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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 11 June 2022
Bird flu arrives in Southwest after millions of birds die

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona fore park workers removed
officials have confirmed them.
the first cases in the South- "We had a high suspicion
west of a bird flu that has that it was something that
led to the deaths of 37 mil- we do not normally see,"
lion birds from commercial Justice-Allen said. "We
farms in the central and have resident cormorants
eastern U.S. in the area, and we do
The disease was spotted not normally see mortality
after tests by federal wild- events in them."
life officials in three wild Justice-Allen said a major
cormorants that had been concern is backyard flocks
found dead in a park in the of chickens, which are al-
Phoenix suburb of Scotts- lowed in parts of metro
dale, Arizona Game and Phoenix. The disease has
Fish officials announced been found in many hom-
this week. eowner flocks across the
The disease has not yet country.
been found in any domes- Bird owners should watch
tic birds or in commercial for symptoms like birds not
operations, the agency eating or lethargy, runny
said. noses, seizures or diarrhea,
But it is a concern, accord- A bird lands on the top of the net behind home plate during a spring training baseball game be- she said. Anyone seeing
ing to Glenn Hickman, tween the Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Phoenix. those symptoms should call
president and CEO of Hick- Associated Press the state Department of
man Family Farms, one of Agriculture.
the largest egg produc- any people or tools that en- of virus that is potentially Anne Justice-Allen, the de- The first U.S. detection of
ers in the Southwest. Hick- ter are disinfected. produced when you have partment's wildlife veteri- the new strain of highly
man operates four chicken The company dodged a a large population is much narian, said calls from the contagious avian flu in do-
ranches in Arizona, one in scare recently when the more than the relatively public alerted her agency mestic poultry was in Febru-
California and two in Colo- avian flu was found in a small amount of virus per to the dead cormorants, ary in Indiana. More than
rado. flock 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) bird in the wild bird popu- water-loving birds that of- 37 million birds have been
The company has stopped from one of its Colorado lation," he said. None of his ten nest in groups. The killed to prevent the infec-
any visits to its farms and farms, Hickman said Thurs- farms were affected. three juveniles had fallen tion from spreading since
doublechecked its bios- day. And while he's con- Arizona Game and Fish of- out of their nests and were then.
ecurity program, which is cerned about the Scotts- ficials have been closely spotted dead by morning As of June 3, it had been
designed to prevent its ap- dale find, its not anywhere monitoring for the disease, walkers in the park, who detected in wild birds in 40
proximately 2 million chick- near as concerning as if a which had been no closer called wildlife officials. states, but not in California,
ens from being infected. Its nearby commercial opera- than Colorado before this "It's a good thing they did," Arizona, Nevada or New
chickens are kept in barns tion had an outbreak. week's announcement, by Justice-Allen said, because Mexico. Commercial flocks
that are secured so that "Those are a lot scarier be- responding to all calls of they were able to collect in 19 states have been
wild birds can't enter, and cause the massive amount dead birds. the birds and test them be- infected.q

New Mexico residents sue for information on massive wildfire

fuel sparked two blazes carry out the burns and in- on prescribed burns nation-
that came together as the formation on the rules and wide pending its own inves-
largest in New Mexico's his- regulations that govern the tigation.
tory and the biggest burn- prescribed burns. President Joe Biden is
ing in the U.S. right now. Without the information, scheduled to visit New
The wildfire has charred the lawsuit alleges, the resi- Mexico on Saturday for a
nearly 500 square miles dents "cannot determine briefing about the wild-
(1,295 square kilometers) in the Forest Service's respon- fires and recovery efforts.
the Sangre de Cristo moun- sibility — other than media Another wildfire in south-
tain range, which sits at accounts — for starting the western New Mexico has
the southern edge of the fire." burned 466 square miles
Rocky Mountains. Several The Forest Service told the (1,206 square kilometers).
hundred homes have been Santa Fe New Mexican The Mora County residents
destroyed. that it does not comment said they requested docu-

Smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire drifts over Las The lawsuit was filed on pending litigation. The ments from the Forest Ser-
Vegas, N.M., on May 7, 2022. Wednesday in U.S. District agency has said unex- vice on May 4 about the
Associated Press Court in Albuquerque on pected, erratic winds dur- fire in northern New Mex-
behalf of 50 Mora County ing one prescribed burn ico, but that the agency
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Doz- mation about the govern- residents, the Santa Fe New carried embers outside the failed to respond within 20
ens of residents in a small ment's role in starting the Mexican reported. targeted area. The other working days as required
New Mexico community blazes. It asks the court to declare wildfire emerged from a under the law. The lawsuit
impacted by massive wild- The Forest Service has ac- that the Forest Service im- burn set on a pile of dead also seeks attorneys fees.
fires that merged in April knowledged that two pre- properly withheld planning vegetation in January that Herman Lujan, 80, his broth-
are suing the U.S. Forest Ser- scribed burns it set to clear documents for the burns, smoldered for weeks, even er and nephew are among
vice over what they called out brush and small trees agreements or contracts under snow. the Mora County residents
a failure to provide infor- that can serve as wildfire with anyone who helped The agency has put a hold who are suing. q