Avian Influenza found at large poultry facility in Russia

//06 Jun 2012
Avian influenza has recently been identified during the study of pathological material, selected from major Russian poultry producer company, Amur broiler, the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, Rosselkhoznadzor, has stated.
The virus was identified as low pathogenic avian influenza type A subtype H9. According to preliminary expert estimations the virus came from China.

"There is reason to suppose that among poultry stock in the facility [of Amur Broiler] an infectious process caused by the specified agent of bird flu is taking place. When low pathogenic virus is circulating among non-immune poultry stock, its pathogenicity could increase” stated Rosselkhoznadzor in an official statement.

Rosselkhoznadzor has said it considers it necessary to warn of a possible outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza and actions in accordance with the current regulations for the prevention and elimination of avian influenza must be enforced.

In April, an Amur broiler facility suffered mass scale mortality of poultry. About seven thousand heads of poultry died, reportedly due to mycotoxins that were found in the forage, but the Veterinary Service specialists have subsequently refuted this claim.

Source: Vladislav Vorotnikov

Bird flu boy in China is isolated case

//06 Jun 2012
The chances of a major bird flu outbreak in China is slim as all of the contacts of a 2-year-old boy who tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza recently were either asymptomatic or tested negative for bird flu, authorities of the special administrative region and Guangdong province have said.
The boy, who is being kept isolated in the pediatric intensive care unit, is still in serious condition after a week of treatment in Hong Kong. It is the city's first human case of bird flu in 18 months. The boy is thought to have been infected with the deadly virus during his visit to a wet market in Guangzhou last month.

Hong Kong kept the bird flu alert level at "serious" after raising it on Friday, and stricter visiting restrictions were imposed in the city's public hospitals.

Imports and sales of poultry have continued as usual – unlike in December, when an infected live chicken was found. Samples collected from 30 local chicken farms on Sunday all tested negative for bird flu, a spokesperson from the city's agriculture, fisheries and conservation department said.

York Chow Yat-ngok, secretary for food and health, assured the public that it was an "isolated" case and the city is well guarded against all types of infectious diseases.

The boy, who lives with his parents and maternal grandmother in the Haizhu district of Guangzhou, had visited a wet market on Nanyuan Street in mid May where his mother had bought a live duck. However, the source of the infection can not be determined because the duck had been eaten and too much time has passed since the boy was infected.

Source: The Jakarta Post/China Daily

Treating poultry diseases without antibiotics

//05 Jun 2012
Identifying antimicrobial proteins in chickens that kill pathogens is one method being used by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists to find alternatives to the use of antibiotics to control infectious poultry diseases.
Each year, poultry diseases such as coccidiosis cause losses of more than $600 million in the United States and $3.2 billion worldwide.

Molecular biologist Hyun Lillehoj, at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland, has dedicated her career to discovering how to produce poultry without using drugs.

Her research includes enhancing innate immunity through genetics, and examining molecules produced by birds in response to enteric or intestinal pathogens.

Immune molecules
Some molecules are host antimicrobial proteins that can kill pathogens, improve immune responses and promote the growth of beneficial gut bacterial populations in poultry, according to Lillehoj, who works in the ARS Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory at BARC.

She and her colleagues have identified one such immune molecule, called NK lysin.

Lillehoj and her colleagues demonstrated for the first time that NK lysin kills chicken coccidia.

They also showed that this antimicrobial protein or host defence molecule is effective against other parasites such as Neospora and Cryptosporidia, which infect livestock and humans, respectively.

One commercial company is looking at the possibility of developing NK lysin into a product that can be used to kill intestinal parasites in chicken.

Necrotic enteritis
Lillehoj also is studying enteric bacterial infections caused by Clostridium, a pathogen associated with necrotic enteritis in poultry. She is using a similar molecular technology to develop alternatives to treat this disease.

Working with industry, international partners and other scientists, Lillehoj has discovered other options to antibiotic use in poultry.

Phytochemicals derived from peppers, plums, safflower, green tea and other plants have been shown to be effective in enhancing the immune system of chickens.

Also, the beneficial effects of probiotics, which are live, nonpathogenic bacteria that promote health and balance of the intestinal tract microbiota, have been demonstrated in past research.

Source: ARS Sandra Avant

H5N1 death in Cambodia leads to HPAI discovery

//04 Jun 2012 Following the death of a 13-year old girl in the village of Pring from H5N1 on 26 May 2012, an investigative team from the Department of Animal Health was sent to village to sample the local chickens and ducks. Tests confirmed some samples were positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) received a report from Dr Sen Sovann of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Phnom Penh that real-time PCR showed positive for the H5N1 virus, and that standard control measures are being applied. To date, 740 local chickens and ducks have been destroyed from a susceptible population of 1,304. The village Pring, is in the southern province (khaet)of Kampong Speu, Cambodia. The epidemic is on-going, and the source of the infection is unknown. The OIE will issue weekly follow-up reports.

