Delmarva poultry industry criticizes federal avian flu planning
News Currents
The federal government could learn a thing or two from the Delaware- Maryland-Virginia area poultry industry about how to prepare for an outbreak of avian flu, according to the Delmarva industry officials.
In a meeting called by U.S. Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., industry officials took exception with a draft avian flu response plan developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Delaware agriculture secretary Michael Scuse complained that the USDA has received little input from Delaware and other states that have dealt with recent avian flu outbreaks.
“This doesn’t mean anything to us,” Scuse said, holding up a copy of the USDA plan. “We’re years ahead of this.”
Jack Gelb Jr., chairman of the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Delaware, said UD already offers cutting-edge surveillance technology to protect commercial flocks of chickens and is developing disease containment programs.
State resources
At the same time, industry officials said the federal government could do a better job of providing states with the resources needed for surveillance and containment in the event of an outbreak of the dreaded H5N1 virus.
The H5N1 strain is spreading through wild birds and poultry in several countries, killing more than 100 people, mostly in Asia. It also has killed or led to the slaughter of more than 200 million domestic fowl in Asia, Europe and Africa. Health officials have said the virus could cause a global pandemic if it mutates to become easily spread from human to human.
‘”Of course we’re all concerned about the worst-case scenario of human-to-human transmission,” said Castle, who is concerned that the government’s focus has been on developing and stockpiling vaccines, rather than on preventing and containing the spread of the disease.
While most of those attending the meeting predicted that H5N1 eventually would show up in wild birds in this country, they were cautiously optimistic that commercial poultry flocks can be protected.
“The industry is going to have to wave a big stick for bio-security, but I think it can be done,” said Christopher McNeill, a veterinarian with Virginia’s agriculture department.
In the event that a flock on the Delmarva peninsula becomes infected, industry officials plan to rapidly kill all of the birds, either by gassing them with carbon dioxide or suffocating them in fire-retardant foam, and compost them inside the chicken houses. The USDA plan, they noted, suggests that the best way to dispose of dead birds is to bury them, a practice that could increase the risk of the virus spreading, and also pollute ground water supplies.
“It’s just appalling that USDA would have that as the best choice for disposal,” said Bill Satterfield, executive director of Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc., a trade group.
Satterfield noted that one industry official he talked to said the best thing the federal government could do to protect the poultry industry from avian flu is “just get out of the way.”
Tom Holder, a veterinarian with Allen’s Hatchery, said the peninsula’s four major poultry companies have stockpiled supplies and agreed to share resources and establish quarantine areas in the event of an outbreak.
“We don’t need a document that thick,” he said of the USDA plan. “…. We need about five pages … We need something short and sweet.”
Castle said he would ask federal agriculture and homeland security officials to consider the Delmarva industry’s planning as a model for other states.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Insurer sells Cape Cod inn
American Financial Group, Inc.’s subsidiary, Great American Financial Resources, Inc., has reached an agreement to sell Chatham Bars Inn, its resort-hotel property located on Cape Cod, Mass., for $166 million.
The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006. AFG expects to recognize an after-tax gain of approximately $27-$29 million ($0.34-$.36 per share). GAFRI has owned and operated the hotel since 1993.
“Chatham Bars Inn is one of the most unique hotel properties in the United States and has been a very profitable investment for us. This sale demonstrates the strength of our investment management operation. This sale will provide additional capital to be utilized to grow GAFRI’s core insurance operations organically and through acquisitions,” Craig Lindner, AFG’s co-chief executive officer and GAFRI’s CEO, commented.
N.Y. med-mal insurer forms
Hospitals and physicians in New York now have a new option for obtaining professional liability coverage and physician excess professional liability coverage, through the Healthcare Professionals Insurance Company.
The state recently licensed the new hospital-owned company, which has been capitalized with $20 million and will be based in Albany. HPIC was created through the sale of the former HANYS Insurance Company, now known as Hospital Insurance Company. The Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) has no ownership interest in or authority over HPIC, HANYS Insurance Company, or Hospital Insurance Company, according to officials.
Initially, HPIC will offer hospital professional liability coverage on a primary and excess basis and physician excess professional liability coverage.
Mark Morris, president and chief executive officer of HPIC, said HPIC has begun discussions with other insurers aimed at increasing HPIC’s capacity to write higher limits.
The officers are Murray S. Marsh, chairman; Edward G. Murphy, MD, vice chairman; Mark D. Morris, president and chief executive officer; Dennis Loughridge, secretary, and Mark C. Schoell, treasurer.
According to an insurance department report, HPIC has entered into a management, general services and facilities agreement with Hospital Insurance Management Company, Inc., a New York corporation for HIMCO to provide management and financial services to, for and on behalf of HPIC.