Mindful of that grim prospect, officials are giving attendees ample notice — don’t expect to see any live birds clucking away inside the poultry exhibit next month at the West Virginia State Fair in Fairlea.

About the closest you will get to seeing a live bird is if one of those chicken-styled mascots popular at professional baseball games decides to appear at the fair.

“Maybe we can get the San Diego Chicken,” Buddy Davidson, communications officer for the state Department of Agriculture, quipped Wednesday.

Blame it all on an avian flu outbreak in Shenandoah County, Va., only 10 miles from the West Virginia border — and much too close for comfort in the department’s view.

Leaving nothing to chance, Commissioner Gus Douglass decided to pull the plug on live poultry at the traditional and popular exhibit, Davidson said Wednesday.

“Commissioner Douglass was concerned about the proximity of the fairgrounds to the Virginia border and the number of people that certainly will be coming in from Virginia,” he said.