END is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease that affects every species of bird, attacking the respiratory, nervous, and digestive systems. 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 and even in vaccinated poultry. The disease is transmitted through infected birds' droppings and secretions from the nose, mouth, and eyes. Virus-bearing material can be picked up on shoes and clothing and carried from an infected flock to a healthy one.

The only way to eradicate END from commercial poultry is by rapidly destroying (depopulating) all infected flocks and imposing strict quarantine and in-depth surveillance programs. This latest outbreak of END was confirmed in October 2002 in the state of California. In early February 2003, a backyard flock was confirmed with END in Arizona. By mid February, the quarantine had been expanded to several other California counties, a portion of Nye County, Nev., and part of Mohave County, Ariz.

In late February, the USDA took action to declare an extraordinary emergency for all areas in the three states. The declaration allows USDA to apply federal authority within those states to combat the disease.

In April, END was positively identified, and quarantines put in place in two Texas counties and three counties in New Mexico.

END's economic impact
Currently, there are 22 commercial flocks in the state of California positively affected by END, and authorities have quarantined more than 15,000 locations. To date, more than 3.4 million birds have been "depopulated." The outbreaks in Arizona and Nevada are considered small and are currently listed as under control. California's emergency program will go on indefinitely.

This outbreak of the disease has already cost growers and the government more than $70 million and engaged a task force that includes local, state, and federal responders. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and CBP personnel are a critical part of that team.

On a daily basis, task force personnel communicate information concerning surveillance, depopulation, and cleaning and disinfecting operations to all affected city managers in southern California. CBP personnel visit growers to distribute information and answer their questions, and to perform specialized tasks in connection with quarantine and control methods. In addition, the task force information staff provides daily updates to about 50 media outlets in California alone.

Successful interdiction efforts
Inspection efforts from San Diego eastward along the border have been stepped up in an effort to seize smuggled birds, eggs, and related products.

In mid-March, at the port of San Ysidro, an inspector conducting primary inspections, sent a suspicious truck driver to secondary for an agriculture examination. A search yielded two parakeets hidden in a cereal box under the driver's seat.

Also in March, a Border Patrol agent confiscated four live roosters and eight eggs while on patrol near Rio Grande City, Tex. These roosters and eggs were illegally brought across the border and were destined for a local ranch. An additional referral from primary inspection near there yielded several fighting cock spurs hidden in the glove compartment of a vehicle.

The Office of Field Operations continues to send alerts on this subject to inspectors at Pacific coast and Mexican border locations.

Veterinarians
At animal import centers, agriculture quarantine veterinarians (now part of Field Operations with CBP) check to make sure imported animals aren't infected with foreign pests or diseases before they're allowed into the country.

Vets around the country are also being trained to recognize and report diseases that could be used by terrorists to devastate the livestock and poultry industries. Vets are considered key to several government surveillance systems used to detect unusual patterns of animal disease that could indicate an outbreak, whether intentional or accidental. The USDA has trained many vets to recognize and diagnose animal diseases found elsewhere in the world that are rare or unknown in the U.S.