Madelaine Fletcher (301) 734-6125
Jerry Redding (202) 720-6959
FREE USDA BIRD BIOSECURITY 2006 CALENDAR AVAILABLE
WASHINGTON , Dec. 27, 2005 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced the availability of an informative bilingual calendar designed to help bird owners protect their birds from diseases such as exotic Newcastle disease (END) and avian influenza (AI).
The FREE calendar, entitled 2006 Backyard Biosecurity: Keeping Your Poultry Healthy, is an essential tool for bird owners to ensure the prevention of infectious poultry and bird diseases. It provides information on the warning signs for spotting illness and how to report sick birds, as well as six easy-to-follow steps for practicing backyard biosecurity.
All bird fanciers, whether interested in chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese or pet birds, should take the necessary steps to prevent diseases such as END and AI from devastating their flocks.
Biosecurity for the Birds is an important USDA outreach campaign to inform people who raise their own poultry or have exotic birds about the signs associated with diseases such as AI and END. The campaign focuses on common sense biosecurity tips bird owners can take to protect their flocks. There is a great need to take all steps necessary to ensure the continuing economic stability and overall health of our nation’s poultry industry. To eradicate END from California and other western states in 2002–2003, it cost the state and federal governments more than $170 million.
USDA’s 2006 Backyard Biosecurity calendar is available now. Bird owners may request a FREE copy for themselves or obtain one as a useful gift for a bird-owning friend or relative. Practicing biosecurity is an essential first step toward preventing disease from affecting poultry flocks. The information in the new calendar can help!
For additional information concerning avian diseases, and to obtain a free calendar, log onto http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/birdbiosecurity or call (301) 734-7799.
#
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/newsroom/. Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov and leave the subject blank. In the message, type subscribe press_releases.