Page 12 - National Poultry Newspaper

How to pump more solids with fewer problems
Adaptability of bird flu poses threat to poultry
NEW insights from a study of the 2016/17 bird flu outbreak show how highly patho- genic bird flu viruses – which are likely to cause deadly disease in chickens – can be transmitted from wild migrating bird popu- lations to domestic flocks and back again.
ing via wild migratory flocks to create the largest bird flu epidem- ic in Europe to date.
other viruses in wild or domestic birds.
Scientists have found these viruses can read- ily exchange genetic material with other low pathogenic viruses – which are less harm- ful – during migration, raising the likelihood of serious outbreaks in domestic poultry and wild birds.
These included virus- es carried by wild birds on intersecting migra- tory routes, and by farmed ducks in China and central Europe.
Research led by a team including the Roslin Institute – rep- resenting the Global Consortium for H5N8 and Related Influenza Viruses – studied the genetic makeup of the 2016/17 bird flu virus in various birds at key stages during the flu season.
The team interpreted genetic sequence data from virus samples collected during the outbreak together with details of where, when and in which bird spe- cies they originated.
The research, pub- lished in Proceedings of the National Acad- emy of Sciences in the US, was carried out in collaboration with the Friedrich Loeffler In- stitut in Germany, the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and the University of Edin- burgh’s Usher Institute and Roslin Institute.
Their study offers in- sights into the outbreak strains, which origi- nated in domestic birds in Asia before spread-
Researchers used a computational tech- nique known as phylo- genetic inference to es- timate when and where the virus exchanged genetic material with
It was supported by funding from European Union Horizon 2020, EPIC and BBSRC.
Dr Sam Lycett of the Roslin Insitute said, “Bird flu viruses can readily exchange ge- netic material with other influenza viruses and this, in combina- tion with repeated transmission of viruses between domestic and wild birds, means that a viral strain can emerge and persist in wild bird populations, which car- ries a high risk of dis- ease for poultry.”
Results showed the virus could easily ex- change genetic material with other less harm- ful viruses at times and locations correspond- ing to bird migratory cycles.
“This aids our un- derstanding of how a pathogenic avian flu virus could become es- tablished in wild bird populations.”
Migrating birds har- bouring weaker viruses are more likely to sur- vive their journey and potentially pass disease to domestic birds.
Mute swans were among the species affected by bird flu in 2016/17. Photo: Roslin Institute
AN abattoir in NSW had installed the industry- leading Gorman-Rupp Super T Series pump for handling their wastewa- ter stream, which includ- ed paunch material.
which has been installed in varying sizes in many similar applications around the country and the world, however in this particular application the pump experienced two is- sues.
to the ground and ingest- ing dirt, grit and gravel, giving the pump much more abrasive material to handle.
materials to handle. These circumstances
The pump was a self- priming trash pump,
Because of the drought, cattle were eating closer
A solution was needed to enable the pumping of more solids with fewer problems.
Hydro Innovations distribute the Gorman-Rupp Eradicator solids management system.
The lacerating tooth helps to break up stringy materials and pass them through the pump, without impacting performance or interrupting service.
As the cattle were be- ing hand-fed, large vol- umes of undigested hay also meant the pump had a huge increase in stringy
caused an unusually high incidence of blockages and also premature wear of the impeller and wear plate.
The team at Hydro In- novations – distributors of the Gorman-Rupp pump range – recommended the plant install an ‘Eradica- tor’ upgrade kit with a hardened wear plate and upgrade the impeller to a hardened option.
The Eradicator system includes an obstruction- free cover plate, a wear plate equipped with a number of notches and grooves, as well as a pat- ented ‘lacerating tooth’.
The internal parts are hardened to 400 Brinell, which helps to resist the abrasive action of the pumped media.
The result was an al- most total eradication of all blockages.
Additionally, the inter- nal parts last much longer than when ‘standard’ ma- terials are fitted.
Pumps with this system are available in sizes from 3” or 80mm through to 10” or 250mm, with flows from only a few litres per second up to 200L/s, and with pressures to 90m.
Pumps can operate on suction lifts to 7.5m and are safe and easy for op- erators to maintain.
One operator and two spanners are all it takes to perform maintenance, and to clear chokes and block- ages on Gorman-Rupp above-ground pumps.
Scan the QR Code to see how these pumps work.
More information on these pumps may be ob- tained from info@hy droinnovations.com.au or by visiting hydroinnova tions.com.au
850,000 chickens
Page 12 – National Poultry Newspaper, December 2020
Local authorities have barred chicken farms with- in a 10km radius of the
The department will suspend the export of chickens and eggs tempo- rarily.
culled after bird flu
outbreak in Japan
LOCAL government has reported that Japan’s Ka- gawa prefecture will cull 850,000 chickens at two poultry farms after the country detected a bird flu outbreak in November.
infected site from moving any poultry and eggs.
An official at the prefec- ture said these will be the sixth and seventh cases of avian influenza in the western Kagawa prefec- ture.
The prefecture has already culled about 460,000 chickens for the past four cases.
Chickens at the two farms in Mitoyo city tested positive in a pre- liminary examination for avian flu recently, after the farms had notified the prefectural government of an increase in the number of dead chickens.
It is the biggest culling in more than two years, when the country’s first bird flu outbreak was found in poultry.
The local government said it confirmed the in- fection was a highly path- ogenic strain of H5 bird flu from genetic tests.
According to the Minis- try of Agriculture, Japan’s last outbreak of bird flu occurred in January 2018 – also in Kagawa prefec- ture – when 91,000 chick- ens at a farm in Sanuki city were culled due to the H5N6 strain of avian influenza.
The steps affect a total of 4.62 million chickens at 115 farms, though no other mass poultry deaths have been reported.
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