Avian-flu quarantine coincides with Sparboe Farms layoffs

HUDSON — The Colorado Department of Agriculture has ordered a poultry and poultry product quarantine in and around Hudson after Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza was detected at Sparboe Farms, a chicken-egg operation in Hudson that temporarily laid off 95 workers last week and is in the process of culling 1.36 million birds.

The bird-flu outbreak at Sparboe Farms, owned by Minnesota-based Sparboe Cos., is one of the first to occur at a large commercial operation in Colorado, a state that this month established a unified command group to help respond to a disease that’s quickly spreading across the world.  

“HPAI has a mortality rate in birds of 90%-100% within just a few days, so poultry owners across Colorado are advised to review and increase their biosecurity measures and monitor their flocks for clinical signs of HPAI. Bird owners should immediately report any illness or death in their flocks to the Colorado State Veterinarian’s office,” according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

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“Clinical signs of HPAI in birds include: sudden death without clinical signs; lack of energy or appetite; decreased egg production; soft‐shelled or misshapen eggs; swelling or purple discoloration of head, eyelids, comb, hocks; nasal discharge; coughing; sneezing; incoordination; and diarrhea.”

While deadly to chickens, avian influenza does not present a food safety risk, and poultry and eggs are safe to eat when handled and cooked properly, the department said. 

According to the quarantine order signed by Colorado State Veterinarian Maggie Baldwin:

• No poultry or poultry products located in the control area, [which encompasses Hudson and its immediate surroundings,] may leave any premises without a movement permit from, and the express, written consent of, the state veterinarian or her designee.
• No poultry or poultry products may be moved onto any premises within the control area without a movement permit from, and the express written consent of, the state veterinarian or her designee.
• All poultry and poultry-product producers must comply with all epidemiologic investigation requirements established by the state veterinarian or her designee.
• In order to begin the process of obtaining a movement permit [poultry producers] must first complete a monitored premises status questionnaire to be reviewed and approved by the State Veterinarian’s Office.

The order said that “Any failure or refusal to comply will result in immediate referral to the Colorado Office of the Attorney General for civil enforcement and to local law enforcement for criminal enforcement.”

If no additional cases are reported in the quarantine area, the order “will remain in place between 14 to 28 days after the area goes into the ‘virus elimination’ phase,” CDA director of communications Olga Robak told BizWest.

She added: “ The virus elimination phase starts once all of the depopulation and disposal activities have finished and the response team begins the cleanup process, which could take several days still. The Colorado State Veterinarian will determine the exact length of the quarantine once we enter the virus elimination phase.”

In addition to the HPAI outbreak in Hudson, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has detected a much smaller commercial outbreak at a boiler-chicken breeding operation in Montrose County. 

Last week, Sparboe Farms, which did not respond to request for comments, notified the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment that 95 employees would be temporarily laid off.

The layoffs, which are expected to take place over the next month, are a result of a business “closure,” according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act documents.

The closure and layoffs are likely related to the HPAI outbreak and subsequent poultry quarantine and culling, but it was not immediately clear to CDLE officials Tuesday whether the WARN filing was a direct result of the HPAI outbreak.

WARN Act provisions are triggered when a company with more than 100 employees lays off more than half its workforce at a single site. 

Among the positions impacted are processing manager, production supervisor, packer, stacker, machine operator, manure technician, gate security and administrative assistant, the WARN filing said. 

None of the workers being laid off are represented by a labor union.

Sparboe was founded in 1954 in Minnesota and expanded into Colorado with the acquisition of the Hudson farm in 1999. The Colorado operation allowed the company to begin serving customers in the Southwest, according to the company’s website.

The company made headlines in 2011 when Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) stopped carrying Sparboe eggs after undercover videos at company farms, including the Hudson operation, were alleged to show unhealthy conditions and animal abuse.