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COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE HALTS POULTRY SHOWS AND SALES AFTER
AI-POSITIVE FLOCK DISCOVERED IN VIRGINIA
Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass has ordered a halt to poultry shows and sales throughout West Virginia in response to a turkey flock that tested positive for low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) in Mt. Jackson, Va., just across the West Virginia border.
The strain is not the “bird flu” that has been plaguing Southeast Asia and parts of Europe and poses no threat to human health.
The order applies to any gathering of live birds, including shows at fairs and festivals and sales of poultry. The order is effective Monday, July 9, and will be in place for 30 days unless another positive flock is discovered.
The order does not apply to the commercial industry, which tests every flock for AI before it is moved off the farm to ensure that infected birds are not trucked past other poultry farms.
“Having already dealt with a positive flock in West Virginia earlier this year, we want to take every precaution to protect our poultry industry from a potentially devastating situation,” said Commissioner Douglass.
He also noted that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture is on high alert for any signs of the disease here, and that the industry has been exercising enhanced surveillance protocols since a 2002 AI outbreak that affected West Virginia and Virginia.
Poultry companies on both sides of the border have instructed their growers not to spread litter or move it from their farms until further notice.
According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), testing over the weekend by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the presence of AI antibodies, which indicates possible prior exposure to the virus. The turkeys did not show any signs of illness prior to testing.
Virginia is closely monitoring all poultry operations within a six-mile radius of the affected farm.
NVSL is doing further testing to help identify the virus and hopefully determine its source. VDACS, USDA and the poultry owner are working cooperatively to minimize the possibility that the virus will move beyond this farm.
The affected flock contains 54,000 birds, which will be euthanized as a precaution as soon as possible and composted on-site. While LPAI poses no risk to human health, federal and state policy is to eradicate H5 and H7 subtypes because of their potential to change into more serious types, which have a higher mortality rate among birds.
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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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