To date more than 810 California flocks have been depopulated with more than 400 waiting for depopulation.

Nearly 600,000 birds have been depopulated so far. Most of these are backyard flocks but at least 1.3 million commercial layers are impacted with current estimates ranging as high as 4 million commercial layers.

END is a contagious and fatal viral disease affecting all species of birds. Previously known as velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease (VVND), END is probably one of the most infectious diseases of poultry in the world. END is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry flocks. Exotic Newcastle can infect and cause death even in vaccinated poultry.

Officials with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are currently conducting an eradication campaign for END in backyard and commercial poultry.

To prevent the spread of END in this area, the State veterinarian has imposed a quarantine that affects the owners of poultry and poultry exhibitions in Los Angeles, Riverside, Imperial, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.

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Source: Iowa Egg Council - January 2003