DATE:     2/19/04
CONTACT:  Julie Helm, DVM, CULPH poultry expert (803) 788-2260 x232
          jhelm@clemson.edu
WRITER:   Peter Kent, (864) 656-0937, peter.kent@clemsonews.clemson.edu

State poultry health experts 
raise bird flu surveillance

     COLUMBIA -- No avian influenza outbreaks have been reported in
South Carolina. Clemson University poultry health experts and the
poultry industry have heightened surveillance and security to guard
against the bird flu affecting the state.
     "Meat and eggs are safe to cook and eat," said state veterinarian
Tony Caver, director of Clemson University Livestock Poultry Health
(CULPH). "We will continue to work with the poultry industry to keep a
close watch out for symptoms."
     Poultry is South Carolina's No.1 animal agricultural industry,
generating nearly $1.5 billion in revenues and employing 8,200 in
production and processing, according to the South Carolina Poultry
Federation. The state ranks 12th nationally in poultry and poultry
product sales. Any outbreak in commercial flocks creates adverse
economic impacts, likely to trigger export restrictions nationally and
internationally.
     Avian influenza has been reported in two states: Delaware and New
Jersey. The U.S. strains are not fatal to humans and are not the same
as the one in Southeast Asia, which reportedly led to the deaths of 22
people.
     Avian Influenza is an infectious viral disease of many avian
species, including chickens, turkeys, game birds, ratites, waterfowl
and wild birds. It has also been found in some caged birds, including
parakeets, parrots, cockatoos, finches, but the significance of the
infection in these birds is not yet clear.
     There are 15 different subtypes of AI. Subtypes H5 and H7 concern
the poultry industry most because they can start off as "low-path" (the
mild, non-fatal form of the disease) and become "high-path" (severe
form causing significant problems and high death rate) as the virus
spreads.
     The current "Asian bird flu" is high-path H5N1. All human cases of
this virus have been linked to contact with infected poultry. The 1997
Hong Kong avian influenza outbreak (H5N1) was the first time avian
influenza virus was spread to humans.
     The flu reported in the two states is low-path H7 and is not
related to the Asian subtype. Subtype H7 does not infect humans.
Low-path H7 is often linked to the Northeast live bird markets in New
Jersey and New York.
     The disease is spread in nasal secretions and manure of infected
birds or through the air, if a high concentration of the virus is
present.
     Symptoms can vary from a mild decrease in egg production to a
highly fatal, rapidly spreading epidemic. In some flocks, the only
evidence of infection is presence in the blood of the birds, which
develop virus antibodies detectable via laboratory tests.
     To minimize the spread of bird flu, poultry growers and processors
are sanitizing equipment, vehicles and clothing, along with restricting
farms to workers only and avoiding contact with farms and birds in
infected areas.
     The virus can be killed with disinfectants and drying. However,
under hospitable conditions, it can survive in the environment for
weeks.
     Vaccines can prevent signs of the flu, but because there are
numerous strains there is no way to predict which subtype will infect a
flock. Destroying infected birds and flocks is the most reliable way to
control an avian flu outbreak.
     Clemson University Livestock Poultry Health is comprised of three
departments: Animal Health Programs, the SC Meat Poultry Inspection
Department and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. It is the lead
state agency for the detection and identification of foreign animal
diseases and animal diseases able to infect humans.
                               END