Category: Disease

Heat treatment of egg flats to ensure biosecurity

PROJECT OVERVIEW

After the outbreak of HPAI in 2015, all biosecurity activities were re-considered in the egg industry. Plastic egg flats are often used to transport eggs from off-line egg farms to central egg processing plants. In so doing, movement of the egg flats among different farms has the inherent risk of moving pathogens from farm to farm. This project investigates the protocol of increased biosecurity through heat-treating the egg flats to a certain threshold temperature (e.g., 130-140°F) for a certain period of time to ensure that any pathogens on the flats will be destroyed. This experiment will determine how fast heat can penetrate into a wrapped stacks of egg flats and determine the most effective design of a heating system so it can be installed on a farm.

Modeling of ventilation shutdown (VSD) to help stop HPAI virus transmission

PROJECT OVERVIEW

One of the key lessons learned from the HPAI outbreaks was the imperativeness of quickly stopping the virus transmission by depopulating the infected flocks as soon as possible. The U.S. Department of Agriculture now recommends depopulating the inflected flocks within 24 hours of positive confirmation.

With the number of birds involved in today’s commercial layer facilities and the absolute necessity of swift depopulation, ventilation shutdown (VSD) offers an effective euthanasia solution in emergency situations.  However, proper procedures must be followed to ensure its success and the well-being of the animals involved. The purpose of this study was to use existing data to model the needs for proper depopulation using VSD. The goal was to provide information that could act as a guideline for the industry should this need arise in a future HPAI outbreak.

PROJECT TAKEAWAY

The study found that a critical component for successful VSD is the proper distribution and ample supply of supplemental heat. The research team developed a computer model that simulates the indoor environment upon VSD and the supplemental heat capacity required to reach and maintain the target environment for different housing styles, production stage of the birds, and a range of weather conditions. This information has been adopted, and used, by the USDA and egg producers. When available, field data are being collected and used to continue to validate and refinement the VSD model.

Assessment of the relationship between HPAI outbreaks and weather pattern through meteorological modeling

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The 2015 High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak that occurred in Iowa provided an opportunity to evaluate if weather patterns and prevailing winds could play a role in the spread of HPAI through the state’s poultry population. The study will assess the meteorological data captured during the outbreak and compare it with the timeline and placement of affected farms. The objective of the study is to establish if it is feasible that the weather plays a role in the spread of HPAI.

PROJECT FINDINGS UPDATE

The preliminary results of this on-going study indicate a potential exists for air originating from an inflected facility to have played a role in the spread of disease. This demonstrates the need to promptly stop virus-laden air from leaving facilities that are positive, and to explore ways of stopping virus-laden air from entering negative barns.

Air and environmental sampling of infected poultry (layer and turkey) barns to determine dust as a possible carrier of the HPAI virus

PROJECT OVERVIEW

During the 2015 outbreak of High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), concerns arose regarding the ability of the virus to be transmitted through the air. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that HPAI virus exhausted from an infected barns could be carried by dust particles. Once airborne, these dust particles would have the potential to transmit the virus to adjacent negative barns on the same site or new sites downwind. If true, this work would require new mitigation strategies be developed to aid in stopping virus spread.

PROJECT TAKEAWAY

The study showed that dust in affected poultry barns can in-fact carry the virus. This finding verifies the need to minimize dust and stop transmission as quickly as possible once a flock is inflected. The final results indicate that additional research is needed to discover a means by which virus-laden air can be treated or filtered for barn ventilation.