A Self Sufficient Energy Model for Poultry Farms in Bangladesh to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission and Increase Energy Efficiency

According to "Bangladesh Economic Rivew-2013", the number of registered poultry farms in Bangladesh till February, 2013 is about 65902. This is believed to be more than two hundred thousand by non-government statistics. The number is increasing rapidly with the growing demand of protein and dependency on poultry-birds for this. Each and every farm draws certain amount of electric power. Most of these farms draw power from the national grid; some of them use natural gas or diesel generators and very few farms use their own poultry droppings for producing biogas and generating electricity. Unfortunately, these few biogas plants not even run to the peak of their capacity. The over reliance on national grid and fossil fuels aids to the emission of greenhouse gases and it is going to spiral up every year. If these poultry farms could produce sufficient energy from the poultry droppings then their annual costs, greenhouse gas emission as well as fossil fuel dependency will become nominal. The aim of this study is to reveal the prospect of self-sufficient poultry farms using their poultry droppings only. A comparison is made among the annual costs, energy efficiency and greenhouse gases emissions from different sources of energy or different mix of them. It is seen that coproduction of electricity and fertilizer optimize the mentioned constraints.

Most of the poultry farms in Bangladesh draw their power from national grid and use diesel or natural gas generators as backup support. As there are over two hundred thousand poultry farms in Bangladesh, it instigates a huge load on the national grid. Owing to the costly diesel and scarce natural gas, the power supply to the poultry farms has become uncertain as well as costly. Under these circumstances, poultry farms themselves can become self sufficient producing their own power from daily poultry wastage. As the power systems in poultry farms are modelled to operate in island mode, the stability of them must be ensured under all operating condition. Hence, stability of them must be tested before widespread roll-out. The aim of this paper is to analyze the stability of a standalone biogas power system under different operating conditions.

Greenhouse gas mitigation using poultry litter management techniques in Bangladesh

Colibacillosis caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is causing economic losses to the global poultry industry. Increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance in APEC is the leading cause for increased indiscriminate use of various antimicrobial compounds in farms. The study aimed to investigate the presence of phenotypic and genotypic markers for antibiotic resistance, metals, and biocides in APEC from Bangladeshi poultry and details about the antimicrobials used in poultry farms. In total, 55 APEC were isolated from hearts or liver samples of 86 sick or dead chickens using culture on agar plate and biochemical testing. APEC isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility to 14 antimicrobial agents according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. A series of PCRs was performed to screen the presence of genes for quinolones, colistin, aminoglycosides, ESBL, metals, and biocides. Detailed information regarding antibiotic use was collected from farmers during clinical investigations. Resistance was found to 10 antibiotics and prevalence was as follows: ampicillin (86%), ciprofloxacin (86%), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (73%), chloramphenicol (33%), mecillinam (13%), gentamicin (11%), cefoxitin (11%), cefotaxime (9%), tigecycline (2%), and nitrofurantoin (2%). The most common multiresistance phenotype was CIP-AMP-SXT, and 35% of isolates were multidrug resistant. Genotypic analysis confirmed the presence of quinolone resistance genes [qnrS1 and aac-(6')-lb-cr], silver-resistant genes (silE), and mercury-resistant genes (merA) but not others. In total, 88% farmers were using different antimicrobial compounds, and, of them, 56% were using antimicrobials without prescriptions from veterinarians. Ciprofloxacin was most extensively used followed by oxytetracycline. Critically important antibiotics like ciprofloxacin, colistin, and gentamicin are extensively used in the farms. This study confirmed the presence of antibiotics, metals, and biocide-resistant APEC in poultry farms in Bangladesh. Increased resistance to quinolones is a serious ongoing problem. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in poultry farms is alarming and should be stopped.

