Pet bird owners upset over federal eradication program

Friday, Jan. 31, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

Eastern Las Vegas residents are crying foul over federal authorities killing their pet poultry without first testing the birds for a deadly avian disease that is the focus of a quarantine and a limited eradication program.

Jill Duncan, who owns three geese, 17 ducks and 40 chickens in a one-kilometer eradication zone, says she feels she was misled by officials who told her they would test her birds. Other area residents agree after watching those tests being conducted on their birds postmortem.

"If my birds are sick, then I can understand why they should be destroyed," Duncan, 56, said Thursday. "But how do we know they are sick unless they are first tested? These are my pets. What are they going to do next, determine our dogs and cats have too many fleas and kill them?"

On Saturday, U.S. Agriculture Department agents are scheduled to euthanize Duncan's birds, some of which are 20 years old.

Government officials say that if the 190 state and federal agents who have converged on Las Vegas for the eradication process had to first test each live bird, the county would be overcome by the rapid spread of the disease.

"If we did not take extreme action we would never get ahead of this," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the multi-governmental Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force. "If we aren't aggressive, we will be in a dire situation."

Lemon, who also is with the USDA, said that by drawing a one-kilometer battle line around the infected areas, and attacking inward, thousands of birds throughout the valley can be saved.

"It is unfortunate that animals are being euthanized," he said. "But if this virus is not contained, it has the potential to make mad cow disease look like a walk in the park. Exotic Newcastle Disease is the Ebola virus to birds."

In the mid-1990s, a series of deaths in Great Britain from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurred after people consumed beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease, resulting in a worldwide beef consumption scare. Ebola virus, a blood ailment, has caused widespread human death in the Third World.

Exotic Newcastle Disease, however, poses no threats to humans. Eggs and the meat of afflicted birds can be safely consumed by people, officials say.

Since Jan. 17 there has been a no-movement quarantine on fowl in east Las Vegas neighborhoods. Lemon said the disease has been found in seven locations within the kill zone. Those locations were not released.

The eradication zone generally is bordered by Owens Avenue to the south, Marion Street to the east, Cheyenne Avenue to the north and Wilkins Street to the west. A one-kilometer surveillance zone surrounds the pear-shaped kill zone. Live animal testing is being conducted in the surveillance zone, Lemon said.

Sue Jerrems, a longtime Lamb Boulevard resident, said she could not bear to watch agents dressed in white contamination suits chase down the 12 birds -- including five peacocks -- in her huge rural backyard and gas them them Thursday.

"I was pretty upset (Wednesday), but today, when I got up and found my rooster was sick, I had to accept that maybe there is something to this," Jerrems said.

Jerrems said one agent told her that the local problem may stem from people bringing diseased fighting cocks to Las Vegas from California where 1.5 million commercial birds and 82,500 backyard birds had been destroyed in six counties -- Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.

"We cannot conclusively say that fighting cocks from California and Mexico are the source of the problem in Las Vegas, but it certainly is a risk factor," Lemon said. "There is always that risk when birds are smuggled in and out of a quarantined area."

The USDA and the task force are paying bird owners fair market value for the birds they are destroying from a congressionally approved emergency fund. The amounts vary based on type of birds and numbers of fowl.

Jerrems accepted an offer of $545 for her birds, including $80 apiece for her peacocks. But Duncan said she has not even allowed federal appraisers on her property to evaluate the birds' worth.

Duncan is holding on to her hope that her birds can be spared. However, she says, she will obey the law if agents come to her with a court order to enter her property and confiscate her birds.

Federal officials say if they don't soon contain the virus, the multibillion-dollar U.S. poultry products industry could be crippled.

Lemon said there is an embargo on California-produced poultry products in Europe. He said other nations are refusing all U.S. poultry products until they are convinced the problem is under control in the Southwest.

California has a $3 billion-a-year commercial poultry products industry. Nevada has no commercial poultry industry other than pet stores and feed shops that sell birds. Lemon said there have been no confirmed cases of Exotic Newcastle Disease at local shops.

There is no treatment or vaccine for birds afflicted with the strain, officials said. Symptoms include drooping wings, sneezing, nasal discharge, greenish diarrhea, depression, muscular tumors, paralysis, swelling of eye and neck tissue, the laying of thin-shelled eggs and a drop in egg production.

Following such ailments, sudden death can occur within the flock.

Areas where birds are confiscated are cleaned and disinfected.

Residents are being instructed not to replace the dead birds until at least 30 days after the quarantine is lifted.

Birds kept in indoor cages are not being confiscated and destroyed, Lemon said.

However, to keep them free from the disease, he recommends that owners remove and clean their shoes with a solution of three-quarters of a cup of bleach per one gallon of water immediately after entering their homes.

Lemon also says people should blow their noses to remove potential spores before coming into close contact with their birds and wash their hands for 10 to 20 seconds before and after touching their pets.