickens. However, the presence of the disease has also been confirmed in three commercial egg operations, a research facility, at retail feed stores and in backyard poultry flocks.
The current vND outbreak began in May 2018. Prior to that, the last case of vND, formerly known as exotic Newcastle disease, to be confirmed in the United States was in 2003.
