Quantitative assessment of biosecurity in broiler farms using Biocheck.UGent in Central Luzon, Philippines

The biosecurity status of 397 broiler farms in Central Luzon, the highest poultry meat-producing region in the Philippines, was assessed using Biocheck.Ugent. This online biosecurity assessment tool quantifies biosecurity level or compliance of surveyed farms. The system generates scores that reflect the current biosecurity status of each farm in terms of the different external and internal biosecurity measures being implemented in each farm. It was initially developed for pigs and broilers but recently is available for layers, swine, and cattle (beef, dairy, and veal). The overall biosecurity score of broiler farms in Central Luzon was 71.2%, with average external and internal biosecurity scores of 68.5 and 77.2%, respectively. Bataan had the highest biosecurity scores (76.5%) compared with the other 6 provinces. This was also true for the external and internal biosecurity scores of the province, with mean scores of 72.1 and 80.1%, respectively. Of the 11 subcategories of external and internal biosecurity that were assessed, purchase of day-old chicks, feeds and water supply, supply of materials, cleaning and disinfection, and materials between compartments had scores higher than the global scores. Low scores were generated from transport of live animals and infrastructure and biological vectors. The mean biosecurity score of farms with traditional/conventional type of housing was 7.8% lower than that with tunnel vent housing. Every year as the farm gets older, there was a corresponding drop of 0.2% in the biosecurity score. Biosecurity measures are in place in broiler farms in the country. However, there were areas with low scores which need to be prioritized to improve and upgrade the farms' biosecurity status. To date, this is the first quantitative assessment of biosecurity in broiler farms in the Philippines. High biosecurity scores may entail greater protection from disease incursion.