Biosecurity Preparedness Analysis for Poultry Large and Small Farms in the United Arab Emirates

Eihab M. Fathelrahman, Adel I. El Awad, Ahmed M. Yousif Mohamed, Yassir M. Eltahir, Hussein H. Hassanin, Mohamed Elfatih Mohamed and Dana L. K. Hoag
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Eihab M. Fathelrahman: Department of Integrative Agriculture, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Adel I. El Awad: Department of Integrative Agriculture, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Ahmed M. Yousif Mohamed: Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Yassir M. Eltahir: Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Hussein H. Hassanin: Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mohamed Elfatih Mohamed: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Dana L. K. Hoag: Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Biosecurity implemented on the poultry farms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the form of preparedness against any possible outbreak of disease, is critical for farm survival, safety, and development. Little information on the status of biosecurity readiness for containing any outbreak of poultry disease is available. This study was conducted to evaluate the status of biosecurity on commercial poultry farms in the UAE. Four categories of biosecurity measures/actions: isolation, human and traffic flow, cleaning, and disinfection, and adoption of vaccination protocols were considered. All 37 licensed commercial poultry farms in the country were enrolled in the study’s survey. Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDFs) and Artificial Neural Network statistical (ANN) methods were used for ranking biosecurity on farms, including a breakdown for large and small farms, and to identify areas that require improvements. The ANN is used to correlate preparedness in the focus areas to the poultry farms’ biophysical and business characteristics, such as the number of yearly flock cycles, farm capacity, the total area of the farms, density, and the number of biosecurity workers. This study finds that more stringent implementation of vaccination protocol, isolation, and human and vehicle-flow controls for disinfection are most needed. The study also revealed that poultry farms address biosecurity preparedness differently based on the type of production on large or small farms, and for broilers or layers.

Keywords: poultry farms; biosecurity; assessment; artificial neural network application; preparedness against biosecurity threats (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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