ChickenHealth4D:

Reducing the impact of infectious disease on

village poultry production in Ethiopia

Presented by Rob Christley Chicken Health 4 Development Project Launch, ILRI, Addis Ababa, 18 January 2011

What I’m going to talk about

• An interdisciplinary project that aims to improve poultry health in Ethiopia

• The CIDLID initiative• The aims of the project• The approaches we will use• How to apply the information we gather to

achieve our aims

Background to the funding

• UK Department for International Development (DfID) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Scottish Government

• “Combating Infectious Diseases of Livestock for International Development” (CIDLID) programme

• Aim to contribute to MDGs• 16 Projects; total funding £13M

PPRV, Bluetongue, Swine fever, FMD (2), MCF, ECFCBPP, liver fluke, lumpy skin disease trypanosomiasis, coccidiosisMultiple disease studies traditional healing methods

• Work on zoonoses and avian influenza not covered by scheme

UKEthiopia (2)Uganda (2)Kenya (2)Tanzania (3)Sth Africa (3)NigeriaIndia (6)

UKEthiopia (2)Uganda (2)Kenya (2)Tanzania (3)Sth Africa (3)NigeriaIndia (6)

Why village chicken health?

• Kept as small flocks (up to 10) by poorest and usually landless in society (frequently women)

• Main source of high quality protein• Source of income• Loss of even single bird has impact• Important socially - chickens are frequently given as gifts

• Infectious disease identified by farmers as a major constraint• Limited previous work considering infectious diseases and

host resistance in Ethiopian chickens

Poultry disease in Africa

• Estimated 0.75 billion poultry deaths due to infection n Africa each year

• Newcastle Disease considered most important pathogen causing frequent epidemics, but disease surveillance limited or non-existent

• Diseases rare in developed industries (e.g. Fowl Typhoid) are endemic

• Role of parasitic burden on productivity poorly understood

Village poultry - major issues

• Indigenous breeds (ecotypes) are well adapted to foraging, avoiding predation and are considered to have good immunity to infection

• Low genetic potential - poor producers of eggs and meat• Infectious disease often prevents attainment of this low

genetic potential• Husbandry often poor

Village poultry - major issues

• Wet season associated with increased mortality – often attributed to Newcastle Disease

• Villagers may sell poultry at low price before rains then buy back the same birds for considerably more later in the year

• Practice has profound economic effects of poorest villagers

Improving poultry - some challenges

• Understanding major diseases and their impact• Offering appropriate control of disease• Improving productivity of birds whilst retaining desirable features

of disease resistance and foraging potential• Ensuring ‘improved’ poultry are acceptable to villagers• Working with villagers to improve husbandry.

Who are we: the research consortium

DrTadelle Dessie ILRI Coordinator, Breeding and genetics

Dr Nigussie Dana EIAR Poultry breeding

Wondmeneh Esatu EIAR & Wageningen Poultry breeding

Kasech Melese EIAR Laboratory/field Assistant

Prof Olivier Hanotte Nottingham Population genetics

Dr Joram Mwacharo Nottingham Population genetics

Open Nottingham & ILRI PhD student – genetics

Prof Pete Kaiser Edinburgh SNP analysis

Dr Rob Christley Liverpool Epidemiology

Dr Paul Wigley Liverpool Microbiology

Dr Supriya Garikipati Liverpool Economics

Dr Stacey Lynch Liverpool & ILRI PDRA – microbiology & diagnostics

Zelalem Gutu Liverpool & ILRI PhD student – socio-economics

Judy BettridgeEshetu Zerihun

Liverpool & ILRIILRI

PhD student – infection epidemiologyDriver/Field assistant

Main aims

1. Identify key infectious diseases of village poultry; 2. Understand the genetics resistance; 3. Assess the social and economic factors underpinning village

poultry production;

4. Develop breeding strategies that enhance genetic resistance against the priority poultry diseases;

5. Develop capacity and inform policy for control of priority avian diseases in East Africa.

Study areas & poultry ecotypes

• We will sample birds of two distinct , geographically separated areas

• Regions differ greatly ecologically, economically and socially• Birds from each region show distinct variation or ecotypes• Horro - western Ethiopia, sub-humid • Jarso - eastern Ethiopia, arid

Objective 1 - Identification and prioritisation of infectious diseases of village poultry

• Determination of disease prevalence in each region before and after rainy season over two years

