The influence of economic indicators, poultry density and the performance of Veterinary Services on the control of high-pathogenicity avian influenza in poultry

Abstract

High-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) and low-pathogenicity notifiable avian influenza (LPNAI) in poultry are notifiable diseases that must be reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). There are variations between countries' responses to avian influenza (AI) outbreak situations based on their economic status, diagnostic capacity and other factors. The objective of this study was to ascertain the significant association between HPAI control data and a country's poultry density, the performance of its Veterinary Services, and its economic indicators (gross domestic product, agricultural gross domestic product, gross national income, human development index and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] status). Results indicate that as poultry density increases for least developed countries there is an increase in the number and duration of HPAI outbreaks and in the time it takes to eradicate the disease. There was no significant correlation between HPAI control and any of the economic indicators except membership of the OECD. Member Countries, i.e. those with high-income economies, transparency and good governance, had shorter and significantly fewer HPAI outbreaks, quicker eradication times, lower mortality rates and higher culling rates than non-OECD countries. Furthermore, countries that had effective and efficient Veterinary Services (as measured by the ratings they achieved when they were assessed using the OIE Tool for the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Services) had better HPAI control measures.