Review on Biosecurity in Extensive Poultry Production in Developing Countries with Respect to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

The poultry sectors have been severely affected by outbreaks of avian influenza in the past years. In particular, extensive poultry were considered to be the main problem with respect to controlling the disease. However, the epidemiology of avian flu shows that all poultry sectors and relative activities are culpable. For better control of this flu, it seems that more strict control measures must be undertaken. During the outbreaks, the biosecurity measures implemented concerned mainly the stamping out, movement control and sometime, banning outdoor poultry keeping. The implementation of these measures challenged with the realities of some developing countries in general, and Africa in particular. Furthermore some of the measures were found to generate livelihood and food security problems in developing countries as well as social-ethical issues in the developed world. Vaccination was proven to decrease the occurrence of outbreaks in chickens as well as the transmission of the virus to humans, and could therefore be the most suitable control strategy for developing countries.