Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Avian Biosciences Center (ABC) opened in June 2006. Accomplishments in the following areas included; 1. STUDENT SUPPORT. Center scientists received joint funding via the Univ. of Delaware Institute of Soil & Environmental Quality and the ABC to support graduate students. Undergraduate students received summer research scholarships to train with Center scientists. 2. OUTREACH i) AI surveillance. Our Allen Laboratory achieved National Animal Health Laboratory Network status in October 2006 for AI and Exotic Newcastle Disease testing. Delaware ranked in the top ten among all states nationally in AI samples tested. Our Lasher Lab, also a NAHLN facility, performed AI testing on commercial broiler and backyard flocks; ii) Outreach education. ABC scientists made numerous presentations on AI to the poultry industry, government agencies, the public, and at scientific meetings. The Center hosted an AI Symposium and sponsored AI Technical Assistance, Training and Capacity Building Response Programs in Romania and Bulgaria. An Emergency Poultry Disease Response Certificate course evolved from these international programs. iii) The ABC website was established (http://ag.udel.edu/abc/index.html). iv) Policy-makers and technical agencies. The ABC mission is to provide unbiased information to policy-makers, technical agencies and the poultry industry on matters related to poultry production. The Center's director met with US Rep. M. Castle, poultry industry leaders, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture M. Scuse, and the GAO on national AI policy matters. ABC scientists collaborated with numerous POULTRY AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES: Allen Family Foods, Inc., Aviserve, LLC., Cobb-Vantress, Inc., Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., Fort Dodge Animal Health, Intervet, Inc., Merial, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Perdue Farms, Inc., Schering-Plough Animal Health, Townsend's, Inc., Tyson Foods, United States Poultry and Egg Association COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: Delaware Technical & Community College RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS: Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: State of Delaware (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Health & Social Services, Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control. State of Maryland (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Natural Resources). United States Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Research Service, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Cooperative State Research, Education, & Extension Service, Foreign Agricultural Service), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The ABC led a USDA/USAID funded AI Technical Assistance, Training and Capacity Building Response Program in Romania in 2006-07 and a USDA-funded Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program in Bulgaria in 2008. 3. SEMINAR AND RESEARCH SUPPORT. Travel funds to scientific meetings were awarded to ABC students and scientists. A competitive ABC Research Grants Program was established to provide seed monies to Center scientists for the purpose of developing preliminary data prior to seeking larger federal, state, and private foundation grants. Eleven grants were selected for funding during the period. PARTICIPANTS: Center scientists collaborated via research and/or outreach efforts with the following poultry and allied industries to enhance their productivity and sustainability; Allen Family Foods, Inc., Aviserve, LLC., Cobb-Vantress, Inc., Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., Fort Dodge Animal Health, Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health, Lasher Associates, Merial, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Perdue Farms, Inc., Townsend's, Inc., Tyson Foods, United States Poultry & Egg Association. The Center collaborated with numerous colleges and universities in the state as well as many nationally and internationally (not listed). The Center has numerous ongoing collaborations with government agencies; State of Delaware (Dept. of Agriculture, DNREC, Dept. of Health & Social Services, State of Maryland (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Natural Resources). United States Department of Agriculture (ARS, APHIS, CSREES, FAS, and WS). TARGET AUDIENCES: Public Scientific community State and federal government agencies Poultry production companies and allied industry companies PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND POLICY IMPACTS: The combined value of production from broilers, eggs, turkeys, and the value of sales from chickens in 2007 was $31.9 billion, an increase of 24% from 2006. One of the greatest threats to the economic well-being of the industry continues to be avian influenza (AI). ABC scientists have been instrumental in developing and implementing a critical initiative directly impacting control of AI in commercial poultry; the foam method for emergency depopulation of floor-reared poultry; broilers, turkeys and ducks. The foam method is more efficient and requires fewer poultry workers, thus reducing their risk to potential AI virus infection. In 2007, the foam technology was used to depopulate an AI positive turkey flock in West Virginia. This research and outreach effort has been heralded nationwide by the poultry industry and has received conditional approval by USDA. As mentioned in previous accomplishments reports, development and implementation of in-house composting for emergency poultry mortalities (e.g. for AI outbreaks) was another key disease control element developed by ABC scientists. In 2007, ABC researchers extended composting technology to reduce endemic "non-emergency" disease challenges associated with the reuse of poultry litter. This application of composting technology has significant positive economic, environmental, and poultry health implications for the poultry industry. The ABC, with USDA funding, is providing training to foreign countries (e.g. Romania, Bulgaria) that have experienced high path AI H5N1 Asia in wild birds and poultry to reduce the global risk of the disease. Training undergraduate and graduate students and supporting Center faculty are vital to making scientific advances necessary to sustain the poultry industry. The Centers competitive grants program is funding pilot research studies enabling scientists to develop preliminary data to be used to develop proposals for submission to federal, state and private sector granting sources. The findings from these studies will provide the basis for important discoveries in a wide range of poultry science fields.
