Taiwan raised 11 million ducks in 2007 with a production value of around US$193 million and fgained export revenues of US$26 million. Central News Agency interviewed Lin Chih-yuan, deputy manager of the Ger Chuan Foods Inc., a leading duck meat exporter, who said, “Even Japan, which has high hygiene standards for imported meat, welcomes Taiwan duck meat. In 2007, Taiwan sold 5,000 tons of duck meat to Japan to make Beijing duck,” Lin Chih-yuan said. Taiwan also succeeded in penetrating the South Korean market during 2007 and exported 700 tonnes of frozen whole ducks or duck meat for the year

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Rita Njau the World Health Organization’s (WHO) acting director of preventive services in Tanzania called for a regional approach to address the risk of H5N1 HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) in East Africa Njau told Voice of America (VOA) English to Africa reporter Douglas Mpuga how the region’s huge bodies of water (rivers and lakes) add to the risk. “The threat is quite real. Migratory birds take this path twice a year as they migrate either from the southern or northern hemisphere. So we do have a potential threat” (of an outbreak), she said.

In 2006, when H5N1 hit Nigeria in the west and Egypt in the north east, the WHO established a task force that combined relevant institutions within Tanzania to address the impending threat. Other United Agencies (UN) were involved and a committee was set up to discuss and consider what preparation and action would be required to handle a potential emergency involving H5N1 HPAI.

Njau told VOA about the WHO’s current contingency plans based on learning from previous experience of H5N1 elsewhere in Africa. She stressed the importance of informing the population so they know exactly what to do (or not to do) in the event of an outbreak. Rita Njau says more effort is required to get the various countries in East Africa to cooperate in planning a strategy to prevent bird flu or to combat the disease if it arrives. “I don’t think we have done as much as we should”, she told VOA. “There are plans to look at the issue (avian flu) as an east African problem. These plans involve looking at it holistically as a regional problem instead of country by country.” The WHO and other UN agencies have provided technical and financial support to countries across the region in poultry sample testing and virus detection technology.

The refresher course enables field veterinary advisers to update their knowledge and develop practical skills to better manage disease prevention and control.

The first session of a new refresher course on “Management of Poultry Diseases” was held June 18-24, 2008, in Hanoi for 25 Vietnamese veterinarians, most of whom are field advisors for medium- and large-scale poultry farms. This course, to be available until October 2008, is co-organized by ASVELIS and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Hanoi, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The idea to design and deliver such a course developed out of key observations following the difficulties faced by stakeholders in Vietnam in dealing with avian influenza. The refresher course enables field veterinary advisors to update their knowledge and develop practical skills to better manage chicken disease prevention and control.

Course instruction was led by Dr Eugène Goater, a well-known French specialist in chicken management and chicken health. Dr Goater has over 40 years of practical experience in veterinary practice, laboratory techniques and farm biosecurity in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He has also served in advisory roles to multinational poultry genetic companies.

According to Dr Goater, “Knowledge about pathogens is one thing but it is not sufficient. The ability to observe animals and their environment in real situations is a pre-condition to understand what is going wrong and the role of the pathogens. The veterinarians who are on an almost daily basis in and around poultry farms are the main ones able to guide disease control because they have this ability. Helping them upgrade their knowledge and practices is essential for any country that wants to improve its animal disease status. This obviously applies to avian influenza.”

Patrice Gautier, a veterinarian in Vietnam since 2000 and the co-founder and manager of ASVELIS added, “Our program aims to improve chicken health management of medium and large scale poultry farms in Vietnam by bringing together the efforts, technical expertise and resources of the public and private sector. The role of field veterinary advisors (most of them being employed by the private sector) is essential to maintaining and improving animal health status in medium and large scale poultry operations. They are also essential in bringing the numerous other farmers who currently have small-scale operations, in making the step towards more professional livestock systems. We, indeed, need to have more professional chicken farmers to help Vietnam reduce the current deficit in chicken products.”

In addition to updating knowledge, the refresher course was a unique opportunity for participants from private companies to share their experience. Participants represented companies such as Proconco, Cargill, AFC, JAPFA, Viphavet, GreenVet, Hai Nguyen, Pfizer, Thai Duong, Dai De and Guyomarch-VCN. Veterinarians from the public sector, the faculty of veterinary medicine and an NGO also attended the course.

The course provided an overview of farm management for broilers, layers and chicken breeding stock, diseases observed in chicken flocks, and ways to prevent and control them. The course was highly interactive with participants asking many questions and discussing key challenges openly.

