WATCH OUT FOR THE “END”

With the incredible advancement in the field of veterinary medicine, animal health laboratories still find themselves trying to catch up with new diseases of new strains of traditional sickness like the mad cow disease, west nile virus and the END or Exotic Newcastle Disease which was the main reason for ouwn own Bureau of Animal Industry to ban the importation of gamefowls from three American states : California, Nevada & Pennsylvania.

END is considered an animal emergency in the affected states. END is a contagious and a fatal viral disease affecting all birds.Previously known as velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease (vvNd) END is probably one of the most infectious disease of poultry in the world. END is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. END can infect and cause death even in vaccinated

cocks and causes a death of almost a 100 percent in unvaccinated stocks.

END affects the respiratory, nervous & digestive systems. The incubation period for the disease ranges from 2 to 15 days.An infected bird may display the following signs :

· Respiratory : sneezing, gasping for air, nasal discharge,   coughing;
· Digestive : greenish, watery diarrhea;
· Nervous : depression, muscular tremors, drooping wings,   twisting of head and neck, circling, complete paralysis;
· Egg production : partial to complete drop in production and   thin shelled eggs;
· Appearance : swelling of tissues around the eyes and in the   neck;
· Mortality : sudden death and increased death loss in a   flock.

END is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy birds and the bodily discharge of infected birds which have high concentrations of END virus. The disease is discharge to infected bird droppings and secretion from the nose, mouths and eyes. END spreads rapidly among birds kept in confinement.

BIOSECURITY & DISEASE PREVENTION

The only way to eradicate END from the flock is by rapidly destroying all infected flocks and imposing strict quarantine and in-depth surveillance programs. Gamefowl breeders should strengthen biosecurity practices to prevent the introduction of disease to their flocks. The following are tips on proper biosecurity practices:

· Permit only essential workers and vehicles on the    premises.
· Provide clean clothing and disinfection facilities for    employees.
· Clean and disinfect vehicles (including undercarriages)    entering and leaving the premises.
· Avoid visiting other gamefowl farm operations.
· Maintain an “all-in-all-out” policy flock management with a    single age flock. -Control the movement of all poultry and    poultry products from farm to farm. _Clean and disinfect    poultry houses, pens and yards between each lot of birds.
· Do not keep pet birds on the farm. Do not hire employees    or invite people who own pet birds.
· Protect flock from wild birds that may try to nest within    your farms or feed with your flocks.
· Control movements associated with disposal and handling    of bird carcasses, litter and manure.
· Take disease birds to a diagnostic laboratory for    examination.

As of February 6, 2003 , the Federal quarantine area in California includes Imperial, Los Angeles, Orance, Riverside, Sta. Barbara, san Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. In Nevada, it includes Clark and the southern tip of Nye counties; and in Arizona Puma, La Paz and southern portions of Mojave (below the Colorado River) counties.

So for heaven’s sake, those of you out there, particularly those unscrupulous and greedy gamefowl shipper-brokers who try every tricks in the book just to go around the ban issued by the Buraeu of Animal Industry, please consider not your income, but the disease you will be bringing-in to the country and the problems you will be giving the local gamefowl breeders.

“Pag hindi puede, ‘wag naman.

For more information on the ban, you can contact the BAI Quarantine Office at 925-4343 or the BAI Director’s Office at 926-6883.