The quick spread and high impact of avian influenza tested national disease preparedness plans and offered important lessons for future biosecurity planning.
Read the entire report about disease control exclusively in the September issue of Egg Industry.
Dr. James Roth, a distinguished professor at Iowa State's College of Veterinary Medicine, shared his insights on how the 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza affected Iowa and shaped the secure food supply plan for poultry production during a presentation at Animal Health in the Heartland, a symposium on biotechnology’s role in emergency preparedness.
Most importantly, Roth said at the July 20 event in Omaha, Nebraska, the outbreak reinforced the importance of stamping out – or quickly depopulating – infected flocks in order to stop the spread of the disease.
Roth offered information about how the disease outbreak affected Iowa's economy and the egg industry.
The Secure Food Supply plans, a joint effort between industry, state governments, academia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, are designed to ensure business continuity and a consistently safe food supply.
Parts of the plan worked, and parts of the plan did not work. There were three big lessons learned from the outbreak, and revisions are being made based on highly pathogenic avian influenza.
