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5-10-2006

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER REASSURES CONSUMERS FOLLOWING PANDEMIC MOVIE

Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass is reassuring consumers in the wake of “Fatal Contact” – a made-for-television movie on human pandemic – that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and other government agencies have been working for the past two years building defenses against avian influenza and the potential human pandemic it could present.

“Although ‘Fatal Contact’ was factual in most regards, it did present a worst-case scenario of what could happen with a mutated version of the current Asian bird flu,” said Commissioner Douglass. “West Virginia citizens can rest assured that this Department is continuing to refine its capabilities to detect avian influenza in all its forms whenever it appears in this state.”

Commissioner Douglass stressed that the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of AI is not a human pandemic, nor has that strain ever been detected in North America. The U.S. industry does not allow diseased birds to enter the food chain, even though proper cooking kills all forms of bird flu virus.

Commissioner Douglass said he was particularly struck by the movie’s portrayal of the psychological trauma a pandemic might cause, even for people who don’t become ill.

“People should always keep food and water in their homes for any variety of emergencies that might arise. However, what people really need to prepare for in a pandemic – or even a severe animal disease outbreak – is a substantial disruption of everyday life,” Commissioner Douglass said. WVDA is negotiating to have its Food Distribution Program stock surplus strategic supplies of food in Charleston, he noted.

He added that early detection is the key to minimizing the impact of any disease outbreak or pandemic in West Virginia. WVDA laboratories installed the latest technologies about 18 months ago to increase turn-around time on AI samples from days to around four hours. Each week, WVDA’s laboratories in Moorefield run 700-1,500 AI tests and more than 150,000 samples annually for a variety of animal diseases. Birds from each poultry house are tested before they leave the farm for processing, and the industry practices strict biosecurity measures to minimize the chance of spreading any diseases. WVDA has a Memorandum of Understanding with USDA Wildlife Services to provide testing for migratory and wild birds.

No birds are imported from Asia; poultry in grocery stores is raised in the U.S., except for a small percentage that comes from Canada.

“The chance of a human pandemic form of bird flu arising in commercial flocks in the U.S. is quite unlikely. However, any form of avian influenza can have a dramatic effect on the economics of our poultry industry,” he said.

The state’s 375 poultry farms produce 100 million broiler chicken and turkeys each year, generating an economic impact of $500 million. Moorefield poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride is the number one employer in Hardy, Grant and Pendleton Counties, and the industry ranks in the top-ten in the state as an employer.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.

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