Are we better than the Americans, just plain lucky, complacent - or a combination of all three?!

Estimates suggest that the 2015 outbreak led to the loss of 38.5 million laying hens, 3.5 million replacement pullets, along with some 7.5 million turkeys
Estimates suggest that the 2015 outbreak led to the loss of 38.5 million laying hens, 3.5 million replacement pullets, along with some 7.5 million turkeys

“The US poultry industry operated according to a standard of structural and operational biosecurity incapable of protecting flocks from the introduction of a highly pathogenic virus.”

“The injudicious concentration of large complexes with up to five million hens in close proximity, based on financial expediency and least-cost production, was contrary to principles of sound conceptual biosecurity and exacerbated the losses sustained following the introduction of HPAI into a county. Even in the case of turkey farms with up to 20,000 birds, the proximity of units in limited areas, common ownership of adjacent farms and obvious deficiencies in biosecurity contributed to inter-farm spread.”

This was a recent commentary during one of the “lessons learned” exercises following the devastating outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that swept the US poultry industry this year.

Estimates suggest that the 2015 outbreak led to the loss of 38.5 million laying hens, 3.5 million replacement pullets, along with some 7.5 million turkeys. For the laying sector alone this has removed some 10% of US egg production and, with the loss of so many replacement pullets as well, the lag effect of getting back to any sort of normality is mind boggling.

The eocnomic impact is estimated at around US$ 1 billion for egg producers and US$ 500 million for turkeys. The consequential, political, social and emotional impact can only be imagined. Costs incurred by the public sector to control and clean up are conservatively estimated at around a further US$ 500 million – it is perhaps not surprising that the outbreak was described as “the worst animal disease outbreak in history” at the recent International Egg Commission’s global leadership conference in Berlin.

We only have to measure this against the impact of our own recent single infected premises in Preston this summer to appreciate how “lucky” we have been. However, that was bad enough for the business and family concerned, the human impact and the fallout for poultry businesses in the immediate area and the trade impact for exporting companies across the whole country.

These two quite different experiences bring into sharp focus a massive wake up call for our industry. Many integrated companies and larger individual flock farmers have taken time to consider the impact that an outbreak of AI on one of their own farms or close by would mean for their businesses, but what have you done?

If anything good can out of the US and Preston experience it should be that ALL stakeholders – individual producers, poultry companies, vets, retailers, opinion formers, Government – should all take stock of what they do and why they do it. It is what the boffins call risk assessment, and once you have done the assessment you then have to move on to risk mitigation – what do I do, why do I do it, do I need to do it?

This is the basis of contingency planning and we all need to take stock. It is worth taking time out to think about this on your own farm, however big or however small your business is.

Areas you might want to think about in your business:

• Movements of people, birds and equipment – how much is really necessary, what can be curtailed and what precautions should I take for movements that have to be made?

• Location of my farm to ponds, lakes or rivers – no one can turn back the clock or suddenly move their farm but take time to assess your contacts with wild waterfowl and think about ways you could reduce contact with your flocks

• Size of farms – if you are contemplating expansion think about location, flock separation and compartmentalising your business into “bitesize chunks” to mitigate risks

• Storing “things” – if your farm is put under movement restrictions how long could you store eggs on your farm? – work out how many days space you have available. If you also have housed flocks how long could you store manure on your farm?

• Housing birds – with much discussion about whether housing orders should be considered during outbreaks what would that mean for you? Could you safely house your flocks? Could you provide sufficient enrichment and inputs to reduce the likelihood of injurious pecking? Can you provide forced ventilation for a housed flock to ensure adequate air quality? Could you set up a wintergarden or verandah? Should you think about that adaptation for any new builds?

• Emergency slaughter – a topic no one really wants to think about but if the worst happened on your farm do you have enough facilities, concrete areas, cleaning and washing facilities (for people, vehicles and equipment), power capacity, manpower etc etc to enable prompt and humane killing of your flock? Government may undertake the actual job but what can you do to enable the procedure to take place swiftly and efficiently – for the welfare interest of your birds and to reduce the likelihood of spread elsewhere

• Carcase and litter disposal – what could you physically do on your farm to make this as speedy as possible?

• Cleaning and disinfection – do you think your farm buildings and environment could be cleaned and disinfected effectively to a standard capable of removing all traces of virus and sufficient to satisfy Government requirements?

• Biosecurity – when did you last review your practices and seriously consider what is written down? What disinfectants are you using and are they used in a way and at a concentration sufficient to kill the flu virus and other bugs? How often do you audit your procedures to make sure that EVERYONE follows them ALL the time? Do you have stocks of protective clothing? Do you make visitors use them?

• Financial planning – think about the cash flow impact of an outbreak on your farm or in the area restricting your business. Investigate insurance protection for business interruption, consequential loss associated with an outbreak and costs of secondary cleansing and disinfection or other procedures dictated by Government

This article might seem like theoretical preaching that is not applicable to you. We all hope that the worse case scenario will pass us by – but we must all appreciate that a disease like AI is not someone elses problem to sort out, it is everyones problem to sort out!

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail !!

Stephen Lister, Claire Knott, Philip Hammond, Ian Lowery & Sally Hutton

Crowshall Veterinary Services