Publications
- Dawson, M.D., Johnson, K.J., Benson, E.R., Alphin, R.L., and Malone, G.W. 2009. Determining Brain Death in Depopulated Broilers Using Accelerometers. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 18:135-142.
- Benson. E.R., Malone, G.W., Alphin, R.L., Dawson, M.D., Pope, C.R., and Van Wicklen, G.L. 2007. Foam-based mass emergency depopulation of floor-reared meat-type poultry operations. Poultry Sci. 86:219-224.
- Dawson, M.D., Lombardi, M.E., Benson, E.R., Alphin, R.L., and Malone, G.W. 2007. Validation of the Use of Accelerometers in the Determination of Post-Mortem Muscular Cessation in Euthanized and Depopulated Poultry. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 16:583-591.
- Alphin, R.L., Johnson, K.J., Ladman, B.S., and Benson, E.R. 2009. Inactivation of avian influenza virus using five common chemicals and one detergent. Poultry Sci. 88:1181-1185.
- Lombardi, M.E., Ladman, B.S., Alphin, R.L., and Benson, E.R. 2008. Inactivation of avian influenza virus using common soaps, detergents, chemicals, and disinfectants. Avian Dis. 52:118-123.
- Benson, E.R., Malone, G.W., Alphin, R.L., Johnson, K.J., and Staicu, E. 2008. Application of In-house Composting on Viral Inactivity of Newcastle Disease Virus. Poultry Sci. 87:627-635.
- Benson, E. R., Alphin, R.L., Dawson, M.D., and Malone, G.W. 2009. Use of water based foam to depopulate ducks and other species. Poultry Sci. 88:904-910.
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Progress 07/01/07 to 06/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The following accomplishments were realized by the University of Delaware (UD) Avian Biosciences Center (ABC) during the performance period. For more details on the ABC, visit http://ag.udel.edu/abc/index.html 1. GRADUATE STUDENT SUPPORT. Drs. S. Inamdar and K. Kniel received continued funding via the Institute of Soil & Environmental Quality and the ABC for two graduate students awarded fellowships the previous year. 2. UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIPS/SCHOLARSHIPS. Undergraduate students R. Phillips, A. Greenwalt, A. Mirabito, and K. Clark received summer research scholarships. Undergraduate J. Puttress and graduate student Erica Feirstein received travel support to attend a scientific meeting to present research findings. 3. OUTREACH i) Avian influenza (AI) surveillance in wild birds. In concert with the DE Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), widespread AI testing of wild birds in DE has been initiated. In 2007, Delaware ranked 6th in the US and first in states east of the Mississippi River in testing for AIV. This effort is funded primarily by USDA Wildlife Services. ii) Outreach education. ABC faculty and professionals made numerous presentations on AI to the poultry industry, government agencies, the public, and at scientific meetings. iii) The ABC website (URL above)is regularly updated to reflect new information concerning the Center. iv) Policy-makers and technical agencies. One of the ABC's core objectives is to provide unbiased information to policy-makers, technical agencies and the poultry industry on poultry production matters. The Center performed key research on streamlining sampling (effects of pooling 11 vs. 5 swabs for testing) of commercial broiler chickens for USDA-APHIS-NPIP mandated AI surveillance program. At the international level, the ABC was awarded a USDA-funded Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program on avian influenza preparedness, response and recovery planning for government and private sector veterinarians in Bulgaria. Center scientists collaborated via research and/or outreach efforts with the following poultry and allied industries to enhance their productivity and sustainability-see PARTICIPANTS section of this report. 3. SEMINAR AND RESEARCH SUPPORT. Travel funds to scientific meetings were awarded to students, faculty, and professionals of the Center. Two research grants to Center scientists M. Parcells and C. Schmidt were funded during the period. PARTICIPANTS: Center scientists collaborated via research and/or outreach efforts with the following poultry and allied industries to enhance their productivity and sustainability; Allen Family Foods, Inc., Aviserve, LLC., Cobb-Vantress, Inc., Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., Fort Dodge Animal Health, Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health, Lasher Associates, Merial, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Perdue Farms, Inc., Townsend's, Inc., Tyson Foods, United States Poultry & Egg Association. The Center collaborated with numerous colleges and universities in the state as well as many nationally and internationally (not listed). The Center has numerous ongoing collaborations with government agencies; State of Delaware (Dept. of Agriculture, DNREC, Dept. of Health & Social Services, State of Maryland (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Natural Resources). United States Department of Agriculture (ARS, APHIS, CSREES, FAS, and WS). TARGET AUDIENCES: Public Scientific community State and federal government agencies Poultry production companies and allied industry companies PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND POLICY IMPACTS: The combined value of production from broilers, eggs, turkeys, and the value of sales from chickens in 2007 was $31.9 billion, an increase of 24% from 2006. One of the greatest threats to the economic well-being of the industry continues to be avian influenza (AI). ABC scientists have been instrumental in developing and implementing a critical initiative directly impacting control of AI in commercial poultry; the foam method for emergency depopulation of floor-reared poultry. The foam method is more efficient and requires fewer poultry workers, thus reducing their risk to potential AI virus infection. In 2007, the foam technology was used to depopulate an AI positive turkey flock in West