Ducks destroyed after virus found: State poultry group
buys flock in order to have the fowl eliminated
http://www.gonzalesinquirer.com/articles/2010/03/15/news/news01.txt
Around 3,500 ducks in Gonzales County had to be destroyed earlier this year by an order from state officials.
The ducks, owned by Gonzales resident Steve Hendershot, were located on County Road 238 north of Gonzales.
The Gonzales Inquirer has been working on this story for more than a month. State officials at first said they were unaware of the issue and refused any comment. However, after a phone call from the office of Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, officials released the entire story about what happened.
State officials said the flock had to be destroyed because of positive tests for a bird virus.
Andy Schwartz, state epidemiologist for the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), said last week the situation began last November during random testing of the duck flock.
Schwartz said new rules in the state require random testing of flocks when birds from those flocks are sold at live bird markets in Texas. Such was the case with the ducks in Gonzales County.
He said state officials did a "routine sampling" and those samples were sent to the diagnostic laboratory at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Schwartz said when the tests were conducted, "it came up positive" for possible Avian flu virus. However, he also said that "any influenza will trip the test."
Because of the positive test, the samples were then sent to the National Veterinary Services facility in Ames, Iowa.
"They repeated the same result and found the matrix positive," said Schwartz.
At that time, he said they "attempted to isolate the virus."
Schwartz said more samples were then tested. They were "particularly concerned" about two strains which "could cause an outbreak in the poultry industry."
Those two strains are H5 and H7, he said, and the samples tested negative for those two strains.
At that time, Schwartz said state officials "assessed the situation" and put the entire flock on a "hold order" until they got the results back.
"We didn't have sick ducks," he said.
Once those results were received, Schwartz said the state "decided to allow controlled marketing where he (Hendershot) could move the live ducks to the markets in Houston."
Schwartz said that Hendershot had two houses of birds. The first house had the positive test but he said the second house "continued to test negative for several months."
However, in late December of last year, he said the state "got a positive" test on the second house.
"We stopped movement of all birds," he said.
What that meant, said Schwartz, was "we no longer let him send them to the market."
Schwartz said the state felt "it was sort of a difficult situation. We didn't feel like we could stop it permanently."
It was at that time when the Texas Poultry Federation "agreed to come up with the money to buy out the flocks."
Once that happened, Schwartz said all of the ducks, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500, were "humanely destroyed."
Schwartz said Hendershot was "having to feed the ducks and not able to market them."
James Grimm, executive vice president of the Texas Poultry Federation, confirmed last week they did enter into an agreement with Hendershot.
"He had a concern about putting them down and we had a concern about them not being put down," said Grimm. "We came to a mutual agreement."
During a luncheon last week, Dr. Tammy Beckham, director of the TVMDL, said there are eight million birds in the greater Gonzales area, making it the largest concentration of poultry in the state.
Grimm said his group considers these situations "case by case," but that it is not uncommon for them to step in when necessary.
"Any time if effects poultry we have a huge concern about it with all of the poultry in the Gonzales area," said Grimm.
Asked if notices were sent to the major poultry producers in the county, Schwartz said that was done through the Texas Poultry Federation. That group, he said, likely notified the local poultry producers in the area.
It was known that a local poultry supply company had a mechanism in place where people had to disinfect their shoes before entering the building.
Schwartz said poultry industry businesses are normally "urged to tighten their security" when a bird flu disease tests positive in an area.
He said the process for getting the ducks usually means the hatchlings are purchased from an out-of-state hatchery. Schwartz said he wasn't sure exactly how the birds were shipped but thinks they were flown into Austin and then picked up and brought to Gonzales County.
Schwartz said the chicks are then grown locally before being taken to the various markets around the state. He said there are about 10 markets in Texas, most of them in the Houston area.
He said no fines are levied in cases like this, rather, the state is focused on trying "to stop the spread of disease."
Once the birds were destroyed, Schwartz said state officials then developed a "plot plan" for the location. That requires removal of the litter and requires cleaning of the houses "where the infected birds were."
Once that takes place, he said there is then a 30-day waiting period before any more birds can be placed in those houses.
As of last week, Schwartz said he was not sure if the cleaning and disinfectant had taken place. He did say the state has to be notified when it is completed.
"I don't know if the 30-day clock has started," he said.
Schwartz also said state officials were on the site after the virus was detected and continue to monitor the situation.
Hendershot is a former Gonzales city councilman and just recently filed as a candidate in the May election for another city council post.
Information in this story was given following a public information request by The Gonzales Inquirer.
