BIOSECURITY MEASURES

After visitors underwent the disinfection procedure, the owner of Thai duck farm kept smiling and nodding at me, but did not show any intention of letting me see his birds. He led me to a white line about 30 metres away from where his ducks were housed and said, “Please take pictures”. The Beijing chicken farm owner was even more impressive. He told his staff: “Take the reporter to the monitor room!” It was only through the computer screen that I was able to peep into the chicken house.

The managers of the two farms admit that the threat of bird flu prompted them to implement these biosecurity measures more strictly. Even their own staff go through strict disinfection procedures to keep the virus away from the farm. The biosecurity system requires as few human-poultry contacts as possible, and this is why all the farms refuse visitors’ entry into the poultry houses.

Intensive poultry farming has advantages in animal disease control because disinfection and vaccination measures are easier to implement, according to Du Shousan, the veterinarian who accompanied me during the chicken farm visit near Beijing. Du also said that the closed environment is a natural barrier that keeps the viruses away from the birds inside, and that even fodder has to go through biosecurity checks. From the management and nutrition perspectives, intensive poultry raising means better lighting, ventilation, fodder and drinking facilities, which help improve the poultry quality. Du points out that poultry raised in an open environment is vulnerable for diseases because wild birds, fodder and humans may all be the source of infection. Backyard poultry raisers also may not be able to implement all the necessary measures for disease prevention, according to Du.

It seems that the threat of bird flu has had good effects when it comes to improving biosecurity measures in intensive poultry enterprises. However, small-scale farming and backyard poultry raising will continue in the foreseeable future, and this is the weak link in prevention and control efforts. China’s Ministry of Agriculture launches intensive vaccination campaigns every winter and spring in order to make sure that poultry raised in the traditional small-scale way are safe from animal diseases.