The growth rate of poultry meat production is not sufficient to satisfy the per capita meat requirement in Bangladesh. Therefore ways to improve the efficiency of the existing production technologies must be investigated if these demands are to be met. This review examines ways this could be achieved. The technical, allocative and economic efficiency of poultry meat production based on farm level survey data was estimated using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. The study used 100 commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh for the calendar year of 2007. The results demonstrated that there is substantial technical, allocative and economic inefficiency in poultry production in Bangladesh. Under the constant return to scale (CRS) specification, technical, allocative and economic efficiencies were 88, 70 and 72% respectively, whereas under the variable returns to scale (VRS) specification those efficiencies were 89, 73, 66% respectively. Thus, the results indicate that efficiencies varied substantially across the sample farms. In order to attempt to explain some of these variations, the efficiency scores were regressed based on farm specific variables such as the farmer's age, education, experience, total landholdings, poultry farm size and level of training using a Tobit regression framework. The estimated DEA model identified that there is great potential for increasing poultry farm efficiency using the existing level of inputs and resources more efficiently. Specifically it showed that the level of education and training the farmer receives are two of the most important factors contributing to the variations in efficiency seen during this study. These research findings are valuable to policy makers and extension workers in order to guide policies towards increasing efficiency.

Behavioral and economic drivers of antimicrobial use in commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh: A qualitative study

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to assess poultry farmers’ knowledge and practices regarding antibiotics, antimicrobial usage (AMU), and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to identify the sociodemographic factors of inappropriate use of antibiotics in commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh. MethodsA qualitative survey of 140 farmers in Bangladesh was conducted from March to May 2019. A logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with the inappropriate use of antibiotics. Results47.1% of farmers were unable to explain antibiotics, 42.9% used antibiotics for preventive purposes, 4.3% used them as growth promoters, 25.7% used them as suggested by veterinarians, 42.9% used leftover antibiotics, 50% did not maintain antibiotics residual withdrawal period, and 98.6% did not know about AMR. In bivariable regression analysis, sex and primary occupation of poultry farmers, their knowledge about withdrawal periods for antibiotics, and no contact with veterinary surgeons (VS) were found to be significantly associated with the inappropriate use of antibiotics, while only ‘no contact with VS’ was identified in multivariable regression analysis. ConclusionsThe findings suggest an urgent need to improve understanding of antibiotics and AMR. Adequate supervision by veterinarians would ensure adherence to appropriate AMU patterns, and would limit the misuse of antibiotics and associated AMR development in farms.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 and Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) virus H9N2 are endemic in Bangladesh and pose a threat to both poultry and human health. For effective avian influenza (AI) prevention and control, good knowledge of the factors influencing the epidemiology of avian influenza virus (AIV) circulation is crucial, but no in-depth investigations have thus far been conducted on poultry farms in Bangladesh.The overall aim of this research was to improve the understanding of the extent of H5 and H9 virus circulation on backyard, and commercial broiler and commercial layer chicken farms in Bangladesh and to identify risk factors associated with the presence of H5 and H9 virus. Furthermore, the research aimed to investigate the perceptions of chicken farmers to implement HPAI prevention and control measures in Bangladesh.Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in the Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar districts of Bangladesh: 1) between February and April 2016 involving 144 backyard chicken farms in 42 villages, and 2) between February and April 2017 involving 106 commercial broiler and 113 commercial layer chicken farms. Blood samples, oropharyngeal swabs and cloacal swabs were collected from 576 chickens and 204 in-contact ducks on backyard farms, and from 954 broilers and 904 layers on commercial chicken farms. Questionnaires were used to collect data on farm-level and village-level risk factors for H5 and H9 seroprevalence and on farmer’s perceptions towards implementation of HPAI prevention and control measures.Although all sampled birds tested negative for H5 by RT-PCR, H5 seropositive chickens were detected in all three farming systems. The highest H5 seroprevalence was observed in ducks raised with chickens on backyard farms, 14.2% (95% CI: 10.0-19.8), compared to in-contact backyard chickens, 4.2% (95% CI: 2.8-6.1). H5 seroprevalence was lower in unvaccinated broiler chickens, 1.5% (95% CI: 0.9-2.5), than in unvaccinated layer chickens, 7.8% (95% CI: 6.1-9.8). H9 viral infection was detected by RT-PCR in 0.5% (95% CI: 0.2-1.3) and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.3-1.5) of chickens raised in broiler and layer farms, respectively and in 0.2% (95% CI: 0.0-1.2) of chickens on backyard farms suggesting a similar level of exposure to H9 virus is all farming systems. Backyard chickens and ducks showed similar H9 seroprevalence, 16.0% (95% CI: 13.2-19.2) and 15.7% (95% CI: 11.3-21.4) respectively, while it was 5.8% (95% CI: 4.3-7.6) in layers and 1.5% (95% CI: 0.9-2.5) in broilers. Over the course of a production cycle, H5 and H9 seroprevalence increased with the age of backyard and layer chickens. Clustering of H5 seropositivity in ducks was identified, highlighting that multiple ducks within a flock were H5 seropositive. This was in contrast to backyard and broiler and layer chickens, where only individual birds within flocks developed H5 antibodies.Using multilevel mixed modelling, farm- and village-level risk factors for AIV exposure for backyard farms were identified. For example, garbage around poultry house or on the farms (a farm-level risk factor) (OR for H5: 9.1, 95% CI: 1.7-48.8; OR for H9: 28.6, 95% CI:3.4-239.8) and crow abundance around garbage dumping places within villages (a village-level risk factor) (OR for H5:3.4, 95% CI: 1.1-10.8; OR for H9:13.1, 95% CI: 2.3-76.8) increased the odds for H5 and H9 seropositivity on backyard farms. Binomial logistic regression was used to identify farm-level risk factors for AIV exposure on commercial farms. For example, visits by workers from other commercial chicken farms during the current production cycle (OR for H5: 15.1, 95% CI: 2.8-80.8; OR for H9: 50.1, 95% CI:4.5- 552.7) increased the odds for seropositivity on broiler farms, while access of stray dogs to the sampled farm (OR for H5: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.1-9.1; OR for H9: 4.0, 95% CI:1.1-15.3) increased the odds for seropositivity on layer farms.Structural Equation Modelling was used to explore direct and indirect effects of farmers’ perceptions to implement HPAI prevention and control actions on their farms. Results highlighted that farmers working in different chicken production systems follow different decision-making processes. Perceived barriers to implement prevention and control measures (e.g. wearing protective equipment when handling chickens) refrained both broiler (β=-0.41, p<0.001) and backyard farmers (β=-0.52, p<0.001) to adopt interventions. Meanwhile perceived benefits (e.g. maintaining high biosecurity to reduce the risk of birds becoming sick) strongly influenced commercial broiler (β=0.44, p<0.001) and layer farmers’ (β=0.68, p<0.001), but not backyard farmers’ decisions. Information provided on HPAI control through media, meetings or via information campaigns played an important role in farmers’ decision making across all production systems.Overall, this project provided a holistic picture of the factors influencing the epidemiology of AIV circulation across diverse chicken production systems in Bangladesh. The project described AIV infection patterns, risk factors of infection and farmers perceptions to implement HPAI prevention and control measures. Results from this research project have been used to inform policy makers to develop recommendations and improve current AI prevention and control policies in Bangladesh.

