April 1, 2004

US Set To Lift Bird Flu Restrictions In Maryland

Agriculture officials in Maryland expects current restrictions on poultry imposed as a result of the recent bird flu outbreak to be lifted after extensive testing showed no new cases of bird flu.

Since March 7, when state agriculture officials discovered a case of bird flu in a Pocomoke City chicken house, farmers south of U.S. 50 have been banned from spreading manure made from chicken litter. The virus, not harmful to humans but deadly to poultry, is easily spread on manure and on feathers.

Farmers say lifting the ban on portions of Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties would relieve a significant hardship on farmers who are facing the beginning of growing season.

The ban would not be lifted inside the quarantine area, a swath of farms within two miles of the infected farm in Pocomoke City, shore farmers said Thursday.

Agriculture officials were to release details on the lifted restrictions at a news conference Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Cambridge.

State workers have launched an unprecedented avian flu testing program since the virus was discovered in Delaware in February. On Friday, Delaware agriculture officials reported 5,322 houses on 2,181 farms had been tested since Feb. 6. Testing on the peninsula is ongoing.