Promoting Exhibition Poultry in Utah Since 1951.
Virulent Newcastle DiseaseRegarding the Virulent Newcastle Disease issue in Utah, the state poultry expert has given us permission to share that the case of VND was found in a flock within the cockfighting community. Currently, this is an isolated incident within the cockfighting community. If you are not involved in that community, there is no need to panic. That said, you should step up your biosecurity measures. Three birds were smuggled in from out of state, directly from the quarantined area in CA, in early January. The birds, who were not quarantined upon arrival, died quickly and then others in the flock started rapidly dying. One of the partners started to lose birds, reported it, and the birds were taken to the lab for testing. All the birds in this Utah County flock were humanely destroyed and properly disposed of. While this is somewhat of a relief to those of us in Utah because now we know it was not someone freely selling birds out of their backyard or birds that are regularly exhibited in our shows, this piece of information is not meant for us to let our guards down. No one should be purchasing or moving anything poultry related from quarantined areas in CA. As always, We recommend that you know who and where you are buying from and always practice biosecurity! Another thing to note, the press releases by the USDA & UDAF say “exhibition” poultry. This is because the government separates birds into 2 classes - commercial and exhibition. Birds used for fighting are classified as exhibition poultry. Backyard Poultry Biosecurity - Dr. Frame https://extension.usu.edu/…/…/BackyardPoultryBiosecurity.pdf Virulent Newcastle Disease Fact Sheet - USDA https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publica…/animal_health/fs-vnd.pdf Utah Department of Ag Press Release http://www.ag.utah.gov/…/779-virulent-newcastle-disease-fou… USDA Press Release https://www.aphis.usda.gov/…/sa_by_da…/2019/january/vnd-utah 
The UFPA is friendly group of fanciers promoting standard bred poultry throughout the intermountain west.
Specialty and national meets are invited. |