The next refresher sessions will be organized in August 2008 and will focus on “diseases in ducks.” Asvelis plans to repeat courses in poultry disease management as many times as necessary, and is looking for short- or long-term sponsors to offer similar courses in pig health and “dairy cattle diseases.” ASVELIS is a French-Asian private company specializing in the provision of livestock and animal health services.

Dr. David Shapiro, director of veterinary services, Perdue Farms, Inc., gave some practical advice on biosecurity at the USPOULTRY Production and Health Seminar held recently in Memphis, Tenn. Shapiro presented a list of “Never Evers,” things that you should never allow to occur in or around your poultry farm.

“Never Evers”

1. Never visit or associate with the live bird market system.

2. Never keep fowl, wild, exotic or domestic birds.

3. Never allow anyone close to your chicken houses without knowing where they have been previously.

4. Never allow equipment in your poultry facilities – when live poultry is present – that has been to other farms, unless it is picking up all of your poultry or you have seen it and inspected it for proper cleaning and disinfecting.

5. Never allow an animal to carry or scavenge dead birds from your dead bird disposal area.

6. Never use common dead bird disposal area for multiple farm operation or multiple farm pickups of dead birds.

Shapiro also listed what he called “Dedicated Tos.” These are things that should be part of your daily biosecurity routine.

“Dedicated Tos”

1. Only allow authorized visitors on your farm.

2. Authorized visitors must comply with dress policy and sign visitor log.

3. Growers and any other poultry workers must have farm dedicated shoes and clothes, or boots coveralls and hairnets.

4. Producers must have a state and company approved dead bird disposal method, which is properly managed. Shapiro prefers on-farm disposal of dead birds.

5. All non-farm-dedicated poultry equipment should be cleaned and disinfected prior to entering the poultry house when birds are present.

Shapiro listed five steps to better biosecurity for an integrated poultry operation, and each of these directly impacts chicken disease risk on individual farms. The first two steps are to take care of the “Never Evers” and the “Dedicated Tos.” Next, Shapiro said that all growers should have a farm-specific chicken biosecurity program. This program should go beyond generalities and should explicitly state how things like visitors or equipment will be handled on your farm. The fourth step is undertaken by the integrator. Shapiro said that the integrator should establish and follow-up on best management practices for each area of the company involved with live birds. Finally, Shapiro said that risk assessments should be conducted on all parts of the integrated poultry operation, including on each individual pig farm.

Due to its product’s broad appeal, value and versatility, the chicken industry is poised to widen its lead in the meat protein sector.

Speaking yesterday at the Chicken Marketing Seminar, Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, Inc., told listeners that while the chicken industry faces tough challenges, it is well positioned with respect to customer demands and will gain market share.

Goldin named 14 big trends facing chicken marketers and outlined their implications. Chicken has a “winning hand” to play, he said, and the industry should widen its lead over competing proteins through innovation, creative marketing and cost effectiveness.

Following are highlights from Goldin’s presentation:

1. Tough times are ahead for the foreseeable future. While the chicken industry faces cost increases, little or no income growth, stagflation, geo-political uncertainty and consumer pessimism, it should set realistic performance objectives and take advantage of emerging opportunities such as exports.

2. A sluggish economy will result in less discretionary spending. Relatively speaking, foodservice will suffer and retail will benefit. This means chicken marketers should focus on retail market development, Goldin said.

3. Rising costs – inputs, fuel, utilities, etc. – will continue to pressure the entire global food supply chain, and there will be growing consumer and trade resistance to price increases. Marketers should evaluate supply chain re-engineering and cost effectiveness and productivity to offset margin pressures.

4. An aging population and rapid growth of minority groups, especially Latinos, will be key demographic forces. Marketers need to field products that address these markets.

5. Chicken health and wellness will become an even bigger priority with consumers. This will help drive “sensible eating;” fresh, local, less processed; portion control/weight management; organics; and lower fat and sodium content. Golden advised listeners to exploit chicken’s healthy image and offer more “natural” products with the “cleanest” possible label.

6. Value will grow in importance to consumers, a trend which favors quick-service restaurants, club and dollar stores and mass merchandisers. Since value is a strong suit for chicken, marketers should make it a core in their offerings, he said.

7. Consumers will selectively indulge on products and venues with unique taste, experience or convenience profiles. He advised chicken marketers to exploit opportunities in higher-end or gourmet lines.

8. Bolder flavors will play an even bigger role than before in packaged foods and restaurant menus. Marketers should use bold and ethnic spices and ingredients to appeal to consumers.

