Vaccination: a means for preserving poultry genetic resources?

The genetic diversity of poultry worldwide is under threat. About 30% of reported poultry breeds were at risk of extinction before the crisis of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Precise national statistics on the numbers of poultry producers, stocks, volume of production and the relative contributions of commercial and local stocks to production in developing countries are lacking. Although HPAI outbreaks have been occurring in East and South-East Asia for a number of years, many countries are still not sufficiently prepared to control outbreaks, and no contingency plans or information on spatial production include data on poultry genetic diversity. Comprehensive programmes for preventing HPAI disease should take into account the conservation of genetic diversity, which may include isolation or targeted protection of valuable stocks, through, for instance, vaccination and precautionary cryo-conservation of genetic material or other measures to ensure that genetic material can be spared from generalized culling measures in an outbreak. First, it will be necessary to characterize poultry genetic resources, and then to build inventories, including spatial information on breeds and valuable breeding stocks. Countries with low capacity to conduct vaccination campaigns often also have limited capacity to characterize or make inventories of genetic resources. Therefore, capacity- and institution-building are required in the animal production and health sector to ensure effective genetic stock assessment and successful vaccination programmes to preserve poultry genetic diversity in the event of disease introduction.