Burimuah Vitus, Ampofo W K, Awumbila B, Yebuah N, Emikpe B O, Tasiame W, Folitse R D
School of Veterinary Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Noguchi Memorial Inst. for Medical Research, Accra, Ghana.
Afr J Infect Dis. 2016 May 1;10(2):134-145. doi: 10.21010/ajid.v10i2.10. eCollection 2016.
Avian influenza (AI) is an important zoonotic disease responsible for significant losses in most sub-Saharan countries. However, the role of poultry other than chicken in the epidemiology of the disease, especially after the first AI outbreak in Ghana, has not been fully elucidated. The obiective of this study is to determine whether the AI virus infection that was reported in the area in May 2007 was circulating silently in ducks in nine randomly selected farms in the Sunyani Municipality, Ghana.
The sample size was calculated using Epi info version 3.4.1 at 95% confidence level, absolute precision of 5% and assuming 0.5 prevalence of Avian Influenza A virus in ducks. Samples collection was done simultaneously with questionnaire administration to farmers. A total of 526 samples made up of 384 cloacal swabs and 142 feather tissues from ducks from a commercial duck farm, seven backyard holdings and one live birds market in six randomly selected communities in the Sunyani Municipality, Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The samples were processed and subjected to Influenza Type A Matrix Gene analysis using RRT-PCR.
All the 526 samples subiected to Influenza Type A Matrix Gene analysis using RRT-PCR were negative for Influenza Type A viruses. However, it was observed that bio-security practices which are keys to reintroduction of the virus in the area were not adhered to in 89 % of the sites investigated. Our finding also revealed that only the commercial farm investigated in this study complied with fifteen (78.9%) of the nineteen different farm practices observed.
Though AI was not detected in the ducks sampled, there is the need for continuous surveillance and education of stakeholders on standard bio-security and farm management practices in the area.
禽流感是一种重要的人畜共患疾病，在撒哈拉以南的大多数国家造成了重大损失。然而，除鸡以外的家禽在该疾病流行病学中的作用，特别是在加纳首次爆发禽流感之后，尚未得到充分阐明。本研究的目的是确定2007年5月该地区报告的禽流感病毒感染是否在加纳苏尼亚尼市九个随机选择的农场的鸭子中悄然传播。
使用Epi info 3.4.1版本在95%置信水平、绝对精度为5%且假设鸭群中甲型禽流感病毒患病率为0.5%的情况下计算样本量。样本采集与向农民发放问卷同时进行。总共526个样本，包括来自加纳布朗阿哈福地区苏尼亚尼市六个随机选择社区的一个商业鸭场、七个后院养殖场和一个活禽市场的384份泄殖腔拭子和142份鸭羽毛组织。对样本进行处理，并使用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RRT-PCR）进行甲型流感病毒基质基因分析。
所有526个使用RRT-PCR进行甲型流感病毒基质基因分析的样本均未检测到甲型流感病毒。然而，观察到在89%的调查地点未遵守作为该地区病毒重新引入关键的生物安全措施。我们的研究结果还显示，本研究中调查的只有商业农场遵守了所观察到的19种不同农场做法中的15种（78.9%）。
尽管在抽样的鸭子中未检测到禽流感，但仍需要对该地区的利益相关者进行持续监测，并就标准生物安全和农场管理做法开展教育。
