Practical biosecurity programs for the commercial poultry industry

Biosecurity is defined as cumulative steps taken to keep disease from a farm and to prevent the transmission of disease within an infected farm to neighboring farms. Disease transmission occurs when microbes travel from place to place by animals, trucks, other equipment, and people. Human hands, hair, clothing, shoes, as well as the skin, digestive and respiratory organs of domestic animals (i.e., dogs, Canis familiaris, and cats, Felis domesticus), and free-living mammals and birds (i.e., rodents, Rodentia, skunks, Mephitis mephitis, raccoons Procyon sp., and wild, free-flying passerines, Passeriformes) are common routes of microbe transmission. Beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), and other insects are also confirmed spreaders of a multitude of diseases. Keeping these microbes out of a poultry (e.g., chickens Gallus gallus, turkeys, Meleagris sp., ducks and geese, Anatidae) farm or an aquaculture facility is the key to good health and to the success of any business. Biosecurity programs in a commercial setting are common to all production systems whether they be poultry or aquaculture production. Both systems involve the concentration and maintenance of large numbers of animals in a confined space, with the only significant difference being the medium of gaseous exchange. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that biosecurity programs in the poultry industry may be of benefit to the aquaculture industry. This paper covers the biosecurity programs and guidelines in all the major sectors of the poultry industry. Information presented can be extrapolated into aquaculture management and medicine.