Stoddard County Fair won't allow poultry because of avian flu fears

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Fair Board opted at its July meeting to not allow poultry exhibits at the 2015 County Fair because of the avian influenza outbreak. This includes all chickens, ducks, geese, turkey, guineas or other poultry.

Fair board president Kevin Holman said it was a hard decision for the board. The outbreak of avian flu has not been found in Missouri but has spread across many states.

"Although we do not have it in Missouri yet, other states around us do," Holman said. "To avoid any problems, it was decided that no poultry will be accepted at the 2015 Stoddard County Fair."

The fair board did not want to discourage 4-H and FFA students who worked all year to show their poultry at the Sept. 22 to 26 fair and render those students ineligible for scholarships. Since the mid-1980s, the fair board has awarded more than $37,000 in scholarships to county high-school graduates. The criteria for being eligible for a scholarship is to have exhibited in three of five years from grades eight through 12.

Because some poultry exhibitors may be negatively affected by the decision not to allow poultry, the board adopted the following: "Exhibitors will still be able to enter poultry that are preregistered but differently. On a 8" x 10" piece of poster board you will display a 4" x 6" picture of your poultry, an entry tag will be filled out as usual. This will be judged as if poultry was there."

Holman said this will qualify students for scholarships and allow them to receive ribbons and prizes.

"Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 infections have been reported in U.S. domestic poultry (backyard and commercial flocks), captive wild birds, and wild birds by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Interior. HPAI H5 detections began in December 2014 and continued into mid-June 2015," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "During that time, H5 bird flu virus detections were reported in 21 U.S. states (15 states with outbreaks in domestic poultry or captive birds and six states with H5 detections in wild birds only). It is possible that H5 outbreaks in birds in the United States may reoccur in the fall and winter. Surveillance for H5 in U.S. birds is ongoing.

"While the health risk posed to the general public by domestic HPAI outbreaks is low, it is possible that human infections with these viruses could occur," the center stated.

Pertinent address:

Dexter, Mo.