Poultry keepers are being urged to act now to adhere to all biosecurity measures to protect their flocks against avian influenza.

With avian influenza remaining a present threat to poultry farms across the UK, veterinary consultant Ian Lowery, acting on behalf of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has provided advice for for egg producers to ensure biosecurity remains at the highest level.

Ian states that complacency is a very significant risk to business right now and that producers should be redoubling their efforts to keep the virus out of poultry units.

Ian provides some very useful tips on how to maintain high biosecurity on farms, which are detailed below.

To read the advice in full click here.

Advice from Ian Lowery, veterinary consultant for BEIC on Avian Influenza and Biosecurity

With the unprecedented level of Avian Influenza virus which is affecting commercial flocks, captive birds and back-yard flocks, ensuring the highest levels of biosecurity has never been so important throughout the chain.

So, what should you do?

1. CONSIDER IN DETAIL about how your farm works – movements of vehicles (egg lorries, muck trailers, feed deliveries), equipment (maintenance tools, trailers) and staff (egg collectors, maintenance staff, muck haulage). Critically assess each of these activities and review whether there are robust procedures so that access to the site, the service area and the bird area is made as safe as possible.

2. WATCH your staff and contractors entering the site, moving around the site, and entering the house. Are they following your rules? Are wheel washers being used? Are vehicles clean? Do procedures need improving? Do staff need educating/reminding?

3. REMIND your staff – Explain the danger and the risk and explain the consequences of a failure of biosecurity - spend time to train and reinforce. Ensure that Everyone is aware of his/her responsibilities and are able to navigate the biosecurity barrier properly.

4. BARRIERS should prevent muck or dirt from the outside being moved inside and vice versa. Properly used, barriers require staff to remove outside shoes on the outside of the barrier and put on dedicated inside footwear on the other side of the barrier. Use of plastic overboots at barrier points is NOT recommended. Plastic overboots tear after a few steps and allow the muck from outside to be introduced into the bird environment.

5. DOUBLE BARRIERS are better than a single barrier. A step-over barrier at the entrance of the service area, with dedicated service area footwear (e.g. crocs/clogs) and a second step-over barrier at the entrance to the bird accommodation area (e.g. coloured wellies) will significantly reduce the chance of introduction of disease. Anyone caught wearing the wrong shoes in the wrong area should be instantly identifiable and reprimanded.

6. MAINTENANCE – Ensure the roof of the poultry house does not have holes, ensure that back doors are watertight and sealed, ensure guttering works, ensure that outside concrete aprons are kept washed and disinfected. The fabric of the building MUST prevent wild bird access and MUST not allow weather conditions to wash in an infectious viral cocktail.

7. MULTI-TIER systems – you are urged to take additional measures to control the risk of walking virus in from the muck cross-belt area, often located after the barrier biosecurity but before the entrance to the bird accommodation area at the front of the house. Additional footdips, or footwear changes, are strongly recommended in this area as the cross-muck belt can allow wild bird faeces to be introduced into this area. Management of regular muck collection and the additional vehicle movements associated with muck collection from multi-tier units also require additional controls.

The AI situation in the UK is changing all the time, for the most up to date information click here to visit the DEFRA website and click here for the BFREPA guide to Avian Influenza.