Useful veterinary advice for poultry farmers
Eurofins Vetcontrol Kft. will soon organize its fifth Poultry Health Academy, which will cover a range of current issues such as the economic and animal health damage caused by mycotoxins, the prevention of infectious bronchitis and the latest news on avian influenza.
In addition to these topics, the golden rules of sampling and sample submission will be discussed. Laboratorium.hu has now summarized the thoughts of Dr. Márta Bóna, veterinary manager, specialist veterinarian and poultry consultant, in her "tune-up" article for the free webinar, on sampling methods for diagnostic and monitoring purposes in poultry flocks.
As members of the veterinary community have come to expect, the veterinary laboratory of Vetcontrol Kft., a member of the Eurofins Group, regularly holds professional webinars accessible to all, covering important topics such as the dangers of antibiotic resistance, the immune system of ruminants, infectious diseases in horses, laboratory diagnosis of broiler diseases or the correct administration of medicines in drinking water in pig flocks.
On May 30, the expert laboratory will host its current Poultry Health Academy.
Poultry Health Academy webinar
May 30, 2024 14:00
Our presentations:
- Melinda Kovács University Teacher, Full Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences - Economic damage and animal health effects of mycotoxins in poultry production.
- Imre Horváth-Papp – Recognition, damage and prevention of infectious bronchitis.
- BÁdám Bálint PhD - Avian Influenza.
- Kinga Fornyos PhD - Golden rules of sampling and specimen submission.
- József Földi - Presentation of a treatment proposal.
- Miklós Látits - Operation and scope of the Poultry Product Council.
Highlighting the most important points of an earlier lecture by Dr. Márta Bóna, Laboratorium.hu explores the topic of sampling methods.
The expert calls for a different approach, preventive screening tests for large-scale poultry farming. Similar to preventive screening tests for humans, sampling and laboratory testing is recommended for poultry without a specific problem and not linked to a disease.
The best known example of this is Salmonella sampling, which is prescribed by FVM Decree 180/2009 (XII. 29.) on certain rules for the control of salmonellosis - explains Dr. Márta Bóna, adding that sampling and laboratory tests have many advantages:
- ensuring the right micro- and macro-environment, for example, to produce poultry flocks economically in order to maximize profit (to get the most income from the flock)
- prior knowledge of the level of immunity to possible diseases helps in diagnosis
- better prediction of the effectiveness of any antibiotic treatment and its effect on the human body
How and when to take a sample?
Experts can take samples and carry out laboratory tests on live birds as well as on dead or compulsorily slaughtered birds. Of course, the nature of the two requires different sampling procedures and suitable for different diagnostics, and the stage at which infected individuals are dissected is also an important factor.
"In the case of live birds, oronasal (palate cleft), tracheal and cloacal swab sampling and blood sampling are possible. For certain diseases, feather follicle samples (Marek's disease), skin scrapings and feather samples (feather lice, scabies, external parasites), as well as environmental dust (Salmonella) and faecal samples (Salmonella, worms) can be taken," said the expert, adding further interesting details.
The sampling location, volume, timing, instrument, and proper storage and labelling of the sample may vary depending on the type of sample and the purpose of the laboratory test.
Dr Márta Bóna also talked about
- how blood sampling should be carried out in live or dead birds or day-old chicks and what temporal factors should be taken into account, for example when determining immune status
- in the case of histopathology and immunohistochemistry (IHC), in which solution to store the tissue sample, how to seal, store, label it and, in general, what size sample, in what proportion, how and from where should be taken
- how to store swabs and tissue samples as cleanly as possible for bacteriological testing and how to avoid sporulation
- for virological/molecular methods, it is of paramount importance that the sample itself does not contaminate the environment. How to store, preserve and send the sample according to the presumed diagnosis.
- in the case of a toxicological study, not only the sample from the bird, but also the environmental, historical and pathological data and details thereof are required
- from a parasitological point of view, where to take specific samples from and what important factors to pay attention to, how to ensure leakage and odour-free storage of the samples to be submitted
The effectiveness and validity of the study is also guaranteed by a well-chosen sample, which requires asking two questions about the disease affecting the flock. Firstly, is the disease or infection present in the population, and secondly, what is the proportion of infected animals and how can we determine this? – elaborated Dr. Márta Bóna.
Answering the above questions will help you decide which individuals to include in the sampling and how many of them should be sampled.
When determining the number of individuals, it can also be taken into account that samples can be pooled for certain sample types (swabs and organ samples) and for certain tests (PCR). The pooling of samples is the responsibility of the laboratory staff, so we recommend that individual samples are taken at the site and that the need for pooling is indicated on the sample collection form or discussed with the laboratory staff by telephone, pointed out the expert.
What is considered a sampling unit and how to collect a representative sample of birds, what is the point of reviewing previous titer data, what is the secret number of individuals within a sampling unit that should not be undercut, based on statistical information and practical experience, how to balance between a statistically correct sample number and the cost of laboratory testing, or what is not worth compromising on if you want to see the right results, will be discussed in the upcoming webinar.
For disease monitoring, the sample size varies according to the infection rate and sampling frequency, said Dr Márta Bóna, adding that it is necessary that the sample number shows with 95% confidence if the disease is present at different levels of prevalence or infection.
In summary, it is worthwhile for farmers to develop and operate a monitoring program appropriate to the poultry species and production method to know and maintain the health status of the flock for diseases that adversely affect production.
For more useful information on poultry health issues, we recommend the Vetcontrol webinar.