Avian Influenza Advanced Biosecurity Program
Avian Influenza is caused by an orthomyxovirus (influenza virus). It can survive for considerable lengths of time outside of the host with birds being infected through contact with other birds, mechanical vectors such as vehicles and equipment, and personnel travelling between farms, markets and abattoirs.
Outbreaks of Avian Influenza tend to be seasonal, and coincide with the late autumn and early spring migratory patterns of wild birds, particularly waterfowl.
Biosecurity is the only real way of stopping the spread of the Avian Influenza virus onto and around a poultry farm site. Producers need to achieve the highest possible levels of biosecurity, leveraged by good buy-in and compliance from management, their staff and their suppliers.
The main route of transmission onto poultry production facilities has been strongly linked to transportation of infected live birds, contaminated carcasses or litter in vehicles, and has highlighted the importance of biosecurity protocols targeting vehicle cleaning and disinfection. Poultry producers may have difficulty in justifying this precaution, as time must be spent ensuring that vehicles are adequately disinfected, which may have a financial impact. However, the risk of contaminated vehicles or associated equipment with infectious bacterial and viral particles, such as Avian Influenza, could be extremely hazardous to the health of livestock and ultimately the financial performance of a farm.
ADVANCED BIOSECURITY IS THE ANSWER
For biosecurity to be effective against the threat of Avian Influenza, there must be good planning, good procedures, good training and good tools.
Thoroughly review your production facility’s biosecurity plans at all levels using a risk based approach involving your veterinarian, management team and farm staff.
Starting with transport, scheduling is vital; all deliveries and entry of equipment to the production facility needs planning, as do removal of dead chickens, litter and any other waste. If possible, have different transport for infected and free farms.
Personnel movement is another target area; avoid sharing staff between sites at times of heightened risk of infection. Advisers, management and field staff are all increased vectors through which the Avian Influenza virus could be spread as they move more between production facilities.
Control of wild birds, rodents and other animals should also be fully reviewed and measures put in place to prevent their entry into the production buildings.
Finally, in planning, there is another good rule that should be adhered to at all times; never share anything between positive and negative production facilities, be it transport, personnel or equipment.
One of the most important aspects of biosecurity is the understanding and use of lines of separation between clean and dirty areas. This has to happen throughout the production system, for example, between the dirty and clean sides in a Danish entry system, or between the ground and the cab of a feed delivery vehicle. All the relevant lines of separation have to be identified and correct procedures for achieving separation established and used.
There are many other procedures that need complying with. These include such things as correct use of shower facilities, correct procedures for leaving and re-entering the farm, disinfection of equipment arriving at the farm, disinfection after risk vehicles have been near the farm, and contractor and staff behaviour whilst in and around the production facility.
In an infected farm, where bio-containment is being practised, examples of procedures are: control of staff movement around the farm, cleaning and disinfection of paths and roadways, correct local litter removal, and high level terminal cleaning and disinfection between production cycles.
Buy-in and training is an integral part of any biosecurity programme. This must include management, farm staff, drivers, service personnel and visitors. They need to understand why biosecurity against Avian Influenza is important, that it is still important, and how easily the virus spreads so they can understand what they need to do.
Biosecurity coordinators must make it a prime task to train, review and retrain as needed. One challenge is high staff turnover and the need to keep up to date. Compliance is everything, and failure to comply will lead to a biosecurity breach sooner or later.
Without the right tools, biosecurity will fail.
With vehicles being the primary vector through which Avian Influenza is spread, providing well equipped vehicle cleaning and disinfection areas is essential. Good vehicle washes must allow manure removal, provide good cleaning and disinfection, and vitally, prevent the possibility of cross contamination. The provision of drying and heating for trucks after cleaning and disinfection is an advantage, but does not replace it.
Other examples of good biosecurity tools are disinfectant sprays on approach to farms, external washes to disinfect where trucks have been, remote dead chicken collection points, and good entry facilities such as showers or a Danish entry system.
Some of the most important tools for effective biosecurity are the Biosolve™ heavy-duty detergents and Virkon™ disinfectants for use in the advanced biosecurity cleaning and disinfection program.
Washing with water alone reduces contamination by up-to 60%, but using a heavy-duty detergent decreases the original organic burden by 99%. Therefore, thorough washing of all surfaces and equipment with Biosolve™ PLUS heavy-duty detergent is essential to achieve the best results from any subsequent disinfection procedure.
The choice of disinfectant is vital. It needs to be active against various strains of the Avian Influenza virus but also have a broad spectrum of activity against other poultry disease-causing organisms because we still need to control them.
LANXESS specialise in the environmental control of highly infectious diseases and two of its disinfectants have been independently tested and approved effective against Avian Influenza virus strains:
| Disease | Infectious Organism |
LANXESS Disinfectant |
Strain | Dilution rate |
Contact time (mins) |
| Avian Influenza | Ortho- myxovirus |
Virkon™ S | Influenza Type A virus |
1:100 | 10 |
| H5N1 |
1:800 | 5 | |||
| H7N1 |
1:320 | 30 | |||
| H7N9 |
1:200 |
1 |
|||
| H9N2 |
1:1000 | 5 | |||
| H7N9 |
1:600 | 10 | |||
| Virkon™ LSP | H5N1 |
1:1000 | 10 | ||
| H3N2 |
1:400 | 10 | |||
| H7N9 |
1:200 | 5 |
Unlike some other disinfectant chemistries, such as Glutaraldehyde and Glut/QAC mixes, Virkon™ S remains effective against the Avian Influenza virus in just 60 seconds, even in cold temperatures. This is representative of real farm conditions. In addition, adding liquid Propylene Glycol to Virkon™ S solutions may reduce its freezing point to -10˚C, without affecting efficacy, providing poultry farmers with the reassurance that the disinfectant solution they’re using will remain in solution during freezing winter conditions.
The outstanding scientifically formulated properties of Virkon™ LSP and Virkon™ S make them essential tools in any Avian Influenza advanced biosecurity program.
