This report summarizes the results of a study undertaken in 2010 and 2011 to as-
sess and map Influenza A (H5N1) virus transmission pathways in the poultry sec-
tor and critical control points along the poultry value chains in Egypt. In order
to focus specifically on the factors that either increase the risk of spread of H5N1
HPAI disease or are critical in disease risk management, a risk pathways diagram is
sketched to describe the pathways (transmission routes, carriers and mechanisms)
for transmitting virus from an infected node throughout the poultry value chain to
disease-free premises. To assess the risk, the probability of virus movement into and
from each point along the risk pathway and the impact of disease transmission from
an infected node?
to the next node along the value chain were assessed separately.
Estimates of probability and impact were based on revision of quantitative epidemi-
ological data and descriptive information from various sources, such as FAO study
reports, General Organization for Veterinary Services (GOVS) reports and scien-
tific literature. To fully understand all factors that contribute to the risk of virus
transmission and to gather real-time information on control measures, activities,
and priorities and information about historical outbreaks of HPAI, meetings were
held with different key stakeholders which included GOVS, veterinary director-
ates, district veterinary services, Central Laboratory for Evaluation of Veterinary
Biologics (CLEVB), National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poul-
try Production (NLQP), poultry association and private veterinary practitioners,
and visits made to sector 2 and 3 commercial farms,
?
small-scale household (HH)
poultry farms, slaughterhouses, live bird markets (LBMs) and poultry shops, mod-
ern and traditional hatcheries, feed mills, veterinary pharmacies, poultry Borsa?
and
litter collection and composting points in eight high-risk governorates. The catego-
ries of risk involved were divided into very high, high, medium, low and very low.
Factors and actions involved in increase or decrease of risk were included.
Analysis of the results revealed that for commercial farms, risk associated with
the movement of people is considered highly significant due to weak farm gate
control and decontamination activities. The very high risk (with low uncertainty)
category includes vaccinators from outside the farm, day and part-time farm
workers, and visiting veterinary practitioners. The high risk category includes
drivers of feed delivery, and egg and litter collection vehicles, while the vehicles
themselves represent medium risk with high uncertainty. The medium risk category
includes medical representatives and drug suppliers. Equipment shared among
farms, such as egg cartons, vaccine atomizers and bird crates represent high risk
with medium uncertainty in the case of multi-age farms. Shared bird crates and gas
cylinders represent medium risk with medium uncertainty for one-age farms. The
overall risk related to rodents, insects, dogs is very low , cats medium, but very high
for wild birds. Feed and water inputs represent low risk.
In the small-scale household production, the risk associated with introduc-
ing newly purchased adult waterfowl and Baladi chicken without quarantine, the
movement of non-resident commercial farm workers and wild birds with access to
the feed and water of poultry flocks is very high. The overall risk associated with
purchased young birds and exotic chicken is low and medium, respectively.
Litter collection points (litter is processed and used as fertilizer or fish feed in
aquacultures) and feed mills represent very low risk nodes along the poultry value
chain, and the former can be considered as an end point for the virus. However,
both could act as disease pathways to and from different commercial farms because
of the high frequency of movement of vehicle and drivers, and the poor application
of cleaning and disinfection (C&D) measures by either commercial farms or stake-
holders working at litter collection points or feed mills.
Slaughterhouses do not facilitate virus replication or shedding because they ap-
ply the “live-in, dead-out” policy and could eliminate the virus from the poultry
value chain; as a result, they represent very low risk for the poultry value chain. The
risk they could impose is contamination of the environment due to lack of drainage
treatment system or absence of C&D for vehicles or crates.
Most sector 2 and 3 producers buy feed on credit until batch selling, and due to
fear of loss they may not notify any cases of infection, to illegally sell infected birds
and to hide and improperly dispose of dead birds. Some specialized traders actu-
ally profit from the disease by purchasing birds known to be infected at very low
prices and reselling them via door-to-door peddlers or to the slaughterhouse, which
in turn sells frozen birds to fast food outlets. Unsuspecting buyers, such as village
women, and/or some fast food retailers with no or little risk awareness can facilitate
this type of cheap trade and thus disease spread.
The absence of signs of overt clinical disease in some duck breeds has led some
to argue that ducks are the ‘‘Trojan horses’’ of H5N1 in their surreptitious spread
of the virus (Kim et al. 2009). In Egypt, many Trojan horses for H5N1 virus are
in place: weak application of farm-gate biosecurity measures, unregulated wide
use of variable vaccination protocols and programmes by commercial farms, co-
circulation with H9N2, lack of awareness of small-scale household producers on the
importance of quarantine of newly purchased birds and keeping birds in a confined
environment, unregulated live bird trading, and weak movement control together
facilitate ‘‘silent spreading’’ of H5N1 HPAI viruses, continuing the circulation and
endemicity of the disease.
