National Manual 2 National Manual A cooperative initiative between the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Animal Health Australia and the Poultry Industry First Edition, May 2009 ISBN 978-1-921575-01-3 © Commonwealth of Australia 2009 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Ofces, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at www.ag.gov.au/cca. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry seeks to publish its work to the highest professional standards. However, it cannot accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of information herein. Readers should rely on their own skill and judgment in applying any information for analysis to particular issues or circumstances. National Manual i This National Farm Biosecurity Manual for Poultry Production was produced by a Biosecurity Consultative Group (BCG), established as a resolution of the 2007 Government–Industry Avian Inuenza Forum. Membership of the group included representatives from each of the following organisations and poultry industry sectors and their involvement in and contributions to the development of this manual are gratefully acknowledged: Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Animal Health Australia Australian Chicken Meat Federation Inc. Australian Chicken Growers’ Council Australian Egg Corporation Limited Australasian Turkey Federation Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia Australian Duck Meat Association Emu Industry Federation of Australia Australian Ostrich Association Game Bird Industry New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries ii National Manual The purpose of the manual is to establish a minimum set of biosecurity standards, applicable to all poultry producers (including ratites). While the manual was produced with commercial producers in mind, the principles of good biosecurity apply to any poultry or bird-raising operation. Individual producers and companies may wish to develop enhanced biosecurity manuals, which should nevertheless incorporate these minimum standards in addition to any specic company or industry sector requirements. In the context of this manual, the following denition of poultry is adopted to dene the meaning of poultry: ‘Poultry’ means chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks, geese, quails, pigeons, pheasants, partridges, ostriches and emus reared or kept in captivity. The manual applies to poultry enterprises from the time of delivery of birds, until pick-up, slaughter or disposal of live birds. While the manual stipulates the minimum requirements for any poultry farm, it should be noted that biosecurity measures in place on breeder farms would generally be much more stringent, reecting the economic importance and the extended life cycle of breeder ocks. The pick-up of birds and transport to the processing plant is covered in Appendix 10. At the second Government–Industry Avian Inuenza Forum held in Canberra on 11 June 2008, a draft Generic Farm Biosecurity Manual was presented to industry and jurisdictional representatives. It was agreed that the manual lled an important gap and should be adopted by all industry sectors as the base document upon which sector specic manuals should be developed. The sector specic manuals must, as a minimum, satisfy the requirements stipulated in this generic manual but may provide more specic guidance or additional requirements that reect the characteristics of the industry sector. National Manual iii Implementation is the responsibility of each poultry industry sector and several industry associations have already commenced adapting the generic manual to their specic operational circumstances and requirements. The adoption of the new Primary Production and Processing Standard (PPPS) for Poultry Meat, currently being nalised by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and to be implemented over the coming years by all states and territories, presents a good opportunity to promote adoption of the biosecurity standards set out in this manual. While the biosecurity requirements in this manual are in some areas broader than strictly required from a food safety point of view, it is the group’s expectation that adoption of the measures stipulated in this manual will meet the PPPS requirements for the production phase. Ratites are not covered by the poultry PPPS. Biosecurity requirements in that sector are largely mandated by the requirements of its export markets. The egg industry has a Code of Practice for Biosecurity (Grimes and Jackson, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, 2001), which is currently the industry standard with respect to biosecurity. This standard was used to develop the third party auditable EggCorp Assured™ program (ECA), which also includes food safety, environmental and welfare operating practices. In order to implement the objectives of this National Farm Biosecurity Manual, the egg industry will incorporate the objectives and ensure that requirements of this manual are incorporated into the ongoing development of these aforementioned documents. In general, implementation of this manual relies on each poultry industry sector achieving the objectives as indicated. The development of sector specic practices is fundamental to the success of improved biosecurity for the entire poultry industry. It is acknowledged that each production system will have a different spectrum of biosecurity challenges and operating environments, which must be addressed with relevant approaches based upon the objectives identied within this manual. iv National Manual Level 1—routine biosecurity procedures3 Level 2—high risk biosecurity procedures 3 1 Documentation and training 5 2 Facility standards 5 3 Personnel standards and procedures7 4 Operational standards10 5 Species specific additional biosecurity requirements 12 1 Action plan for suspected emergency animal disease 13 2 Facilities 13 3 Personnel 13 4 Operational 13 5 Standard operating procedures (SOPs) 14 National Manual v vi National Manual National Manual 1 Objectives to prevent the introduction of infectious disease agents to poultry• to prevent the spread of disease agents from an infected area to an uninfected area• to minimise the incidence and spread of microorganisms of public health signicance• Biosecurity and quarantine are integral parts of any successful poultry production system. Biosecurity refers to those measures taken to prevent or control the introduction and spread of infectious agents to a ock. Such infectious agents, whether they cause clinical or subclinical disease, signicantly reduce the productivity, protability and long term nancial viability of a poultry operation. Biosecurity is about managing risk to meet the objectives stated above. It is essential that a risk assessment be conducted for each enterprise to establish what level of risk exists in each phase of its operations and to identify and implement control measures appropriate