Since 2012, locals have biked around Silicon Valley every fall to get a peek inside residents’ backyard chicken coops. But this year, organizers of the Silicon Valley Tour de Coop opted to cancel the annual daylong chicken coop tour, which was scheduled for Sept. 14, because of a disease spreading among chickens in California. “Sadly, we are canceling the Silicon Valley Tour De Coop for 2019 due to safety concerns of the highly contagious chicken virus call[ed Newcastle,” organizers told prospective attendees in an Aug. 1 email. “There is a 120-day restriction waiting period since the last recorded find of the virus, and the date when restrictions could be dropped does not come until October 2019, after the scheduled coop tour event.” Virulent Newcastle disease is spread by direct contact between birds through coughing, sneezing and droppings. Although the disease rarely affects people, they can spread the virus by moving infected birds, equipment and bird feed, and by wearing clothing and shoes that have been in infected areas. It’s especially easy to pick up the disease at bird feed stores, since people often don’t change their clothes...