Contaminated poultry and poultry products are a major source of motile Salmonellae for human salmonellosis worldwide. Local circulation of any motile Salmonella serovar in poultry has a wider public health impact beyond its source of origin for being dispersed elsewhere through poultry trades or human travels. To investigate the status of motile Salmonella serovars in breeder farms in Bangladesh, multiple flocks of two breeder farms were observed for a period of six months. In addition, a cross-sectional survey was carried out to determine the prevalence and serovar distribution of motile Salmonella by randomly selecting 100 commercial broiler poultry farms. Five pooled faecal samples representing an entire housed flock of breeders or broilers were screened for presence of motile Salmonella following conventional bacteriological procedures. The Salmonella isolates obtained were subsequently serotyped, and characterized by plasmid profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The results revealed that both the breeder farms were positive with three Salmonella serovars: S. Virchow, S. Paratyphi B var Java (S. Java) and S. Enteritidis. Eleven of the 100 broiler farms investigated were positive for motile Salmonella, giving a farm-level prevalence of 11% (95% confidence interval 5–17%). S. Virchow and S. Kentucky were the two predominant serovars isolated from the broiler farms. The PFGE genotyping demonstrated that the isolates belonging to the same serovars were closely related due to variation in only 1–4 bands. All the S. Virchow and S. Java isolates, irrespective of breeder or broiler farm origin, were plasmid-free, except for one S. Virchow isolate from a broiler farm that harboured a 9.7 kb-sized plasmid. The S. Kentucky isolates belonged to three plasmid profiles having plasmids of four different sizes, ranging from 2.7 to 109 kb. This is the first report of any motile Salmonella serovars from breeder and commercial broiler poultry farms in Bangladesh.

