Steve Burns
WMAL.com

GAITHERSBURG — (WMAL) You’ve already seen the effects of the avian influenza on egg prices. Now, the state of Maryland is looking to tamp down on its spread by limiting chicken displays at upcoming county fairs.

“The Secretary of Agriculture signed an order that there would be no poultry at any fair or show after August 25th,” said Nancy Carlisle, the poultry Superintendent for the Great Frederick Fair in September. “That date was just randomly picked, not for any particular reason other than it’s the beginning of the fall season.”

That random date selection means The Great Frederick Fair in September will only have photos of the chicks the county’s schoolchildren have been raising for the better part of a year. “Obviously, they’re devastated and disappointed,” she said.

However, Montgomery County’s Fair is in mid-August, flying just under Maryland’s chicken deadline.

“(The fair) is happening early enough in the season that we don’t anticipate the Avian Influenza to affect our poultry population in any way,” said Executive Director Marty Svrcek. Still, he said there will be ample biosecurity precautions taken and each chicken will be tested before it is put on display.

“It only affects chickens. It can’t infect people. But it has killed a number of chickens throughout the country, causing the rise in egg prices that many of us are experiencing right now,” Svrcek said. The state has also instituted a ban on all water fowl, including ducks and geese, effective immediately. Carlisle said the flu is spread to chickens through water fowl. She is rescheduling the poultry show to take place in mid-August, before the fair.

“Obviously there won’t be thousands of people looking at the birds there, but at least they’ll be able to get them out and show them off for the day.”

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