SEIZED QUAIL HAVE BIRD FLU STRAIN IS NOT ONE THAT CAN BE TRANSMITTED TO HUMANS.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer SUN VALLEY - Several Japanese quail Japanese quail n. See coturnix. with low-pathogenic bird flu bird flu: see influenza. bird flu or avian influenza viral respiratory disease, mainly of birds including poultry and waterbirds but also transmissible to humans. were discovered among thousands of sick birds seized last month from a Sun Valley quail farm, humane officers said Wednesday. The state Department of Food and Agriculture said it had confirmed three birds taken from the L.A. Quail Farm had a common bird flu, unlike the potentially deadly Asian avian influenza avian influenza: see influenza. . ``It doesn't cause significant health problems to the birds,'' DFA DFA - Deterministic Finite-state Automaton. See Finite State Machine. spokesman Steve Lyle said. ``It's kind of like having a cold for us. It doesn't transmit to humans. ``We have cases of low-pathogenic bird flu every year in California. This is bird flu season.'' The birds were discovered during a raid Nov. 12 by the Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement at the Sun Valley farm after reports of sick animals and deplorable conditions. Armed with a search warrant, the Hawthorne-based bureau confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. 5,000 to 7,000 Japanese quail in addition to emus, sheep and other animals from the L.A. Quail Farm, 10923 Randall St. Officials with the business, located in a two-story warehouse in an industrial complex, did not return phone calls. Officers from the Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement were in court and could not be reached. The humane bureau, which had investigated the facility since February, described birds with numerous illnesses crammed into cobweb-covered cages filled with cockroaches cockroaches insects which may carry Salmonella spp. in their gut and play a part in the spread of the disease. and feces. The animals have been taken to two refuges in Acton pending a lawsuit filed by the humane bureau against L.A. Quail Farm. Mike Schwartz, who volunteered to house a thousand of the birds on his Acton property, said he visited the L.A. Quail Farm prior to the raid. ``It was like going into a Holocaust,'' said Schwartz, 56, of Newhall. Dana Bartholomew, (818) 713-3730 dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com |
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