Avian Influenza in Southeast Asia

An international conference on avian influenza in Asia was organized by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). At the conference, held in February 2005, experts agreed that one year after the bird flu crises, progress has been made in the early detection and rapid response to the disease. There are fewer outbreaks in the region this year than one year ago. The conference noted the link between farming systems and the spread of the disease.

The avian influenza H5 viruses are endemic in parts of the region, with reservoirs of infection in ducks and, potentially, wild birds and pigs. Live bird markets can also act as reservoirs of infection and contribute to the spread of the virus.

For the first time, an international group of Conference experts agreed on the need to change farming practices to avert a massive public health problem. Small holder farmers must change their practice of allowing fowl to mix and roam freely. It is important to move production to larger farms where animals can be segregated by type and generation. Ducks, chickens and pigs should be kept apart and chicks need to be kept separate from parents. Biosecurity measures need to be in place.

The Asian region affected by the spread of avian influenza has a poultry population estimated at 7 billion birds, approximately 40 percent of global totals. The region's share of poultry meat output is only 27 percent due to lower slaughter rates and lower bird weights compared to developed countries. More than half the domestic bird population is in medium to large scale intensive poultry holdings. Still, a sizeable part of the poultry population is kept by the smallholder sector, an estimated 200 million farmers each keeping about 15 birds, mainly ducks, chickens, geese, turkeys and quails.

In Thailand, smallholders own 30 percent of the number of chickens and represent 3 million households. In China, traditional sector production covers 56 percent of the poultry sector. Chickens are kept in every village in Vietnam, using traditional methods of free range, backyard, or semi-intensive systems. Approximately 75 percent of poultry are kept in small households in Vietnam, usually with 10-20 chickens per family, and chickens wander in and out of houses. There are between 25 and 40 million village backyard poultry farmers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Southeast Asia accounts for a quarter of world poultry trade (including re-exports from Hong Kong). China and Thailand are the largest exporters in the region. In 2003, China and Thailand are estimated to have exported almost 1.1 million tons, more than half of which went to Japan. Many of the major poultry importing countries banned poultry imports from both countries after avian influenza H5N1 was detected in early 2004.

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Source: USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service - 8th March 2005