Latest issue: How did AI in France get out of control

15-02-2016 | Home | Article

The first edition of World Poultry for 2016 is now online. The areas highlighted in this edition include; the pre- and probiotics, biosecurity, and avian influenza in France – how did it get out of control.

Professor Richard Ducatelle of the University of Ghent explains how pre- and probiotics exactly work. Since more and more questions are asked about the use of antibiotics in livestock farming, the use of pre-and probiotics has increased. According to the professor for most products the exact mechanism of action is either completely unknown or only partially explained. “There is still no research into the exact mode of action of many prebiotics, hence at University of Ghent that is what we are doing currently.”

Richard Ducatelle, is a professor at the Department of Pathology of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ghent and conducts research into the mechanisms of pre- and probiotics in broilers.
A recent doctoral research shows that if 0.5% XOS is added to broiler feed the chicks have a much better feed conversion.

Furthermore World Poultry visited a large layer operation near the German city of Berlin to see what they do to beef up biosecurity. At SVB Managing Director Richard Geiselhart has made biosecurity one of the core issues of his company. “It´s really an issue, since we not only have to protect our livestock against AI, but also against diseases such as IB, IBA, IBQX and salmonella.”

Managing Director Richard Geiselhart: “Wearing clean working clothes and keeping the work area clean are absolute ´musts´ at SVB.”
Several millions of eggs are being processed on a daily basis at SVB. In the packing and storage houses of SVB, recently bought Omnia 300 and FX 170 machines can process up to 180,000 eggs per hour.

Staying within the disease theme, this edition of World Poultry also focuses on the avian influenza situation in the south west part of France. We explain why the situation was able to get out of control and also describe what actions were undertaken to get to grips with the situation again.

A placard reading “Sanitary police. Access forbidden” has been placed outside a house where an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected in chickens, on 25 November 2015 in Biras.
Avined’s Professor Stegeman is not surprised by the extent of the outbreak in France.