January 20, 2015
China's poultry still safe from Taiwanese scare
While the bird flu situation in Taiwan has raised concerns about the effect on eastern China, based on surveys conducted in Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning and other key poultry rearing areas, there has not been any large-scale disease outbreak since mid-January.
However, due to the cold weather or inadequate preventive measures, a handful of farms have experienced small, manageable outbreaks.
As fast-growing broilers have a short breeding cycle, vaccination is sometimes neglected. As such, broilers that are more than 30-days old are more proneto disease. As there are many different pathogenic strains of avian influenza, even though layers and Sanhuangbroilers may have had multiple vaccinations done, they are still not completely immune to the disease.
Therefore, it is important for farmers to collaborate with the relevant veterinary agencies to monitor the pandemic strain of avian influenza, especially during this bird-flu season.
Though chronic respiratory disease and E. coli disease are often found in poultry,they can be prevented by having better climate control and ventilation. Hence, by having better climate controllers in broiler houses, strengthening poultry health, reducing stress levels, and making use of vaccines, the number of disease outbreaks in poultry will be significantly reduced.