INVESTIGATING THE BIOSECURITY MEASURES’ APPLICATIONS IN POULTRY FARMS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OCCURENCE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA

Biosecurity application in poultry farms means measures or practices which limit or prevent the spread of many harmful pathogens onto or out of the farm. When teamed with disinfection and sanitation procedures, biosecurity practices can eradicate or reduce pathogens to noninfectious levels and this illustrate that prevention is better than cure. Such preventive measures as vaccination and serologic monitoring also help to ensure good flock health. Inadequate biosecurity can contribute to creation of wide epidemics of highly pathogenic diseases such as avian influenza virus.  For data collection, a predesigned questionnaire was created, and two visits were applied for investigating the application of biosecurity measures in the selected farms. Results summarize the response of the farm workers regarding the application of biosecurity measures in 244 farms under investigation.  Regarding the number of farms with footbath, it was 150 (61%) in the first visit, although only 133 (56%) were filled with disinfectant. While, in the second visit, footbath number was significantly increased to 190 (78%) (χ12 = 12.68, P > 0.01) and 169 (69%) were filled with disinfectant (χ12 = 7.39, P > 0.01). The increased cleanliness of the area between the farm gate and poultry house was significantly increased from 68% in the first visit to 85% after the second visit (χ12 = 19.1, P > 0.01). As a result of the improved biosecurity measures observed in the second visit, the occurrence of avian influenza infection has significantly reduced from 36% to 20% in the farms under investigation. This in turn highlights the important role of biosecurity measures in the prevention and control of avian influenza infection. There is a need for more consideration on biosecurity measures targeting dead birds' disposal, changing shoes before entrance to the farm, presence of clothes for visitors, disinfection of injection tools,, disinfection machines and veterinary supervision.