Veterinaria

Review Article

Three Significant Events in the Poultry Industry, During Last Three Decades

Fawad Ahmad*

The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

This review is focused on important events in poultry industry, throughout the world, during last three decades. As an immense advancement in the shape of improved poultry husbandry practices, poultry vaccinology, poultry feeding and poultry breeding was noticed during last few decades; this progress was also accompanied with some new, devastating and emerging poultry diseases. The increasing demand for poultry production and consumption was also a motivating factor for this industrial growth. It was the emergence of Big Liver and Spleen disease which alarmed the Australian poultry industry during 1980's in the shape of decreased egg production. It was the time when Australian poultry industry was entering to its initial corporate marketing network. Its economic importance, as a result of death during productive life, was noticeable. After 15 years of BLS emergence, the Chinese poultry industry was stricken by Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Viruses during 1996. The mortality ratio was of high concern along with its transfer from chicken to human. It was prevalent in widespread Chinese poultry industry, because the biosecurity measures adopted there, were of little standards. Also the poultry marketing system was also open, birds grown in open and biosecure farms were mixed in those markets. This was also communicated to the region and to the world by wild migratory birds. After 7 years of highly pathogenic H5N1 emergence in China, during 2003/04 the growing poultry industry of Pakistan has been struck by Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic H7N3 Avian Influenza Virus. Unlike previous avian influenza outbreaks in Pakistan, this time the virus attack was more robust and localized in the highly poultry populated region of the country i.e. Karachi. No proper technique for its earlier identification, lack of strategic inputs for its control and failure of applying stamping out policy along with massive vaccination lead to the situation of mass mortality. The disease was then extended to other parts of the country and it resulted in a huge loss when it had stricken the breeder populated area of the country. All these three important happenings gave a demarcated blink of the importance of pre-preparedness for disease outbreaks and chalking out of applicable coping strategies. It is also important for all stakeholders of the industry to focus on a single point and come on a single page for collaboration against the emergence of new diseases outbreaks.

Keywords: Poultry, Vaccinology, Feeding, Breeding, Avian Influenza.

Received: April 04, 2014; Revised: May 22, 2014; Accepted: June 04, 2014

*Corresponding author: Fawad Ahmed; Email: fawada@student.unimelb.edu.au