GOOD NEWS FOR BIRDS DISEASE QUARANTINE MAY END SOON.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

After seven months and 3.5 million birds destroyed, agriculture officials say they are getting a handle on exotic Newcastle disease, the scourge of Southern California chicken flocks and the fear of pet-bird owners.

Eradication teams are still going door to door examining poultry, parrots and other pet birds for signs of the highly contagious virus. They reported only four new infections in May and none so far in June. Officials hope to remove the quarantine in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Imperial counties if the next round of testing comes up clean.

``By the end of the year we're hopeful that eradication will end the quarantine in the area,'' said Adrian Woodfork, spokesman for the Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, operated jointly by the U.S. and California Agriculture departments.

Even as officials prepare to lift restrictions, some bird owners say they'll never again feel the safety and freedom they felt before the outbreak.

``People tease me that I've built a bubble around my birds. I'll probably keep the bubble around them. ... You just don't know what diseases are lurking out there,'' said Michelle Velez of Van Nuys, who likely never again will take her cockatoo, Shadow, to bird-club meetings or farmers markets.

Bird groups and farm clubs might be more wary of socializing for fear of spreading disease, some enthusiasts said.

``It hasn't taken the joy of being a bird parent away, but it's definitely changed things,'' Velez said. For some, there also is a lingering distrust of the state and federal veterinary officials running the task force.

Bird owners were horrified that the task force destroyed ducks, parrots and backyard chickens, sometimes without testing the pets for the infection. Others felt the task force has been too secretive in not releasing bird-testing results, and hasn't applied rules evenly to different communities.

``The government did some horrid things early in the END crisis,'' said Jim Adlhoch, a West Hills resident who has been following the task force and lobbying for more humane treatment of companion birds. `People will distrust the government for a long time.''

Larry Cooper, another task force spokesman, conceded there were problems in the beginning. ``Because this was an emergency project quickly put into place there were bound to be people not trained properly. That has been addressed.''

The task force started sensitivity training and stepped up contact with bird-owner associations to let people know they can appeal a kill order or sign an agreement to allow a so-called high-risk bird to live if proper precautions are taken.

The outbreak was discovered last October, in Compton, among a backyard flock of chickens. Infected birds were found in Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as in Sylmar and the Antelope, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys.

There were some scares in the San Fernando Valley, including three birds in Reseda that were destroyed because they exhibited symptoms, but turned out to be free of the virus, Cooper said. Earlier this week, a Sylmar man was allowed to keep his flock of 50 chickens after tests came back negative on two sick chickens that had been euthanized.

Task force teams were seen knocking on doors in Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks and Granada Hills.

Exotic Newcastle is a highly contagious and fatal virus that affects a bird's respiratory, nervous and digestive systems. It can wipe out unvaccinated poultry flocks and is dangerous even to vaccinated chickens.

The disease can be spread through contact with bird droppings and secretions and can be carried on shoes, clothing or equipment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A bird considered at high risk of infection, meaning it or its owner could have come into contact with a diseased bird, is euthanized immediately. Owners can appeal the death sentence.

Pigeon racer Rusty Williams said his Sylmar home was quarantined because a neighbor's chickens tested positive for the virus. He would normally train baby pigeons to fly and return home, but the birds cannot leave the property until the quarantine is lifted.

``I think we're being unfairly targeted. People, dogs, cats can be just as much of a carrier than a racing pigeon, and there's no quarantine on them.''

Other bird owners are more tolerant of the quarantine and have embraced biosecurity as the buzzword in the bird-lover community.

At Discount Bird and Pet Supplies in Reseda, owner Rochelle Tesoriero has stopped boarding or grooming birds. She installed a specialized mat with disinfectant that visitors clean their shoes on before entering the store. Her birds, once on display, are now closed to visitors.

Velez adopted a stringent routine to protect her 18 birds.

She moved all her birds from the living room to a den with a door. She's got a foot bath full of disinfectant at the door and a bottle of hand sanitizer that she uses on her hands and lower arms. In the house, she throws her clothes in the laundry and showers before going to check on her birds.

``No one comes into my house. Even my parents don't come over,'' Velez said.

Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 3746

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Karen Key, nursery supervisor at Discount Bird Supplies in Reseda, kisses Frida, a parrot she is raising for customers.

(2) Canoga Park resident Donna Hone shows off her half-moon conure parrot at Discount Bird Supplies in Reseda.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer