Saturday, January 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE: Birds killed to stall virus

Task force eradicates domesticated birds in area around site where disease was first found in valley

John Johanson, left, and Aron Suzuki, both of the U.S. Forest Service, collect debris Friday that will be destroyed to help contain the Exotic Newcastle virus in Las Vegas. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Duane Richey, an animal-health technician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sprays disinfectant Friday on one of several chicken coops on Ruby Perring's property on Walnut Road just east of North Las Vegas. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Click above for enlarged image. Graphic by Mike Johnson.

Ruby Perring's 15-year-old web-footed friend Gus and 485 other geese, chickens, turkeys, pigeons and peacocks were killed this week in the first step of what could be a months-long campaign to contain a virus that kills domesticated birds.

"The boys in the white suits came with the hats and the masks and everything," Perring, 75, said after a team of federal inspectors eradicated her birds Wednesday under threat of a court order. "I had 87 birds altogether. ... They caught them all and they gassed them all."

The Exotic Newcastle virus, which was first detected east of North Las Vegas about two weeks ago, is not harmful to humans, but can be spread through contact with them, officials say.

The disease, which hit parts of Florida in the 1980s and struck Southern California about three months ago, could harm other area birds and devastate the poultry industry in neighboring Utah, said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As a result, a special federal task force of about 40 veterinarians and 80 other field workers arrived in Las Vegas this week, and they expect to have an office set up by Monday.

To contain the Newcastle virus, Agriculture Department inspectors have paid 24 owners up to $75 each for the birds they must eradicate within a one-kilometer radius of the property where the virus was first detected, north of the intersection of Lake Mead Boulevard and Walnut Road.

"What we are doing is setting up surveillance areas, which are like a barrier around the infected areas. ... And the idea is to restrict its (the virus's) movement and its spread," Lemon said. "While there is no human-health threat associated with Exotic Newcastle virus, it is possible for humans to carry the virus on their clothes, shoes and hands."

Residents are urged to contact the federal task force if their birds get ill, or if they know of a bird owner in the infection zone, Lemon said. The disease hits some bird species, such as chickens and turkeys, harder than others, such as parrots, he said.

While the virus can infect wild birds, studies done on about 1,000 wild birds in the 1970s failed to demonstrate that there was a significant negative impact on them, Lemon said.

Symptoms such as fatigue, respiratory problems, sneezing, paralysis, watery feces, and laying eggs without shells typically precede the death of a bird. There is no cure for the disease, and federal inspectors don't know how the virus surfaced in Southern Nevada.

"One of the things we are investigating in California is whether illegal hens came into the country for illegal cock fighting," Lemon said.

Bird owners are urged to feed their domesticated birds in their coops rather than by spreading feed on the ground; to make certain caged birds are kept indoors and away from possible infection; and to spray their feet, and wash their hands, with disinfectants to prevent the spread through human contact, Lemon said.

They also are urged to call an Agriculture Department hot line with their concerns at 515-5200.

"You cannot have a successful eradication program without the cooperation of the community. ... Timing is everything. The faster the better," he said. "People have been astute in telling us when they have sick birds and when their neighbors have sick birds."

All of Clark County and southern Nye County are under a quarantine until further notice, which means farmers, bird lovers, hunting clubs and pet stores are prohibited from transporting birds, said Fred Henson, a state game warden.

Nobody knows how long it will take to control the virus, but a similar effort is going into its fourth month in Southern California.

A member of an Agriculture Department cleanup crew on Perring's property said Friday that the task force has rented its trucks and equipment for six months.

"We are not concerned about the wildlife," Henson said. "But, we have shut down all movement of birds, and that is a problem because we have a lot of permittees (business owners) and they can't move their birds."

Hyke Riley, owner of the Bahnna Bird Farm in Las Vegas since 1974, said the federal ban on selling birds might force him to close his business. However, he won't go bankrupt because he also sells golf carts and batteries for cars and recreational vehicles, he said.

"It will probably put us out of the bird business," he said. "We haven't sold any, and we wouldn't sell any anyway because everybody is afraid to buy a bird after hearing about this disease."

However, for bird owners such as Perring, the Exotic Newcastle virus is paying off. Before the extermination of her animals, Perring would occasionally sell geese for about $20, peacocks for about $30. The Agriculture Department, however, paid her $75 for each of her peacocks, $30 for each goose and $20 for the fantail peacocks that previously she had given away, assuming anyone wanted one.

In all, Perring said she received about $1,800 for the 87 birds that her stepson had left her after he died in 1995, she said.

"They paid pretty well," Perring said. "I could never get the money they were paying. I sold geese for $20 and $25, and they paid me $30 no matter what kind of goose it was."