Salmonella is a globally widespread food-borne pathogen having major impact on public health. All motile serovars of Salmonella enterica of poultry origin are zoonotic, and contaminated meat and raw eggs are an important source to human infections. Information on the prevalence of Salmonella at farm/holding level, and the zoonotic serovars circulating in layer poultry in the South and South-East Asian countries including Bangladesh, where small-scale commercial farms are predominant, is limited. To investigate the prevalence of Salmonella at layer farm level, and to identify the prevalent serovars we conducted a cross-sectional survey by randomly selecting 500 commercial layer poultry farms in Bangladesh. Faecal samples from the selected farms were collected following standard procedure, and examined for the presence of Salmonella using conventional bacteriological procedures. Thirty isolates were randomly selected, from the ninety obtained from the survey, for serotyping and characterized further by plasmid profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results of the survey showed that the prevalence of motile Salmonella at layer farm level was 18% (95% confidence interval 15–21%), and Salmonella Kentucky was identified to be the only serovar circulating in the study population. Plasmid analysis of the S. Kentucky and non-serotyped isolates revealed two distinct profiles with a variation of two different sizes (2.7 and 4.8 kb). PFGE of the 30 S. Kentucky and 30 non-serotyped isolates showed that all of them were clonally related because only one genotype and three subtypes were determined based on the variation in two or three bands. This is also the first report on the presence of any specific serovar of Salmonella enterica in poultry in Bangladesh.

High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) continues to be a major threat to poultry production in Bangladesh, where poultry is a primary source of affordable protein and outbreaks also pose zoonotic risks to humans. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 331 commercial broiler, layer, and Sonali poultry farms to evaluate biosecurity and farm management practices across different poultry production systems in relation to government-recommended biosecurity guidelines, and to identify risk factors associated with avian influenza (AI) outbreaks, as well as to assist in mitigating AI outbreak risks and improving disease prevention in poultry farms. We found that 93.4% of farms were in residential areas and 68.8% of the farms were near waterbodies. A significant number of farms had access to domestic and wild animals, with limited implementation of disinfection and hygiene practices. Overall, most farms did not fully comply with government suggested standard biosecurity and good farm management guidelines. In total, 51 (15.4%) farms reported AI outbreaks with the highest proportion in layer farms (29.1%), followed by broiler (10.6%) and Sonali (7.8%). AI outbreaks were significantly associated with outbreak history on nearby farms, farmers or workers visiting other farms, and farm management by workers or multiple individuals rather than owners. Veterinarian visits were also found to be associated with outbreaks on farms, which may reflect reporting bias rather than causality. Our findings underscore that substantial gaps in biosecurity compliance remain widespread across all farm types. We recommend strengthening biosecurity protocols, addressing environmental risks, and providing comprehensive training programs for farmers to control AI spread, prevent future outbreaks, and ultimately safeguard both poultry and public health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an undesirable impact and uncertainty in the poultry sector of Bangladesh. COVID-19 and its accompanying effects have severely affected about 65–70 thousand commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh. Many small and medium poultry farms are closed down or halted production due to the burden of continuous losses. There have been about 30-45% reductions in day-old chick production, 35-40% reductions in poultry feed production and 40-50% in the sale of medicines and other pharmaceutical products. It has created an unwanted mismatch between the demand for and supply of poultry products. This study attempts to determine to what extent the sector has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Data were collected from 81 Layer farms in Paba and Bagmara Upazila, 30 Broiler farms in Charghat Upazila and 30 Sonali farms in Paba Upazila of Rajshahi district in Bangladesh using a pretested interview questionnaire. Respondents are interviewed between January 2021 and early July 2021. Collected data are analysed, and the result shows that 88% of Layer, 83% of Broiler and 73% of Sonali farmers do not get sufficient market demand for their products during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 90% of Layer, 86% Broiler and 76% Sonali producers do not get enough market price for eggs and meat. Result also shows the loss among Layer, Broiler and Sonali farms and producers. About 81% of Layer, 76% Broiler and 86% Sonali producers say that they do not get financial support from the government to mitigate losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Government should retaliate by providing financial assistance to poultry producers and could develop long-term, sustainable strategies to ensure further capacity building.

