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By Coop Kohli AU Lakes Zone Director A Meeting with Dr. James Averill State Veterinarian, Division Director Animal Industry Division Monday, August 24, 2015 The meeting was arranged to see if the AU could get the state of Michigan to reconsider its current position on pigeon , which today is not allowed as part of the state's effort to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza. I met with Dr. Averill alone. Dr. Averill is the top veterinarian in the state of Michigan's Animal Industry Division, and has both a DVM and Phd. His expertise is in cattle. A Veterinarian is on his staff, but did not meet with us. I am unaware as to how that individual views pigeon racing, and it is a concern considering the state's abrupt about face from three or four weeks ago when permission to race was given, then rescinded for reasons unknown to us. Dr. Averill was respectful, pleasant and interested; gave me an hour plus of his time, and provided meeting space in a conference room in which he permitted me the time to spread out numerous 8x10 pictures and scientific AI studies, while I walked him through the mechanics of pigeon racing. A notebook with the same information was left with him for his staff to review. It was all fairly new to him, and throughout the presentation he asked questions. I found him to be fair and straight-forward. With his questions, he was obviously evaluating disease risk. I began the meeting by emphasizing that as a group, we were good citizens concerned about our nation's poultry industry, and it was our hope, that as men of science, they would recognize that "good science" relegated pigeons to near the bottom of the list as a risk to the poultry industry, as we understood it. I clarified that I came before him as a volunteer concerned about my sport, that I represented the 900 fanciers in my zone, and that I had no profit motive, or conflict of interest. The conundrum for state government is that this very serious disease has been known to infect people in Asia, mutates rapidly, caused nearly $200 million worth of poultry to be depopulated in this country, caused the price of to nearly double this summer, forced a Minnesota processing plant to lay off employees because it ran out of live to process, and has prompted countries to restrict imports of American poultry products. China, South Korea and Angola have imposed total bans on U.S. Poultry products, having markets valued at nearly $700 million last year. The conundrum for our sport is that if state legislators and regulators decide we aren't concerned about these very real problems, along with the perceived risks that accompany our sport for the spread of disease, we might wake up one morning next spring, and be in the state's cross-hairs, facing permanent restrictions that severely impact our sport, along with the disastrous public relations consequences that then coincide with being a pariah sport like -fighting. So, don't stick your head in the sand. Belligerence and bad attitudes are the enemy right now. We have to anticipate the consequences that come along later if some of us are found to be in violation of the state's ban on the commingling of birds. I would not want to be remembered as the one of that brought about strict regulation on our sport because of my refusal to recognize the potential severity of this disease if it enters the Atlantic flyway next year. There exist many misconceptions among pigeon flyers about Avian Influenza. Some of us think pigeons can't catch the virus. Others think the can't shed the virus. Still others think the pigeon gets its protection from its high body temperature. While I have a degree in Poultry Science, I am not a scientist, but as I list and summarize the studies I presented, you will see what the experts say the facts are. The presentation of the AI reports showing that pigeons are of low risk to the poultry industry was tantamount to the success of the meeting. The following scientific studies were provided by the AU office, and are the same studies that were distributed to state vets earlier in the summer: (1) "Pathogenicity of a Hong Kong-Origin H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus for Emus, Geese, , and Pigeons"' by Perkins and Swayne, 2001, USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Athen, Ga. (This study concluded that PIGEONS WERE RESISTANT to HK/220 infection, lacking gross and histologic lesions, viral antigen, and reisolation of the virus. It carries a great deal of weight because it was conducted by the USDA in its premier lab.) (2) "A current review of avian influenza in pigeons and doves ()", June, 2013, Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria. (This study collated the data of numerous scientific studies on the transmission of AIV by pigeons and doves. It concludes that Columbids are susceptible to infection by AIV, BUT INEFFECTIVE PROPAGATORS AND DISSEMINATORS OF THE VIRUS, I.E. DEAD END HOSTS FOR AIV, EVEN HPAI. Viruses are shed in minute quantities from both the choana and in the feces for a short duration but titers are below the minimum threshold required to infect other species.) (3) "Limited Susceptibility of Pigeons Experimentally Inoculated with H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses, September, 2011, Yamamoto, Nakamura, Yamada and Mase, National Institute of Animal Health, Japan. (This study is important to pigeon racing because it evaluates the possible role of pigeons in virus transmission to poultry. In experiment 1, when 20 pigeons were intranasally inoculated with high or low viral doses, no inoculated pigeon exhibited clinical signs for 14 days. In experiment 