– Livestock Authority says too early to declare an outbreak of poultry diseases

THE Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) has sent samples of dead poultry to the University of Georgia in the United States as they try to determine the cause of poultry deaths which have left Berbice farmers counting their losses.The GLDA has acknowledged the reports of poultry deaths but said it is too early to declare an outbreak of poultry diseases since the cases investigated are dissimilar and affect different breeds.

“Samples which have been taken from the premises of one large scale farmer of broiler birds have already been prepared and are on their way to the University of Georgia because of the types of tests we want,” said Dr Dwight Walrond, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the GLDA.

Dr. Walrond explained: “We want to test for a wide array of diseases. Based on clinical signs there are two different manifestations taking place, that’s why we are using the University of Georgia to test for four to six diseases. The University of Georgia is a reference laboratory. Sending the samples to Georgia is the best course of action since it would give us a good idea of what’s happening on East Bank Berbice,” Walrond said.

The University of Georgia is one of the reference laboratories which is utilised for further testing of GLDA samples, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

The unknown disease is affected both broiler birds and so-called creole birds. On one farm, broiler birds approximately eight weeks old are being affected while in two other instances, creole birds, ranging from one day to four weeks were being affected.

“The signs and symptoms are different, one transpired during the rainy season and the other just started,” Walrond told GINA.

“On Tuesday, our head of extension will be in the Region Six trying to develop the best package for the farmers in terms of delivery of extension services. The team including one staff from epidemiology will be working along with staff and farmers in the region to collect whatever data we would have missed in the initial investigation, and to bring further relief to farmers,” he explained.
The GLDA has acknowledged the reports, but remains steadfast in its findings that it is too early to declare an outbreak of poultry diseases since the cases investigated are dissimilar and affect different breeds.

The authority is tasked with providing extension and other services to farmers in every region of the country.