10/10/2005

Associated Press

North Carolina poultry workers say they've been left in the dark as the world faces the looming threat of a potentially deadly bird flu hopscotching around the globe.

Mariano Castro, 37, a quality control worker at a huge Case Farms poultry processing plant in Morganton, wondered why the company hadn't held meetings to tell its workers about the potential risks.

"It's kind of terrifying," said Leonel Escobar, 29, who makes $7.75 an hour to slice up to 25 chicken legs a minute. "I want to know what the company would do if the flu did come here."

A deadly strain of avian flu has killed at least 60 people in Asia, most of them poultry workers. Authorities in Turkey and Romania confirmed their first cases of the disease over the weekend and the European countries began slaughtering thousands of domestic fowl on Sunday to stop the spread.

President Bush said last week he's growing more concerned about avian flu possibly spreading to people. He called on Congress to allow the military to enforce mass human quarantines if necessary.

The bird flu virus does not pass from person to person easily, but experts believe it could mutate to a form that becomes a human flu virus that passes easily between people. That could trigger a pandemic, or large outbreak in many places at once. A super-flu could kill up to 1.9 million Americans, according to a draft of the federal government's plan to fight a worldwide outbreak.

North Carolina is home to 5,000 poultry farms and processing plants. An outbreak could mean the destruction of millions of birds and potentially crippling the $2.7 billion industry.

Poultry industry officials said there is only a remote risk to U.S. workers.

"At the present time there is nothing to protect (workers) against," said National Chicken Council spokesman Richard Lobb.

Companies have security measures to guard against infectious diseases, and U.S. growing and processing standards are stricter than in Asia, meaning fewer contamination risks, Lobb said.

Perdue Farms Inc., which runs two poultry plants in North Carolina and one in South Carolina, said their flocks and workers are protected against disease. Flocks are kept in enclosed barns, away from wild birds. Workers clean boots in bleach water. Farm traffic is restricted.

Maryland-based Case Farms is aware of concerns of the avian flu, but compliance director Ken Wilson said it would be premature to spread fear by alerting workers. Workers would be notified "when it was appropriate," he said.

Officials with Arkansas meat-processing giant Tyson Foods Inc., which runs a processing plant in Wilkesboro, did not return calls.

North Carolina medical epidemiologist Kristina Simeonsson said the risk that humans will contract the deadly avian flu strain is "very low." She suggested state-funded vaccinations for all 25,000 North Carolina poultry workers and training them to properly use their gear.

Meanwhile, Delaware agriculture officials are fitting poultry workers with protective suits and masks. In Ontario, Canada, poultry workers can jump to the front of the line for flu shots.

The lack of a campaign to inform poultry workers indicate they are seen as "expendable workforce" because they're poor, largely Hispanic and undocumented, said Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.

"It's just outrageous that no one has told them about the risks," said Velasquez, whose group , represents 7,000 migrant workers in North Carolina. "The reality is: They're the ones on the front lines."

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On the Net:

Federal bird flu plan: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahhpaiplan.html