With the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), biosecurity measures have become a top priority for poultry farms. Diseases can be transmitted through various means, such as air entering through ventilation systems, contaminated feed or waste, or simply coming into contact with infected animals or objects contaminated with the contagion.
A disease outbreak can have significant financial impacts on poultry farms, particularly those with high numbers of animals on-site or long-lived or high-value animals.
For example, egg farms tend to have a high number of birds in a single complex, upwards of 500,000 to 1 million or more at a single site. Breeder farms house high-value animals, so biosecurity measures tend to be high, which are elevated greatly for grandparent, great-grandparent and pedigree stocks.
To combat these risks, farm complexes usually use a “Danish entry” system with defined areas separating dirty or “street” sides and clean or biosecure sides. Every individual entering the facility needs to step over the line, change shoes, shower and change clothes.
Ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation technology is an effective tool for killing most bacteria and inactivating viruses. This high-energy, invisible light has been a long-standing technology since the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Niels Ryberg Finsen in 1903 for discovering the germicidal effect of UVC irradiation. UVC disinfection works by disrupting chemical bonds in DNA, RNA and proteins, which are crucial for replication of bacteria and viruses.
One application of UVC disinfection on poultry farms is the use of UVC germicidal cabinets for disinfecting fomites. These cabinets are fully enclosed, and objects are placed on a shelf while UVC light is irradiated from different directions onto the object. UVC cabinets are useful for reducing the risk of disease outbreaks due to the import of disease-contaminated objects.
Many of the most recent HPAI outbreaks in poultry have been attributed to transmission from nearby dairy herds. It’s possible that people are transmitting the virus between the herd and the flock by either carrying it on themselves or on objects shared between sites. Typical objects that are disinfected by UVC germicidal cabinets include phones, tools and lunch bags. The cabinets are usually placed at the interface between the clean and dirty sides of a Danish entry system.