KEMIN BIOLOGICS is thrilled to partner with you as we engage for global discussions and deliver trusted technologies to counteract disease challenges threatening animal production worldwide. Join the upcoming 2024 Avian Influenza Summit where global experts will discuss integrated risk management against emerging highly pathogenic strains compromising welfare and profitability in your operation:
- Risk factors & epidemiological updates.
- Effective governmental policies.
- Integrated risk management.
- Best practices with vaccination.
Since 2005, Avian Influenza has caused over 500 million birds lost globally. Its devastating impact extends beyond domestic and wild birds, threatening livelihoods, food security and public health. The recent shift in the disease’s ecology is also triggering unusual die-offs in wild birds and led to an alarming increase in mammalian cases. The rapidly evolving nature of avian influenza and changes in its patterns of spread require a review of existing prevention and control strategies. To effectively contain the disease, protect the economic sustainability of the poultry sector and reduce potential pandemic risks, all available tools must be reconsidered including vaccination.1
A recent research project funded by EU, namely DELTA-FLU, a 5-year pan-European study to determine the key viral, host-related, and environmental factors that determine the dynamics of avian influenza (AI) in poultry and other host species. The research showed the new cases of bird flu are frequently due to human activity, rather than direct infection from the wild birds. 2 People carry the virus into premises on contaminated shoes, clothes, machines, animal feed and bedding.3
When it comes to vaccination, antigenic distance between vaccines and field strains is essential, requiring rapid updates of vaccines to match circulating strains. Planning vaccination requires selecting the most adequate vaccine type and vaccination scheme. Preventive vaccination should prioritise achieving the highest protection, especially for the most susceptible species in high-risk transmission areas.4 In this context, discussing best practices are the foundation to effectively tackle these major viruses compromising food security and public health globally.
REFERENCES
1. WOAH.org/en/avian-influenza-vaccination-why-it-should-not-be-a-barrier-to-safe-trade/
2. https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/bird-flu-surges-europe-race-stop-spread
3. https://www.poultryworld.net/health-nutrition/health/human-activity-highlighted-in-the-spread-of-bird-flu-across-europe
4. EFSA Journal 2023;21(10):8271
Speakers
Dr. Ian Brown
The Pirbright Institute | United Kingdom
Dr. Ian Brown was Scientific Services Director at Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) from January 2023 to March 2024. He was responsible for operational delivery of APHA science and science related matters, including topics related to Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, Swine Influenza and laboratory outbreak preparedness. Ian was previously Head of Virology at APHA Weybridge. Professor Ian H. Brown is currently responsible in the Hub for developing, harmonising and applying laboratory testing for avian viral diseases (influenza) to international standards. He also provides expertise on the development of surveillance and key analytical work on viruses. He currently leads the Avian Virology Group at The Pirbright Institute. He is a designated OIE expert on avian influenza, swine influenza and Newcastle disease and is a founder member of the OFFLU Laboratory Network. His specific research interests include epidemiology, pathogenicity, transmission and infection dynamics in relation to the control of influenza in animal hosts.
Dr. David Swayne
BIRDFLU VETERINARIAN LLC | United States
Dr. Swayne began conducting collaborative research on avian influenza in wild waterfowl, which has become his passion and a lifetime career. David joined the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia where he has served as the Laboratory Director since 1994. Dr. Swayne’s personal research has focused on the pathobiology and control of avian influenza in poultry, especially vaccines and vaccination. Dr. Swayne has served on World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) international committees to update the Avian Influenza chapters in Terrestrial Animal Health Code and Manual, and serves as Chair of the Executive Committee for OFFLU, the joint OIE and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Animal Influenza Network.
Dr. Dennis Umali
University of Los Baños | Philippines
Dr. Dennis V. Umali is a veterinarian specialized in the Molecular Epidemiology of Poultry Diseases. He earned his DVM from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in 2007, followed by a PhD in Veterinary Science from Yamaguchi University, Japan in 2014. Currently, Dr. Umali holds the position of Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB; and serves as an independent consultant to various poultry farms in the Philippines. He chairs the Avian Influenza Technical Working Group of the Philippine College of Poultry Practitioners, leading initiatives such as the development of “Policy Recommendations and Technical Guidelines for Vaccination as a Complementary Tool in the Control of HPAI in the Philippines”. Dr. Umali is co-author of the Philippine Broiler Industry Roadmap 2022-2040 and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and delivered more than 150 presentations and workshops on poultry diseases across the Asia Pacific region.
Dr. Shahn Bisschop
Avimune Inc. | South Africa
After graduating as a veterinarian in 1990 from Onderstepoort, Dr. Bisschop started his veterinary career in rural development work in the Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa, then moved into the poultry sector from 1998 as a full-time post-graduate student completing MSc degree in 2002. He became a member of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians (ACPV) in 2012. Between 2000 and 2010 he worked as Senior Lecturer and Head of the Section of Poultry Health at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Pretoria at Onderstepoort. In 2010 he joined Avimune – a veterinary practice specializing in veterinary consulting services to the Southern African poultry sector. He currently consults to commercial poultry producers in the broiler and layer sectors in various Southern and Eastern African countries. He rejoined the University of Pretoria in October 2023 on a part-time basis. He serves as advisor to the South African Poultry Association on disease control issues and as Treasurer of the South African Poultry Veterinarians’ group.
Dr. Maarten De Gussem
International Consultant at VETWORKS | Belgium
Dr. Maarten De Gussem was graduated as a DVM from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University in 2000 and completed a thesis on Infectious Bursal Disease Virus at the University of Arkansas, USA. Since 2000, he has been working in the field at Degudap practice in Belgium, France and The Netherlands dealing with broilers, breeders, layers and turkeys operations. In 2001, Maarten joined Janssen Animal Health as Global Poultry Technical Manager, with focus on coccidiosis, gut health, helminthosis, histomonosis and red mite control. In 2009, Vetworks was founded by Maarten, servicing the poultry industry with a global team of specialists and providing support on poultry health topics all over the world.
Fabian Brockotter
Host and editor Poultry World
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