Virginia. This research and outreach effort has been heralded nationwide by the poultry industry and has received conditional approval by USDA. As mentioned in a previous accomplishments report, development and implementation of in- house composting for emergency poultry mortalities (e.g. for AI outbreaks) was another key disease control element developed by ABC scientists. During 2007, ABC researchers have extended composting technology for reducing so called "non-emergency" disease challenges associated with used poultry litter, thereby extending the life and biosafety of used litter. This technology has significant positive economic, environmental, and poultry health implications for the industry. The ABC, with USDA funding, is also working with foreign countries (e.g. Romania, Bulgaria) that have experienced H5N1 AI virus infection of wild birds and poultry to reduce the global risk of the disease. Training undergraduate and graduate students and supporting faculty are vital to making scientific advances necessary to sustain the poultry industry.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/07
Outputs
The Center opened on June 9, 2006. 1. STUDENT SUPPORT. Drs. S. Inamdar and K. Kniel received funding via the Institute of Soil & Environmental Quality and the ABC for two new graduate students. Undergraduate students D. Smarsh, I. Galex, and M. Brown, received summer research scholarships. 2. OUTREACH i) Avian influenza (AI) surveillance in wild birds. Our Allen Laboratory achieved National Animal Health Laboratory Network status in October 2006 for AI and Exotic Newcastle Disease testing. The ABC partnered with the Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and USDA APHIS to test wild birds in the region for AI. Delaware ranked 5th nationally in the number of samples tested in 2006. ii) Outreach education. ABC faculty made numerous presentations on AI to the poultry industry, government agencies, the public, and at scientific meetings. The Center hosted an AI Symposium. iii) The ABC website was established (http://ag.udel.edu/abc/index.html). iv)
Policy-makers and technical agencies. The ABC mission is to provide unbiased information to policy-makers, technical agencies and the poultry industry on matters related to poultry production. The Center's director met with US Rep. M. Castle, poultry industry leaders, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture M. Scuse, and the GAO on AI policy matters. ABC scientists collaborated with; POULTRY AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES: Allen Family Foods, Inc., Aviserve, LLC., Cobb-Vantress, Inc., Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., Fort Dodge Animal Health, Intervet, Inc., Merial, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Perdue Farms, Inc., Schering-Plough Animal Health, Townsend's, Inc., Tyson Foods, United States Poultry and Egg Association COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: Delaware Technical & Community College, UD Center for International Programs, UD College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Delaware Biotechnology Institute, Institute of Soil & Environmental Quality. RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS: Fraunhofer Center for Molecular
Biotechnology GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: State of Delaware (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Health & Social Services, Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control. State of Maryland (Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Natural Resources). United States Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Research Service, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Cooperative State Research, Education, & Extension Service, Foreign Agricultural Service), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The ABC led a USDA/USAID funded AI Technical Assistance, Training and Capacity Building Response Program in Romania in 2006-07. 3. SEMINAR AND RESEARCH SUPPORT. Travel funds to scientific meetings were awarded to students, faculty, and professionals. Five research grants to Center scientists L. Cogburn, M. Parcells, C. Keeler, K. Kniel, R. Joerger, and H. Chen were funded.
Impacts
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND POLICY IMPACTS: Poultry production in the U.S. was valued at $26 billion in 2006. The greatest threat to production is avian influenza (AI). ABC scientists led two critical initiatives directly impacting control of AI in commercial poultry. First, a new method for the emergency depopulation of poultry was developed. The foam method is more efficient and requires fewer poultry workers, thus reducing their risk to potential AI virus infection. This research has been heralded nationwide by the poultry industry and has received conditional approval by USDA. Secondly, ABC scientists with colleagues from the University of Maryland held nationwide seminars on the use of in-poultry house composting. The composting process generates high temperatures that inactivate AI virus thus rendering it harmless so that it can not spread to neighboring farms. Other disposal methods such as transport of infected poultry to a landfill and burning are not
environmentally acceptable and may spread the disease. USDA now recommends in-house composting as a method for disposal of AI-infected poultry. These two practical, field-proven technologies are needed to avert a major AI outbreak that would threaten the economic and social welfare of the United States given the importance of poultry in the American diet. The ABC is also beginning to work with other countries (e.g. Romania) to extend this information on AI control, thus reducing the risk of spread of the disease to the U.S. Collaborations with the poultry industry will yield important advances in the future.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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