to these levels of risk. This manual identies areas of risk common to most poultry enterprises and appropriate measures to minimise these risks. When undertaking the risk assessment underpinning the farm-specic biosecurity measures, it is important to take into account all factors that may impact on the biosecurity of the production area. These factors should include the species of bird being produced, location and layout of property and production area, source of water supply, disease status of the district, proximity to other production areas with avian species, presence and type of wildlife, and interface with the organisations and/or individual clients that are being supplied. These interactions include bird pick-ups, servicemen, industry personnel, contractors and deliveries of day-old chicks and feed. An additional element in the prevention of introduction and spread of disease is the use of vaccination. The manual does not cover this aspect but the importance of an appropriate vaccination strategy is acknowledged, and vaccination as a possible risk management measure should form part of the overall biosecurity assessment and strategy. The purpose of the manual is to establish a minimum set of biosecurity guidelines, applicable to all poultry producers (including ratites) from hatcheries to the point of delivery at the processor. Commercial enterprises which raise poultry for egg production or for human consumption, or for the purposes of breeding these poultry, fall within the scope of this manual. Individual producers and companies may wish to develop enhanced biosecurity manuals, which should nevertheless incorporate these minimum standards in addition to any specic company or industry sector requirements. A biosecurity self audit/auditable checklist for continuous improvement is attached as Appendix 9. This document may also form the basis for either second or third party audits where this is required. Biosecurity is like any other insurance policy and as such it is a prudent investment. 2 National Manual Poultry transfer of birds from production area to production area• dead bird disposal• Other animals wild birds• feral and domestic animals, including other livestock and pets• insects• rodents—rats/mice• domestic birds• People farm personnel and family members living on site• contractors, maintenance personnel, neighbours, serviceperson, visitors• disease can be transmitted by, for example, hands, boots, clothing, dirty hair• Equipment Vehicles Air transmission as an aerosol or dust• Water supply water supplies may become contaminated with faeces from contact with avian or other • animal species Feed feed may be contaminated by the raw materials used, post-production and during transport, • or by exposure to rodents and birds on the property. Bacteria and mould in poor quality or damaged feed may also be a concern. [...]... as a biosecurity risk but rather as a biosecurity tool 4 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n LE V EL 1 ROUTINE BIOSECURITY PROCEDURES 1 Documentation and training Objective: to ensure awareness by and training of all production area employees in all relevant biosecurity requirements 1.1 Each production facility must keep a copy of the National Farm Biosecurity Manual. .. 14 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n appendixes National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 15 16 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n A PPENDI X 1 PERSONNEL Q UA R A NTINE DECL A R ATION (Production Area Employee) I, hereby agree to abide by MY EMPLOYER’S BIOSECURITY. .. National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 17 18 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n Visitors must not keep poultry, caged birds or pigs at home Visitors must not have been in contact with any avian species or untreated poultry manure on the same day, unless a full head-to-toe shower... More information on treatment of water A detailed document on water biosecurity for poultry farms can be found at the following websites: www.daff.gov.au/birds and www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/toolkit.cfm 1 ppm—parts per million National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 21 A PPENDI X 4 WATER Q UA LITY GUIDELINES Poultry drinking water standards Microbiological analysis—maximum... done before returning them to the production areas and when moving between sheds 5 Adequate instructions/guidelines for safe composting must be available 2 Thermophilic phase—a phase during which there is a temperature rise in the compost sufficient to inactivate pathogenic micro-organisms 26 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p... of the National Farm Biosecurity Manual (the manual) , or a more detailed document that encompasses the National Farm Biosecurity Manual, that is readily accessible to staff 1.2 Staff must be provided with training in the relevant parts of the manual and such training is to be recorded 2 Facility standards Objective: to limit and control access to poultry production areas by people and prevent as much... entering production area/shed, or change into a separate pair of shed boots Visitors must sanitise hands before entering sheds Entry to poultry sheds and/or range areas is subject to the following conditions: A PPENDI X 2 A ENTRY CONDITIONS FOR V ISITORS TO POULTRY SHED A ND/OR R A NGE A RE A S National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 19 Date Name Company Poultry. .. species specific measures that must be adopted by the different poultry sectors Any additional requirements that must be followed by all those producing a particular species of poultry should be added here 12 National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n LE V EL 2 HIGH RISK BIOSECURITY PROCEDURES Objective: to increase biosecurity protection by minimising movements on and off the... National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 23 A PPENDI X 6 RODENT CONTROL RECORD Rodent control record Date Time Bait station Activity No level Corrective action Name or initials Note: For activity level record ‘N’ for no signs of rodent activity and ‘Y’ where signs of rodent activity where observed (e.g droppings / bait eaten) 24 National Farm Biosecurity Manual ... www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au) National Farm Biosecurity Manual p o u l t r y p r o d u c t i o n 3 SPECIES DIFFERENCES This biosecurity manual reflects the minimum standard to apply to all poultry operations Some elements may not be relevant to certain species, in particular those referring to a batch type operation as it is practiced in the broiler industry While ratites (emus and ostriches) are classified as poultry, . circumstances. National Manual i This National Farm Biosecurity Manual for Poultry Production was. all production area employees in all relevant biosecurity requirements 1.1 Each production facility must keep a copy of the National Farm Biosecurity Manual