Pa. Agriculture Officials Take Measures To Prevent Importation of Avian Flu Here
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania officials have placed new restrictions on the movement of eggs and poultry into the state in an effort to halt the advance of bird flu that has devastated flocks in other states.
The new restrictions apply to birds headed to live markets, and to eggs destined for facilities where they are broken open and processed.
Those birds and eggs coming from states where avian flu is present will have to be tested before being shipped.
Craig Schultz, of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, says he wouldn't describe the danger to Pennsylvania flocks as "imminent" just yet.
"The term imminent, I think, is not appropriate right at this point. I think that we are very, very much aware of the risk and we are addressing that risk accordingly," he said.
Schultz says the Department of Agriculture has been working for several weeks on contingency plan to implement should the bird flu turn up in Pennsylvania.
He says that plan would involve exterminating infected flocks, which occurred during an outbreak in the early '80s.