Persistence of High and Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Footbaths and Poultry Manure

Abstract

Abstract A questionnaire was designed in order to gather information about bedding material and footbath preparation and maintenance in different productive units across the state. This information was used to plan two experiments. In the first experiment, we tested the effectiveness of footbaths in inactivating highly pathogenic (HP) and low pathogenic (LP) avian influenza (AI) viruses on rubber boots. Surprisingly, quaternary ammonia and phenol + glutaraldehide based footbaths were not able to eliminate HPAI (H5N8) and LPAI (H6N2) live viral particles on boots, while a chlorine based granulated disinfectant was able to destroy the virus at contact. These results demonstrated the potential of AI, particularly HPAI isolate, to persist even if exposed to disinfecting footbaths, which suggest that footbaths, as a single tool, are not capable of preventing pathogen introduction into commercial flocks. In the second experiment, we investigated the persistence of HPAI (H5N8) and LPAI (H6N2) in bedding material...