9. Structure and tradition are less relevant in eating occasions, while snacking, late night dining and eating “on the go” are more and more important. Marketers should make sure their products align with these poultry trends.

10. Consumers and customers are increasingly concerned about suppliers’ environmental and social responsibility. Concerns include sustainability, humane treatment of animals and safe working conditions. Develop and follow corporate social responsibility programs, Goldin advised.

11. Expect to see more emphasis on fresh meal solutions at the expense of core dry/frozen categories, Goldin said. He recommended that marketers capitalize on the fact that chicken is the foundation of many fresh meal solutions. The development of new product platforms may be necessary, he noted.

12. The casual dining segment is becoming less attractive to suppliers, he said, as this segment becomes less relevant to consumers. Chicken marketers should reduce their reliance on this sector and diversify their customer mix.

13. Alternative channels will gain share. These include natural/organic supermarkets; club stores; hybrid stores; direct to consumer outlets; ethnic markets and farmers’ markets. Marketers should develop alternative channel strategy and tactics.

14. Consolidation will continue to occur at all levels of the chicken, poultry and egg industry, Goldin said. This means more “power buyers,” more centralization and growth of customer brands. This calls for chicken marketers to be competitively differentiated. It also means they must execute effectively and target the right customers.

The Chicken Marketing Seminar is sponsored by the National Chicken Council in cooperation with the National Poultry & Food Distributors Association.

The marked downward trend in bird flu outbreaks in 2007 and 2008 is due to strong determination and commitment by government taking strict measures to prevent and control the disease. And especially through vaccination and poultry transport management, claimed Do Huu Dung, epidemiologist at the Viet Nam Animal Health Department talking to Vietnam News (VNS).

Outbreaks though fewer in number are still scattered across the north, central and southern regions of Vietnam, which means the whole country is still at risk for declining chicken health, unless government continues to tighten up on surveillance and control. Each area has its own high risk factors to deal with. Chicken smuggling from China is a problem for the northernmost provinces of Vietnam and large numbers of mobile ducks in the southern Mekong Delta present real difficulties for the nationwide vaccination programme.

Poultry testing for H5N1 especially in ducks shows virus circulation rate in remains high and demonstrates a continuing crucial role for vaccination. “What we need is a sustainable vaccination strategy to maintain control over bird flu” Do Huu Dung told VNS. Government priorities and goals are keeping the frequency and scale of outbreaks at the low present level, preventing further transmission of the H5N1 virus to humans and reducing the burden of poultry vaccination on the state.

According to Dr Jeff Gilbert, Avian Influenza Programme team leader of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Vietnam, the government will need to vaccinate for at least the next three to five years. But government officials complain how costs have mushroomed because vaccination is required on such a large scale for all poultry over the whole country. The Vietnamese authorities would like to see scale of vaccination reduced and to become less dependent on the strategy. This would require tight biosecurity countrywide but according to Do Huu Dung most farmers don’t know about biosecurity. This implies Vietnam could return to a 2004/5 type situation if vaccinations were withdrawn. It is up to us to improve surveillance he said.

Government thinks radical change in the farming system is required with a complete restructuring of the poultry industry. It will be driven by government in consultation with all farmers and processors across the country to eliminate practices that allow disease development and spread. This could be beginnings of an ‘assurance’ system for consumers who are not completely confident about eating poultry after four-year battering from bird flu resulting in 106 human cases with 52 fatalities.

Vietnamese Government has clearly not forgotten about the human dimension of this disease. Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong told a recent international conference on bird flu research [in Vietnam] how even more research was required to bring the virus under complete control. He said more work was needed to understand the nature of the virus, how it was transmitted and on the production of a vaccine to sustainably control a pandemic and minimise virus transmission to humans. “It is important to have scientific and evidence-based information the minister said.

It is even more important to get the information translated into decisions and policies,” said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Viet Nam, Andrew Speedy. He praised the Vietnamese Government for taking the situation so seriously and showing strong political commitment from the very beginning, said a report by VNS.

The open-door approach to research in Vietnam has enabled national and international research agencies to undertake field research and access available data, Speedy claimed, adding how the science-based strategy adopted by Viet Nam has proved so successful in reducing level of the virus.” No human cases have been reported for four months and the disease in poultry has also dropped to a much reduced level. The minister agreed by emphasising how research should be combined with restructuring of the poultry sector to increase biosecurity, alongside more mass education and communication about the disease.

See the rest of this article: Chicken Health