- ✓Run through the alert protocol: isolation, veterinarian, notification, halt to movements
- ✓Manage the carcasses, the staff, the neighbouring houses and communication
- ✓Recognise avian influenza and know what the law and public health require
Day 0: the alert
The signal comes from the level 3 thresholds: climbing mortality, nervous signs, sudden drop in laying, sudden mass mortality. Within the hour: the house is isolated (dedicated boots and clothing, nobody else enters), movements are halted (no bird, egg, cage, bag or vehicle leaves the zone), the veterinarian is called with photos, video, record sheet and a fresh bird, and the farm manager is informed. Nothing is put in the water in the meantime.
Days 1 to 2: diagnosis and notification
The veterinarian examines, carries out a post-mortem, takes samples for the laboratory if necessary. For notifiable diseases (Newcastle disease, avian influenza, among others), he notifies the State veterinary services; notification is not optional and protects the farmer who makes it (support, possible compensation depending on the schemes). Depending on the disease, he decides: supportive treatment, emergency vaccination of the unaffected houses, or sanitary culling of the affected flock.
Days 2 to 7: containing
- Carcasses: never left outside; pit with lime or incineration, carcass disposal circuit, gloves, hand washing, clothing washed separately.
- Staff: a team dedicated to the affected house, which goes into no other; shower and complete change of clothes on leaving; no sick staff (some diseases, such as avian influenza, can affect humans).
- Neighbouring houses: heightened surveillance (record sheet twice a day), boots per house, emergency vaccination if decided, visits from the healthy to the sick only.
- Suppliers and buyers: feed deliveries at the site entrance, no sale and no bird leaving as long as the veterinarian does not authorise it; buyers informed honestly (a deceived buyer never comes back).
- Water and feed: support for the flock as prescribed (electrolytes, vitamins); no self-medication.
- Crisis log: every day, deaths, actions, visits, decisions, signatures. It will serve the veterinarian, the authorities, the insurer, and you, to learn.
Afterwards: clean, wait, restart
Once the flock is out (sold if authorised, or culled), the house undergoes the complete cleaning (level 2) with a disinfectant suited to the germ in question, and an extended sanitary break (21 to 30 days, 4 weeks or more for Gumboro disease and influenza), litter removed far away or buried, equipment and cages treated, surroundings disinfected. The restart is made with a reduced sentinel flock or on the veterinarian's advice, a revised vaccination programme, and a team meeting: what got in, by which route, and which barrier was missing?
Avian influenza (bird flu)
Signs: sudden, massive mortality (sometimes most of a house within 48 hours), prostrate birds, swollen or bluish head and comb, reddened legs, respiratory and nervous signs, sudden drop in laying. It circulates with wild birds and backyard poultry, often in the dry season. It is a disease requiring immediate notification, which triggers a national plan (culling, restriction zone). It can affect humans: masks, gloves, washing, and no sick or vulnerable person in the house. Never hide it, never sell: besides the danger, it is an offence. Notifying early is also the condition for aid.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Write the seven-day protocol today, display it, designate who does what; it is your cheapest insurance.
- ›Faced with a notifiable disease: notify. Hiding or selling a sick flock destroys the farm, the neighbours and your name.
- ›Set aside a reserve in the budget for a crisis: veterinarian, disinfectant, lime, three weeks of break, wages.
For the technician
- ›As soon as the threshold is crossed: isolation, halt to movements, veterinarian, manager informed, nothing in the water.
- ›Team dedicated to the affected house; carcasses in a pit with lime; crisis log kept every day.
- ›Suspected avian influenza: mask, gloves, immediate notification, no sale.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- If a house crosses a threshold tonight, who does what within the hour, and where is the protocol displayed?
- Do we have in stock the disinfectant, the lime and the clothing to isolate a house for a week?
- Which barrier was missing during our last health problem, and have we corrected it?
Key points
- •Day 0: isolate, halt movements, call the veterinarian, inform, nothing in the water.
- •Days 1-2: diagnosis, compulsory notification for Newcastle disease and avian influenza, veterinarian’s decision (support, emergency vaccination, sanitary culling).
- •Days 2-7: carcasses in a pit with lime, dedicated team, neighbouring houses monitored, no sale, crisis log.
- •Afterwards: cleaning, sanitary break of 21 to 30 days or more, cautious restart, revised vaccination programme, missing barrier identified.
- •Avian influenza: mass mortality, swollen or bluish head; immediate notification; can affect humans; never hide or sell.