As long as birds are reared under management systems with poor biosecurity,
including free movement without inspection or traceability, and an inefficient
vaccination strategy, the spread and circulation of H5N1 HPAI will continue. Thus,
critical control points for prevention of AI virus transmission along the poultry
value chain include the quarantine of newly-purchased birds and keeping birds
in a confined environment by small-scale household producers, strict farm-gate
biosecurity by commercial producers, strict application of the “live in, slaughtered
out” policy by LBMs, restructuring of LBMs in such a way as to permit sound
decontamination and directional flow from dirty to clean zones, and efficient
movement control by regulatory authorities.
Due to the high density of commercial poultry farms and small-scale household
production in most governorates, there is a need for a national poultry production
standards and guidelines to regulate and support good management. The system
should enhance the application of biosecurity measures by the poultry production
and trade sector and by the actors involved in the poultry value chain, with clear
critical limits that must be met. Programmes based on a range of clear, scientifically
justified principles suitable for the Egyptian situation and applicable to any level
of poultry production, and auditable measures intended to prevent disease-causing
agents from entering and/or leaving premises.
The formation or strengthening of grassroots producers’ associations could be
instrumental in improving the dialogue with the authorities on the development
of incentives for the improvement of biosecurity and in facilitating monitoring,
coordination, communication, transparency and agreement among poultry
producers, even among competitors in the same region, and make the poultry sector
work for all.

This study was carried out in response to periodic reoccurrence of highly pathogenic avian
influenza (HPAI) in Egypt, especially in backyard birds and humans and despite significant
control efforts. Its objective was to develop a database of traditional hatcheries (THs) in Egypt
and identifying their role in supplying genetic stock to the rural sector. A total of 84 THs were
surveyed in the governorates of Gharbia (32 THs), Faiyoum (30) and Sohag (22) in July and
August 2008. Nearly all the surveyed THs incubate Baladi chicken (CK) eggs, from improved
breeds resulting from the crossing of native with exotic breeds, and/or pure Peking or hybrid
duck (DK) eggs. About 510 000 day-old chicks (DOCs) and 192 300 day-old ducklings (DODs)
were produced weekly during the study period.
There is clear seasonality in TH productivity, with high operating capacity in the winter
season (January to April) along with significantly increased hatchability resulting in periods of
intense rearing of growing birds. The main source of the CK eggs incubated in the surveyed
THs is Qalyubia governorate (supplying 69.7 percent) followed by Faiyoum (24.3 percent) and
Gharbia governorates (3.0 percent). DK eggs come from Gharbia (38.5 percent), Beheira (26.7
percent), Sharqia (14.6 percent) and Qalyubia (11.9 percent) governorates. Of the total DOCs
produced, 40 percent are nursed in Faiyoum governorate, 30 percent in Sohag and 10 percent
in Quena; 32 percent of the total DODs produced are nursed in Gharbia, 30 percent in Faiyoum
and 13 percent in Beheira. In the surveyed THs, the hatchability percentages of both types of
egg are significantly lower than those in modern hatcheries incubating the same types of egg,
in both the winter and summer seasons. Hatchability decreases significantly in summer for
both egg species in the THs. Weekly losses due to decreased hatchability are estimated at
66 810 DOCs and 32 499 DODs.
Regarding disease risk factors, none of the THs are organized for a one-way flow of
products, workers, air and traffic from clean to dirty zones. The sun-dried mud bricks used to
build most of the THs allow disinfection by fumigation only. Of the THs surveyed, about 21
percent are located within 500 m of water canals, 32 percent within 500 m of poultry farms,
75 percent within 500 m of poultry hatcheries, and 83 percent within 500 m of paved roads.
About 20 percent incubate both CK and DK eggs at the same time. The turning of eggs with
unprotected hands, the circulation of egg racks among THs and egg producing farms, and the
lack of disinfection of the vehicles used to transport both eggs and day-old birds (DOBs)
facilitate the transmission and dissemination of infectious agents across virtually all the
locations involved in producing chickens and ducks. This was confirmed by the 100 percent
similarity of the haemagglutinin genes of H5N1 viruses isolated simultaneously from north and
south Egypt.