A warning to poultry farmers to ensure their disinfectants are active during the winter weather has been issued by a biosecurity expert in the face of widespread outbreaks avian influenza (AI), and the culling of thousands of birds, across Europe and the UK.
The Met Office is predicting below-average temperatures for later in December 2020 and January 2021. “Many farmers became caught-out by a prolonged spell of bitter, Siberian-style weather a couple of years ago. Whenever disinfectant footbaths become frozen solid, and therefore unusable, flock health is put at risk,” said Jim Bigmore, director of Hysolv.
“Foot-dips are often the final line of defence and need to be operational whatever the weather,” he stated. He points out that Defra’s disinfectant testing is carried out at 4°C and therefore all disinfectants on the Defra approved list will be able to kill the bird flu virus if used at the correct concentration.
Hysolv recommends the addition of ethanol, isopropanol or propyleneglycol for use with disinfectants at temperatures lower than 0°C and stresses that poultry producers contact their suppliers before use.