An Overview on Biosecurity Measures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Poultry Farms

Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of agricultural sector in India and main hurdle in the future growth of poultry sector is serious morbidities & mortalities caused by diseases that prove to be devastating. The term “Biosecurity” literally means “Bio”- life and “security” -protection. Thus, it refers to the measures taken to establish disease free environment for farm profitability. This article highlights the importance of various measures to prevent the commonly occurring diseases in poultry farms along with diagnostic approach for the same.

Introduction

In today’s scenario especially in last 2 decades, poultry industry in India has witnessed fastest growth amongst agricultural and allied sectors due to increasing demand for protein rich diet. India ranked as 3^rd largest egg producer in world after China and United States of America & stands 9^th in broiler production. In 2020 per capita consumption of poultry meat was increased to 3.9 kg/person/year from 2.2kg/person/year of 2014. Henceforth, in order to meet ever increasing demand of safe meat and egg, and to keep poultry away from infectious diseases, to tackle emergence of various environmental and public health concerns ranging from pollution to health, discussion & implementation of biosecurity measures gain more attention.

Emergence of novel infectious diseases in poultry industry creates considerable risk to the owners, handlers and consumers. If any one of the disease strikes, the widespread economic destitution for both the commercial and seasonal flock owners occurs. Thus, it is very much essential to eliminate the occurrence of disease for which appropriate action should be taken. So, a set of managemental practises are required for reducing the disease transmission in poultry farms referred to as biosecurity methods. This article highlights the importance of various measures to prevent the commonly occurring diseases of poultry farms and also the diagnostic approach for the same.

Currently prevalent infectious diseases

Poultry industry has gained significance all over the world as it provides economic and nutritious food to the population as compared to the red meat and other protein sources. In order to meet the food demand of today’s world, poultry farming system need to be consistent, however it is influenced by various factors like-

1. Infectious agents (germs like bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, etc)
2. Environmental conditions (like deficiencies, temperature, extreme climatic conditions)
3. Stress causing conditions (due to inappropriate feed, contaminated water, shelter related issues, and unfavourable environmental conditions).

All these factors altogether reduces the production performance of the birds and generates general symptoms like loss of appetite, depression, etc that ultimately leads to large economic loss in poultry sector. Some of the common prevailing diseases of poultry birds in farms are listed as below:

Economic impact on poultry industry-

The diseases results in production inefficiencies and reduces the profitability. To enhance the production antibiotics are supplemented as growth promoters, which further causes problems of residual toxicity and contributing factor to developing antimicrobial resistance. In 2012 Bennet, proposed a concept of impact of diseases on the economics of poultry industry-

1. Economic impact internal to the farm –

1. Loss of capital
2. Reduction in output quality
3. Reduction in marketable output level
4. High-level use of various inputs

2. Economic impact external to the farm-

1. Effect on rural economics
2. Lack of market power and fierce competition among the international companies thus lowering the production costincluding disease management cost.

1. Economic impact on both internal and external of the farm-

1. Resource cost, which is related to the diagnosis, prevention and cure of the disease.
2. Animal suffering increases negative impact on animal welfare and enforce international trade restrictions.

As per Agriculture and Processed Foods Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India has exported 659,304 MT of poultry products for the worth of INR 7,680 million during 2015-16,which holds a major share in economics of our country. The figure below shows the export trends of poultry products in India in past few years.

Thus, a particular poultry disease significantly impacts financial status and hence it is important to be prepared for disease management in rational ways.

Prophylactic measures-

In order to prevent the disease associated losses, it is essential to adopt various routine practises that act as next line defence after maintain and following clean & hygienic condition in poultry farming. Some of the measures include-

1. Vaccination –Timely scheduled vaccination of birds is essential as counter measure to prevent disease occurrence.

Vaccination schedule for broiler poultry

Vaccination schedule for layers

Vaccination schedule for backyard poultry

Vaccination schedule for ducks

2. Parasitic control- mainly the birds on floor are more prone to endo & ectoparasitic infection.Regular inspection,insecticide spraying,cleaning sheds and deworming treatment are some of the measures to combat physical stress among birds that help to defend birds from acquiring infections.
3. Isolation of sick birds-observing the flock regularly for certain vices like feather picking, pica, vent picking etc is required for early screening and isolation of infected birds to prevent the spread of disease to the surrounding areas. For this, sick birds if curable are isolated otherwise culled and disposed off under proper guidelines.
4. Avoid mixing of multi-age birds- when young birds are introduced to the old flock, risk of disease occurrence increases. Sometimes birds start showing the vices like feather picking etc due to various social issues.
5. Practising various biosecurity measures-it plays an important role to reduce disease hazards and improve health and productivity of poultry birds.

The term “Biosecurity” literally means- “Bio”- life &” security” -protection. Thus, it refers to the measures taken to establish disease free environment for farm profitability. There are usually 3 steps involved in the process of biosecurity-

1. Conceptual biosecurity– It involves location & distance of farms from markets/packaging units, continuity on the roads, availability of water supplies etc
2. Structural biosecurity– It refers to the screening of farms to prevent predatory animal attack, rodent proofing, proper ventilation, drainage facility, proper water & feed supply, separate storage unit for feed, litter, equipments, installation of disposable units etc.
3. Operational biosecurity– It involves decontamination & disinfection of units,adaptation of specific procedure on entry of farm like foot bath,wheel dips, control for the prevention of contact with exotic & backyard poultry with proper vaccination.

The basic approach for controlling and treating disease condition is proper diagnosis that includes the following steps

• Recording of history & clinical signs
• Laboratory diagnosis includes-
  • Proper sample collection from infected birds
  • Isolation and identification of organisms
  • Serological tests
  • Molecular tests for confirmation
  • Organism typing
• Appropriate therapeutic protocol must be recommended well in time

Future perspectives-

Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of agricultural sector in India as it contributes to about 1% of total India’s GDP. It is the self-sufficient unit supported by 2 driving forces of population growth & sustainable increase in per capita income. But the main hurdle in the future growth of poultry sector is serious morbidities & mortalities caused by diseases that prove to be devastating for Indian poultry sector.

The future requirement of poultry sector includes -improved biosecurity measures to maintain health status of growing number of birds and vaccination, medication coupled with strict measures to address this threat. In rural areas, health provision is deficit to deal with the disease outbreak whereas in commercial sector, health requirements are more demanding & stringent. Thus, biosecurity is formidable challenge for both rural and commercial setup.

Thus, it is high time for all of us to work in collaborative manner to develop various strategies to prevent disease at the source level itself which includes critical assets such as epidemiological approaches including disease monitoring and surveillance, early warning system in pre-outbreak areas and total culling of carrier/untreatable diseased birds in contaminated areas to reduce the infection in poultry farm birds.