• Development of low cost ELISA and microscopy-based diagnostics developed from OIE recommended tests

• Laboratory being set up at EIAR Debre Zeit• Direct investigation of disease outbreaks

– Re-sampling individuals may help identify resistant phenotypes

Field work Timeline

J F M A M J J A S O N D2011

J F M A M J J A S O N D2012

Phase 1Phase 1 Phase 2Phase 2

Phase 3Phase 3 Phase 4Phase 4

OutbreaksOutbreaks

OutbreaksOutbreaks

PreparationPreparation

Laboratory diagnosticsLaboratory diagnostics

Laboratory diagnosticsLaboratory diagnostics

2013

2014

Socio-economic, genetic and epidemiological analyses

Breeding programme, End-of-Project workshop

Study areas

HorroHorro

Market shed 1

Market shed 2

Market shed 3

Market shed 4

2011 – April/May2011 – Sept/Oct2012 – April/May

2012 – Sept/Oct

25 (+5) households2 birds/household25 (+5) households2 birds/household

Cross-sectional study of households and their poultry

• Simultaneously investigate:• Socio-economics of poultry keeping• The causes of endemic infectious disease• The genetics of resistance/susceptibility

• Sampling:– Household questionnaires (800)– Poultry (1600)

• Phenotype• Blood: genetics, diagnostics• Faeces: parasites• Clinical examination: condition, ectoparasites

Investigation of high-mortality epidemics

• Epidemics common in wet season• High mortality• Few survivors, so may not detect in cross-sectional study• Sampling survivors may provide clues regarding host

resistance

• Investigate to determine:– Role of Newcastle Disease Virus?– Role of other pathogens?

Infectious diseases diagnostics – capacity building

• New laboratory at EIAR-DZARC– ELISA

• Viral diseases: Newcastle Disease, IBD (Gumboro), Marek’s Disease, [Influenza]

• Bacterial diseases: Fowl Cholera (P multocida), Fowl Typhoid (S enterica gallinarum)

– Parasitology• Coprology: Eimeria, Nematodes, Cestodes

• Heamatology: A pullorum, Plasmodia, L schoutedeni, Haemoproteus, T avium, Borrelia

• Ecto-parasitology: Ticks, mites, fleas, Lice

– Haematology• Red cells: anaemia

• White cells: Immune response

Objective 2 - Define the prevalence and distribution of genetic markers of resistance

• Comparison of 2 poultry ecotypes; Horro and Jarso (and commercial lines)

• 2 complementary approaches:– Genome-wide association studies using a large number of

SNPs– Polymorphism studies at candidate resistance genes

• Information about resistance/susceptibility will be applied in the breeding improvement programme

Objective 3 - Assess the social and economic factors underpinning village poultry production

• Initial participatory surveys– diseases affecting poultry, identifying those of greatest

importance to village poultry productivity– social and economic context of village poultry production – factors that impede/facilitate disease control programmes

• In-depth questionnaire study– Identification of preferred traits (particularly resistance)– Chicken management strategies– Role of poultry in household economics– Impact of these on household income

Surveys will determine

• Current status of poultry in the community and information about the poultry production and management systems.

• Major problems of poultry production and specifically the impact of disease.

• Factors influencing the success of disease control programs generally and particularly programmes of breeding for improved resistance, which may include, but will not be limited to, costs desired characteristics of the birds, cultural mores and preferences for existing or traditional production and management practices.

Objective 4 - Develop strategies for enhancing genetic resistance of local poultry ecotypes to priority diseases

• Integration with on-going poultry breeding programme at EIAR–Genetic information from project compared with that of EIAR poultry with improved productivity–Understanding distribution of genetic loci and polymorphisms associated with resistance to major infectious disease allows their maintenance or inclusion into increased productivity resistant lines–Future selection of birds for resistance and productivity

Objective 5 - Develop capacity & policy for control of avian infectious diseases

• 2 Ethiopian nationals undertaken PhD training in soci-economics and genetics

• 3+ MSc students; socio-economics, animal health, genetics• Development of poultry diagnostic lab EIAR-DZARC with trained

personnel• Structured survey of disease prevalence to inform control

measures• Substantive genetic information to inform the EIAR breeding

programme coupled with socio-economic information that ensures ‘improved’ poultry are acceptable

• Capacity building– Skills needs– Gap analysis– Plan of action– Monitoring

• Communication– Who – Objectives– When– Monitoring

Capacity building and communication strategies

THANK YOU