See also: 9 May 2003, 25 April 2003, 18 April 2003, 7 February 2003, 17 January 2003, 10 January 2003, 3 January 2003, 29 November 2002, 22 November 2002, 8 November 2002, 1 November 2002, 25 October 2002, 18 October 2002, 4 October 2002

Information received on 17 January 2003 from Dr Peter Fernandez, Associate Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, DC:

End of previous report period: 10 January 2003 (see Disease Information, 16 [3], 15, dated 17 January 2003).

End of this report period: 17 January 2003.

Outbreaks (updated data):

Location	No. of outbreaks*
Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura Counties, State of California	1**
Clark County, State of Nevada

* USDA is defining this event as a single point source outbreak affecting multiple premises.

** 4 positive commercial layer operations and approx. 1,222 positive or exposed backyard premises.

Four commercial egg-layer operations have been confirmed to be affected. Over one million commercial laying hens are housed in these operations, and to date, approximately half of these have now been depopulated.

State of California

Confirmed affected and/or exposed commercial establishments by county:

- Riverside (2)

- San Bernardino (2)

- San Diego (1)

Quarantined backyard flocks (infected and/or dangerous contacts) by county:

- Los Angeles (195)

- San Bernardino (680)

- Riverside (338)

- Ventura (1)

- San Diego (1)

State of Nevada

Quarantined backyard flocks (infected and/or dangerous contacts) by county:

- Clark (2)

Control measures during reporting period: see previous reports. Approximately 680,000 birds were slaughtered and destroyed.

In addition to the expanded quarantine zones in the State of California (see Disease Information, 16 [3], 15, dated 17 January 2003), and due to the detection of the virus in a backyard flock in southern Nevada, the quarantine zone also includes the following areas in southern Nevada: Clark County and portions of Nye County. These two counties in Nevada are adjacent to San Bernardino County, California, a zone that has been under quarantine in California.

The affected backyard flock in the State of Nevada consisted of about 30 hens used for egg production for personal consumption. This flock had been depopulated. A neighbor’s backyard flock adjacent to the affected flock was also depopulated as a precautionary measure.

Note from the OIE Central Bureau: To date 1,222 premises have been reported as infected by or exposed to Newcastle disease in the State of California and in Clark county in the State of Nevada, since the emergency report dated 3 October 2002 (see Disease Information, 15 [40], 194, dated 4 October 2002). As from now, any further cases of this disease reported to the OIE within the context of this epizootic will no longer be notified in the weekly publication Disease Information but will be recorded in the OIE database, available through the "Handistatus" interface.

Source: OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES - 24th January 2003