This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and mortality in chickens caused by pullorum disease and fowl typhoid in five different government poultry farms according to three age groups during the period from June 2002 to May 2003. The overall seroprevalence of salmonellosis, especially pullorum disease and fowl typhoid was 26.67%. The mean seropositivity of five farms in three different age groups from each farm was 18.97±2.27%, 33.20±3.53% and 27.84±2.67% on 10th, 24th and 40th week of age, respectively. The mean seropositivity of three different age groups from each farm was 36.77±5.40%, 24.05±3.97%, 26.80±3.90%, 25.77±4.49% and 19.93±3.28% in Mirpur, Savar, Bogra, Kishoregonj and Tangail poultry farm, respectively. Fowl typhoid caused by S. gallinarum was the most predominant organism accounting for 295 isolates, and only 74 isolates were identified as pullorum disease caused by S. pullorum. The highest mean proportion of mortality due to fowl typhoid among five farms was 43.36±2.39% and was highly significant (P &lt; 0.001) in 27-39 weeks age group. The proportion of mortality due to Pullorum disease was highly significant (P &lt; 0.001) in day 0-13 weeks age groups and in respect of age, the highest mean value of pullorum disease was 10.47±1.14 from five farms.Key Words: seroprevalence; mortality; pullorum disease, fowl typhoid, chickensdoi: 10.3329/bjvm.v2i2.2539Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2004). 2 (2): 103-106

The surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal Escherichia coli from livestock at slaughter is widely employed to assess the potential for risk to humans. There is currently a limited understanding of AMR in Bangladesh poultry at retail in live bird markets, with studies focussing solely on phenotypic characterisation of resistance. To address this evidence gap we performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing on E. coli obtained from chickens from live bird markets in Dhaka in 2018 (n = 38) and 2020 (n = 45). E. coli were isolated from caeca samples following ISO guidelines and sequenced using short and long read methods. Multidrug resistance was extremely common (n = 77) and there was excellent concordance between AMR phenotype and the presence of corresponding AMR genes or mutations. There was considerable genomic diversity, with 43 different sequence types detected. Public health considerations included the high occurrence of resistance to ciprofloxacin (n = 75) associated with plasmid-residing qnrS or mutations in the gyrA and parC chromosomal genes; and the detection of a tigecycline resistant isolate harbouring tet(X4) on an IncHI1A/B-IncFIA mosaic plasmid. Thirty-nine isolates were resistant to azithromycin and harboured mphA, with a significant increase in the incidence of resistance between 2018 and 2020. Although azithromycin is banned for veterinary use in Bangladesh it remains an important treatment option for humans. Interestingly, mphA confers high-level resistance to azithromycin and erythromycin, and the latter is commonly used on poultry farms in Bangladesh. Seven isolates were colistin resistant and carried mcr1. For two isolates hybrid assemblies revealed that mcr1 resided on a highly conserved IncHI2 plasmid that had 93% nucleotide identity to a plasmid from the published genome of an E. coli isolate of Bangladeshi human origin. Six isolates had resistance to third generation cephalosporins, associated with plasmid-residing bla CTX-M-55, bla CTX-M-65, or bla DHA-1. By employing phenotypic and genomic approaches for AMR surveillance we have provided new insights into the potential for One Health AMR linkages in Bangladesh. Employing similar approaches in human and environmental sectors will help inform the One Health approach to addressing AMR, and generate evidence to support mitigation measures such as improved antimicrobial stewardship.

THE CONTEXT OF ANTIBIOTIC USE IN BROILER POULTRY FARMS IN BANGLADESH: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION