Describe the effect of Avian Influenza Virus on Poultry industry and suggest the control measures to be adopted for effective control of Avian Influenza. Mention the WHO's guidelines for addressing the pandemic situation.

Effect of Avian Influenza Virus on the Poultry Industry

The Avian Influenza Virus, particularly highly pathogenic strains, inflicts severe and multifaceted damage on the poultry industry, impacting economic, production, and social dimensions.

• High Mortality and Production Losses: HPAI strains can cause rapid and widespread organ failure, leading to mortality rates of 90-100% in commercial poultry within 48 hours of infection [1, 16]. This results in massive losses of birds, including egg-laying hens and turkeys, directly impacting the supply of poultry meat and eggs.
• Economic Devastation:
  • Culling and Depopulation: To contain outbreaks, millions of birds in affected and exposed flocks are often culled, leading to substantial financial losses for farmers [13, 28]. Compensation payments, while provided, often do not fully cover the revenue losses.
  • Increased Costs: Farmers incur significant costs for implementing enhanced biosecurity measures, testing, cleaning, and disinfection protocols [28].
  • Supply Shortages and Price Spikes: Mass culling drastically reduces the supply of poultry products, leading to soaring prices for eggs and meat in retail markets. For instance, in the U.S., wholesale egg prices have more than doubled during outbreaks, with retail egg prices increasing significantly [13, 28].
  • Trade Restrictions: Countries often impose bans on poultry and poultry product imports from affected regions, disrupting international trade and causing substantial export revenue losses for producers [7, 15, 31].
• Impact on Livelihoods: Farmers, especially small-scale backyard poultry owners who rely heavily on poultry for income and sustenance, face severe economic hardship and loss of livelihood [2, 21].
• Consumer Confidence and Demand: Public fear of contracting bird flu from poultry products can lead to a significant drop in consumer demand, further depressing prices and sales, even if the risk from properly cooked poultry is negligible [15].
• Breeding Stock Losses: The culling of breeding flocks can have long-term consequences, affecting the availability of chicks and future production cycles.
• Social and Psychological Impact: The stress and uncertainty associated with outbreaks, culling operations, and financial losses can have significant psychological and social impacts on poultry farmers and their communities [29].

Control Measures for Effective Control of Avian Influenza

Effective control of Avian Influenza requires a multi-pronged approach encompassing robust biosecurity, surveillance, rapid response, and strategic management.

1. Biosecurity Measures: These are the cornerstone of prevention, aiming to prevent the introduction and spread of the virus within and between farms [4, 17].

• Isolation: Keep poultry flocks isolated from wild birds and other animals (e.g., wild aquatic birds are primary hosts) [1, 14, 23]. This includes securing poultry houses to prevent entry of wild birds and rodents.
• Traffic Control: Restrict and control the movement of people, vehicles, and equipment onto and off poultry farms [17, 23]. Implement strict disinfection protocols for all entries and exits.
• Cleaning and Disinfection: Regular and thorough cleaning and disinfection of poultry houses, equipment, and vehicles are crucial [17].
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Farm workers should wear clean protective clothing, footwear (disposable boot covers or disinfected boots), and practice good hand hygiene [17].
• Sourcing: Obtain new birds from reputable, disease-free sources [23].

2. Surveillance and Early Detection:

• Routine and Targeted Surveillance: Implement continuous monitoring of poultry flocks (commercial and backyard), live bird markets, and migratory bird habitats for signs of illness or unusual deaths [8, 10, 27].
• Rapid Reporting: Establish mechanisms for prompt reporting of suspected outbreaks to veterinary authorities [4].
• Laboratory Confirmation: Swift and accurate laboratory testing for viral identification is essential for confirming outbreaks and guiding response [4].

3. Rapid Response and Containment:

• Stamping Out Policy: In many countries, including India, the policy for HPAI involves immediate culling of all birds within a specified radius (e.g., 1 km from the epicenter) of a confirmed outbreak [10, 27, 33].
• Disposal: Safe and effective disposal of culled birds, eggs, feed, waste, and contaminated materials to prevent further spread [10, 33].
• Movement Restrictions: Impose strict restrictions on the movement of poultry, poultry products, and related equipment from and into affected zones [10].
• Quarantine: Isolate affected farms and areas to prevent disease transmission.
• Post-Operation Surveillance Plan (POSP): Ongoing monitoring after initial containment measures to prevent resurgence [10, 27].

4. Vaccination:

• Vaccination of poultry can be used as an emergency or preventive measure, particularly in endemic areas or as part of a risk-based strategy. However, vaccination strategies must be carefully managed to avoid masking the virus or creating carrier birds [4, 11]. India's National Action Plan generally does not permit vaccination against highly pathogenic avian influenza [33].

5. Public Awareness and Education: Educating farmers, poultry workers, and the general public about biosecurity, early warning signs, and safe handling practices is vital [7].

WHO's Guidelines for Addressing the Pandemic Situation

The World Health Organization (WHO), often in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), advocates a "One Health" approach to address the pandemic potential of Avian Influenza [2, 7, 36]. This approach recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.

1. One Health Approach:

• Intersectoral Collaboration: Emphasizes close coordination and information sharing among human health, animal health (veterinary services), and environmental sectors. This integrated framework is crucial for effective disease prevention, control, and response [2, 7, 11, 22].
• Joint Risk Assessments: Collaborative assessments to understand the extent of risk to human populations, considering animal outbreaks and environmental factors [36].

2. Enhanced Surveillance for Human Infections:

• Prompt Detection: The overall objective is to detect and characterize any influenza A(H5) viruses infecting humans rapidly [34].
• Case Definition and Reporting: WHO requires immediate notification (within 24 hours under International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005) of any laboratory-confirmed human case of influenza caused by a new subtype, regardless of the context [34, 38].
• Targeted Surveillance: Prioritizing surveillance among high-risk groups, such as poultry workers, veterinarians, and individuals in contact with infected animals, for early detection [36, 18].
• Monitoring Trends: Tracking the incidence, geographical distribution, and changes in transmission patterns to detect unusual events that may signal human-to-human transmission [34].

3. Pandemic Preparedness and Response:

• National Contingency Plans: Encouraging national authorities to develop and update comprehensive contingency plans for pandemic response, including strategies for preventing human cases in outbreak areas [11, 30].
• Antiviral Access: Ensuring availability of antiviral drugs (e.g., oseltamivir) for prophylaxis and treatment of suspected and confirmed human cases, particularly for those at occupational risk [18, 37].
• Vaccination for Public Health: Considering vaccination against seasonal influenza for persons at occupational risk to reduce opportunities for viral reassortment during co-infection. Development and availability of specific H5N1 vaccines for humans is also a focus [18, 11, 19].
• Infection Control: Implementing strict infection prevention and control measures in healthcare settings for patients with suspected or confirmed avian influenza [37].
• Communication and Risk Assessment: Transparent communication with the public about risks and preventive measures, while continuously assessing the potential for the virus to evolve into one that is more efficient at human-to-human transmission [11, 34].
• Research and Development: Supporting research into vaccine development, diagnostic tools, and understanding viral evolution [7].

The global strategy for the prevention and control of high pathogenicity avian influenza (2024–2033) demonstrates a continued commitment to integrated approaches under the One Health framework [2].