2, when uninoculated were housed with virus- inoculated pigeons, all pigeons and chickens survived for 14 days without exhibiting any clinical signs. According to serological analysis, the chickens did not exhibit seroconversion after close contact with inoculated pigeons. "Our data suggests that the risk posed by pigeons with respect to transmission of the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus to poultry would be less than that for other susceptible species." This study is as close as we will probably get to defending our sport from accusations that we can mechanically spread the disease. Even when drinking the same water, same feed, same space and air, the chickens remained virus free.) (4) "Resistance of Immune Suppressed Pigeons to Subtypes H5N2 and H6N1 Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus.", June 2006, Fang, Lien, Cheng, and Tsai, Graduate Institute Of Veterinary Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pinghung, Taiwan; National Research Institute for Animal Health, Council of Agriculture, Tamsui, Taiwan. (This study reconfirmed that Cy-treated and untreated pigeons in both experiments did not shed viruses or become antibody positive throughout the 21 day observation period. All pigeons were negative for AIV/RNA when trachea, lung, pancreas, spleen, kidney, and rectum tissues were examined. NEGATIVE RESULTS WERE ALSO OBTAINED IN UNINOCULATED CONTACT CHICKENS, WHICH WERE HOUSED TOGETHER WITH H6N1 AIV INOCULATED PIGEONS. THEREFORE, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE PIGEONS ARE RESISTANT TO INFECTION WITH THESE TWO LPAIVS AND DO NOT SERVE AS TRANSMISSION HOSTS, EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION.) The pictures presented showed lofts, loft interiors, club house shipments, electronic bands, breeding stock, our people, and awards. I explained that fanciers cultivate their pigeon families over many years, in some cases, generations, and the pigeon families (genetics) are highly treasured and protected, perhaps like Italian families protect their old family wine recipes. I explained that fanciers don't just wander down to the nearest live bird auction and buy racing pigeons, in mass. The birds are highly selected and treasured as individual athletes, the point being, that we therefore maximize our efforts to ensure their care and safety. He was shown pictures of breeding operations in Belgium, and high profile breeding pairs, and that led into a discussion about imports and how American fanciers buy individual birds (genetics) to introduce into their families at considerable cost. We looked at a picture of Vandenabeele's "Super Gabby", as I explained the importance of selecting stock with verified performance statistics, and reviewed with him what we typically would pay for young breeding stock raised from champion imported breeders. The comparison was made to chicken genetics companies in the U.S. that exist to sell broiler, or laying breeding stock, to poultry companies in

our own country. That led into a discussion about imports, quarantines, and the fact that the USDA was not concerned about imported pigeons having been exposed to AI. I emphasized that the USDA, in its communications with us, does not even put pigeons on its susceptible to AIV. I emphasized with him that our AU Loft Certification Program, and the recommended AU Bio-Security Program were developed with feedback from the USDA, and that the USDA considered it a form of self-regulation. Dr. Averill reviewed with interest the list of experts on the AU Science Task Force. We talked about the profile of American fanciers, and I shared that many first generation flyers had served in the U.S. Signal Corps, and that we breed and race from passion, not for profit. I explained that we are not a wealthy lot, that many of us are on pensions and race pigeons because we love the sport, and the bird, and the challenge of perfecting it, nothing more. We talked about old bird seasons and young bird seasons, young bird losses, distances, bird endurance, motivation, GPS, and Futurity races, and through the whole spectrum of a typical race. I explained that birds were fed and watered in the trailer, that we did not want birds going down for water, or scavenging for feed (a significant area of concern for them), that every effort was made to get birds home quickly and safely. The bottom line for us, as I sit here tonight, is that I truly believe that Dr. Averill will give us a fair shot at getting our racing in Michigan restarted. He was made aware that we can race in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. He was going to sit down with his staff, call Minnesota to review the program for pigeon racing they implemented, call Dr. Forshey in Ohio, and pour over the disease studies we left him with. I am prepared to make another trip to Lansing to sit again with his staff if it is helpful. Dr. Averill assured me we would hear from him by Friday, September 4, 2015, which is the Friday before Labor Day weekend, leaving those that have trained their teams as we have consistently advised, enough time to be competitive in the October Futurity races. I think, when the horse trading is done, that we will be required to attend a winter disease conference, and that each of us will have to have AU Certified lofts. That will be a very small price to pay to get this monkey off our backs. If we have the opportunity to bargain, we will make a request that we at least get a shot at flying our Futurity races, and a discussion of that option took place. My experience makes me cautiously optimistic that we will get full privileges back unless there is something else is in the mix that we don't know about.