Web-Based Passive Surveillance: Multifactorial Assessment of Sonali Chicken Diseases and Antimicrobial Prescription Pattern in Bangladesh

• Published in: Veterinary sciences 2024-12, Vol.11 (12), p.662
• Main Authors: Khalil, Ibrahim, Sayeed, Md Abu, Sarkar, Mitun, Islam, Md Nurul, Osmani, Mozaffar G, Islam, Meherjan, Chowdhury, Sharmin, Mohsin, Md Abu Shoieb, Hoque, Md Ahasanul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal diseases; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial usage; Bangladesh; climatic factor; Disease management; Diseases; Eggs; Epidemics; Epidemiology; Farmers; Farms; Health surveillance; Humidity; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Livestock; Metronidazole; Mortality; Newcastle disease; North Dakota; Poultry; Sonali chickens; Tetracycline; Tetracyclines; Veterinarians; web-based passive surveillance
• ISSN: 2306-7381; 2306-7381
• DOI: 10.3390/vetsci11120662

Despite the significant growth in Sonali chicken production across Bangladesh, inadequate disease surveillance and control measures along with indiscriminate antimicrobial use remain major challenges to the sector. In this study, we evaluated the disease burden and antimicrobial prescription patterns of Sonali chickens in Bangladesh using a web-based data recording system from 2020 to 2021 and analyzed 1690 cases. The diagnoses recorded in the system were presumptive, as they were based on clinico-epidemiological history, clinical signs, and gross necropsy findings noted by registered veterinarians. We conducted this study in Bogura, a district renowned for its high concentration of Sonali chicken farms. We estimated a higher prevalence of infection among grower chickens (69.0%) compared to starter chickens (31.0%). Small- to medium-sized flocks (63%) were more frequently infected than larger flocks (37.0%). Most disease cases occurred during the summer season (43.0%), followed by winter (27%), the rainy season (15%), and autumn (14%). Overall, climatic factors contributed to 51% of disease occurrence at temperatures below 25°C, 55% at high humidity (≥75%), and 57% during heavy rainfall (≥29 mm). The most prevalent disease was Newcastle disease (ND) (19.5%), followed by Marek's disease (9.8%), coccidiosis (7.4%), necrotic enteritis (4.7%), infectious bursal disease (3.2%), and infectious laryngotracheitis (3.2%). The odds of ND were 1.4 (grower chickens vs. starter chickens), 11.4 (summer vs. winter), 4.1 (autumn vs. winter), 3.9 (rainy vs. winter), 3.5 (≥25 °C vs.