Pressure mounts in US/Mexico poultry dumping case

//04 Jun 2012 A bipartisan group of 49 congressmen have written to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk expressing their strong concern about the antidumping duties Mexico has preliminarily assigned to US chicken leg quarters, ranging from 64% to 129%. Although these duties have not yet been applied in final form, under Mexican law, a final decision will have to be reached by mid-August. “The Mexican antidumping action, when finalised, will severely damage the US poultry industry and the market access provided under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),” the letter said. Early in 2011, Mexican poultry companies petitioned the Mexican government to begin an anti-dumping investigation of imports of chicken leg quarters from the United States, claiming that US companies were exporting chicken leg quarters to Mexico at below-market prices. This week’s letter to Ambassador Kirk pointed out that Mexico has used a calculation that is unacceptable to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to determine if US chicken leg quarters are “dumped” onto the Mexican market. Using the “average cost of production” assumes that every part of the chicken should be priced at least at this cost. “This assumption is flawed, discriminates against US producers, and concerns us as members from poultry producing districts,” the letter said. “US companies submitted their costs of production information using a value-based cost accounting method–a method well established and recognised by the poultry industry worldwide as a reasonable basis to calculate costs.” Value-based cost accounting is used by US, Mexican and other chicken producers; is consistent with Mexican financial reporting standards; is consistent with the generally accepted accounting principles in both the United States and Mexico; and reasonably reflects the costs of production of US poultry, the letter said. “Given those facts, under the WTO Antidumping Agreement, Mexico may not disregard the costs of production reported in this case and use average costs instead.” Mexico is the United States most important poultry market, with over 250,000 metric tonnes imported in 2011, valued at over $275 million. “As the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations continue, we urge you to resolve this situation as promptly as possible and ensure that Mexico honors its commitments under NAFTA and the WTO,” the letter concluded. On April 2, a bipartisan group of 16 senators sent a similar letter to Ambassador Kirk urging the termination of Mexico’s anti-dumping duties. Source: National Chicken Council

Pork prices in China stabilising

//04 Jun 2012
After months of continuous decline, Chinese pork prices appear to be stabilising, according to statistical analysis carried out by the Xinhua News Agency.
China’s pork prices started to fall with the start of the Spring Festival (23January 2012), when farmers, who had increased their stocks last year when prices were high, now brought abundant supply to the market, driving prices down.

The government announced that it would buy frozen pork in order to stop the price plunge, and to increase national reserves.

Statistics showed that prices have been steadying since mid-May and even registered an increase of 0.1% on Sunday.

US develops robot to automate poultry deboning process

//01 Jun 2012
Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a prototype system that uses advanced imaging technology and a robotic cutting arm to automatically debone chicken and other poultry products.
The Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System employs a 3-D vision system that determines where to cut a particular bird. The device automatically performs precision cuts that optimise yield, while also greatly reducing the risk of bone fragments in the finished product.

“Each bird is unique in its size and shape," said Gary McMurray, chief of GTRI's Food Processing Technology Division. "So we have developed the sensing and actuation needed to allow an automated deboning system to adapt to the individual bird, as opposed to forcing the bird to conform to the machine.”

Poultry is Georgia's top agricultural product, with an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $20 billion statewide. Helping the poultry industry maximise its return on every flock can translate to important dividends. The research is funded by the state of Georgia through the Agricultural Technology Research Program at GTRI.


Gary McMurray, chief of GTRI's food processing technology division, with the Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System

3-D measurements
Under the Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System, a bird is positioned in front of the vision system prior to making a cut, explained GTRI research engineer Michael Matthews. The vision system works by making 3-D measurements of various location points on the outside of the bird. Then, using these points as inputs, custom algorithms define a proper cut by estimating the positions of internal structures such as bones and ligaments.
"Our statistics research shows that our external measurements correlate very well to the internal structure of the birds, and therefore will transition to ideal cutting paths," Matthews said. "In our prototype device, everything is registered to calibrated reference frames, allowing us to handle all cut geometries and to precisely align the bird and the cutting robot. Being able to test all possible cut geometries should enable us to design a smaller and more simplified final system."

Simple planar cuts
The prototype uses a fixed two-degree-of-freedom cutting robot for making simple planar cuts. The bird is mounted on a six-degree-of-freedom robot arm that allows alignment of the bird and cutting robot to any desired position. The robot arm places the bird under the vision system, and then it moves the bird with respect to the cutting robot.

McMurray said he expects the Intelligent Deboning System to match or exceed the efficiency of the manual process. Testing of the deboning prototype system, including cutting experiments, has confirmed the system’s ability to recognise bone during a cut and to avoid bone chips – thus demonstrating the validity of GTRI’s approach.

“There are some very major factors in play in this project,” McMurray said. “Our automated deboning technology can promote food safety, since bone chips are a hazard in boneless breast fillets. But it can also increase yield, which is significant because every 1% loss of breast meat represents about $2.5 million to each of Georgia’s 20 poultry processing plants.”

Source: Georgia Tech