The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) continues to work with farmers on the East Bank of Berbice to assess the situation in relation to the sudden deaths of their poultry and tests are to be done overseas.
According to a GINA press release, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the GLDA, Dwight Walrond said that samples have been taken from the premises of one large scale broiler birds farmer and have been prepared and sent to the University of Georgia for testing.
“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,” Walrond explained.
The University of Georgia is one of the reference laboratories which is utilised for further testing of GLDA samples, the release stated.
According to the release, The Guyana Times newspaper dated Wednesday, June 29, 2016, published an article titled, “Farmer loses over 800 chickens in Berbice” while Stabroek News on Saturday, July 9, 2016 reported that “East Berbice farmers count losses from unknown disease.”
While these reports have indicated that other farmers are reporting increased mortality among their poultry, the DCEO says that the reports are different in that 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 release stated.
“The signs and symptoms are different, one transpired during the rainy season and the other just started,” Walrond said.
According to the release, the DCEO said that a team from the GLDA interviewed the farmer and looked at his husbandry practices. The team concluded that there is a need for guidance in the area of farm management. “Mortality has since been reduced on this farm,” Walrond explained.
The GLDA says that it is too early to declare an outbreak of poultry diseases since the cases investigated are dissimilar and affect different breeds.
