As bird flu sweeps the world, poultry producers are pinning their hopes on the international sharing of genetics from resistant birds as a way of building more resilient flocks.
Delegates attending the Brazilian Association for Animal Protein (ABPA)’s trade fair in São Paulo this week exchanged ideas on how the trade in genetic materials such as hatching eggs and day-old chicks could lessen the effects of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which has wreaked havoc in recent years.
Ricardo Santin, president of ABPA and the International Poultry Council, told Business Times in São Paulo that Brazil wanted to grow its presence in the trade of genetic material for research and breeding.
Research into the potential of genetics to strengthen immunity among poultry flocks was under way, he said.
Luis Rua, director of markets for ABPA, said meat and genetic material suppliers in Brazil were keen to provide genetic material to other markets to help them develop their own industries or research into protecting themselves against pathogens.
“I think Brazil has the whole package … We provide genetic material that allows lots of industries to develop their own industry. We are proud of that because we have very good genetic material with food safety standards, biosecurity data retrieval, and all of these things.
“Brazil can be this partner in the whole value chain. If a country needs more genetics, we are able to provide more genetics. If a country requires more meat, we can provide that meat,” Rua said.
“It’s important to highlight that Brazil did not have any cases [of bird flu] on commercial farms. Only wild birds. [The country] is a good alternative source of genetic material. We have sanitary standards recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).”
According to a report by the WOAH, 22 outbreaks of bird flu were reported in poultry and 11 in non-poultry birds and mammals in the period April 6 to May 3 in the Americas and Europe.
“About 3.5-million poultry birds died or were culled during the four-week period,” it said. “In addition, the WHO was notified about a case of human infection with an influenza virus in Vietnam on April 9 2024.”
According to the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative — an investor network that raises awareness of the ESG risks and opportunities in the global food sector — bird flu outbreaks last year cost the global industry between $2.5bn and $3bn (R45bn and R55bn).
A FAIRR report by researchers Matthew Chatsuwan, Ekaterina Zabolonskaya and Helena Wright said one study in the UK had shown that “keeping birds in smaller flocks, where they have increased movement, results in fewer of them dying”.
There’s research out there to try to get crossbreeding to make birds that are resistant to avian flu
— Greg Tyler, CEO of the US Poultry & Egg Export Council
“This result could be particularly important for implementing disease control strategies, such as moving or quarantining healthy birds, and introducing vaccination intervention in a timely manner so that disease spread can be slowed.”
One visitor to the ABPA fair, Greg Tyler, CEO of the US Poultry & Egg Export Council, praised the progress Brazil had made as a producer and exporter.
“It used to be that the US would be the largest exporter, and Brazil surpassed us. It has great packaging, they have great products, and they work very well with their partners.”
He said that in 2022 bird flu affected more than 100-million birds in the US, leading to losses of $6.7bn.
Tyler said US exporters hoped to expand sales in Africa to offset overreliance on Mexico, their largest market.
He said sharing genetic material across borders could yield innovations that would allow the US poultry sector to insulate itself from the risks of HPAI.
“That’s what we’re hoping. And I know there’s research out there to try to get crossbreeding to make birds that are resistant to avian flu. I know some of the universities in the US are working on that right now.
“That would be great because then you have a resilient bird that doesn’t have to be vaccinated. So, that’s the hope for many of us in the industry, is that you’re going to get something like that … Breeding companies are working hard. They have platforms all over the globe to supply the major poultry producers.”
The Centers for Disease Control said this month the H5 strain of bird flu “is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and US dairy cows, with several recent human cases in US dairy and poultry workers”.
• Magubane travelled to São Paulo as a guest of ABPA
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