Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Emergency foam method for killing infected poultry
By Benson, E R et al.·Published in Avian diseases·2012·Department of Animal and Food Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Mass emergency water-based foam depopulation of poultry.
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
When there is an outbreak of avian influenza or a serious Newcastle disease in commercial poultry, many birds that are infected or thought to be infected need to be quickly and humanely killed to stop the disease from spreading. One method that has been developed for this is using water-based foam, which has been approved for use in the U.S. This foam works by causing a lack of oxygen and can be used on different types of birds, including chickens, turkeys, and ducks. A study compared the effectiveness of water-based foam to carbon dioxide gas in making birds unconscious and stopping their heart activity. The results showed that for chickens, turkeys, and layer hens, the foam worked just as well as CO2 gas, but for Pekin ducks, CO2 gas was faster in achieving these critical states.
Abstract
When an avian influenza or virulent Newcastle disease outbreak occurs within commercial poultry, a large number of birds that are infected or suspected of infection must be destroyed on site to prevent the rapid spread of disease. The choice of mass emergency depopulation procedures is limited, and all options have limitations. Water-based foam mass emergency depopulation of poultry was developed in 2006 and conditionally approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and American Veterinary Medical Association. Water-based foam causes mechanical hypoxia and can be used for broilers, layers, turkeys, and ducks. The time to physiologic states was evaluated for broilers, layer hens, turkeys, and ducks, comparing water-based foam and CO2 gas using electroencephalogram (unconsciousness and brain death), electrocardiogram (altered terminal cardiac activity), and accelerometer (motion cessation). In broilers, turkeys, and layer hens, water-based foam results in equivalent times to unconsciousness, terminal convulsions, and altered terminal cardiac activity. With Pekin ducks, however, CO2 gas resulted in shorter times to key physiologic states, in particular unconsciousness, altered terminal cardiac activity, motion cessation, and brain death.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23402109/