Disinfecting poultry production premises.

Hygiene and sanitation play a major role in any effective disease control programme for poultry production premises. One of the important requirements to facilitate hygiene and sanitation is adoption of the 'all-in/all-out' method (i.e. all the birds within a single establishment should be of the same age group), together with the restriction of each enterprise to a single type or species of bird. Poultry premises and buildings should comply with requirements for isolation from the environment and strict observance of principles of hygiene and disease prevention (e.g. restrictions on movement of staff, equipment and vehicles). A poultry site must be prepared methodically for the entry of each new batch (removal of birds, litter and manure; vector and rodent control; dry and wet cleaning; disinfection; fumigation). Attention should be paid to the terminal sanitation of houses and equipment after depopulation (physical and chemical cleaning, pressure washing, disinfection, fumigation). Particular care should be exercised in the performance of sanitary procedures after a disease outbreak. Immediate disposal of dead and diseased birds is an important and effective tool in preventing the dissemination of any disease. Disposal methods include the use of burial pits, tanks, burial in trenches, burning, rendering and composting. Regular visual inspection, together with routine testing by microbiological monitoring methods, is very effective in checking the efficacy of cleaning and disinfection.