Estimating the Prevalence of Infectious Bursal Disease in the Thai Poultry Industry. L. A. Kelly, L. Ratananakorn, A. Chaisingha, C. Mahanchaisakul, and K. Asayuth, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, UK, Department of Livestock Development, Thailand
Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious viral infection of young chickens which is distributed world-wide. When flocks are infected with the virus, mortality rates are normally high and thus severe economic consequences can result. The disease was first reported in broiler chickens in central Thailand in 1973. Initially, mortality rates were low, however, in 1991, acute outbreaks were reported, with high mortality rates of up to 55%. In response to this, control programmes, including vaccination and hygienic farm management practices, were implemented and there has been no report of any serious IBD outbreaks in any commercial broiler farms ever since. In particular, the disease now seems to be confined to backyard chickens. Thailand is one of the major poultry meat producers of the world and each year, approximately 20% of all production is exported. Given the importance of the poultry industry in the Thai economy, the prevention of infectious diseases such as IBD is critical, particularly for commercial farms which supply the export market. To estimate the current level of IBD virus in commercial broiler farms, a risk assessment was undertaken in 2 related stages. Firstly, experimental studies were designed and implemented to provide quantitative data for flock prevalence and antibody levels over time. Secondly, the collected data was used, together with other data from the literature, to develop a Monte-Carlo simulation which estimates the prevalence of infection and its associated uncertainty. The outputs from this model provide important disease information for the Thai poultry industry and Veterinary Services as well export markets world-wide.
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