Association of Biosecurity and Hygiene Practices with Environmental Contamination with Influenza A Viruses in Live Bird Markets, Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh, live bird market environments are frequently contaminated with avian influenza viruses. Shop-level biosecurity practices might increase risk for environmental contamination. We sought to determine which shop-level biosecurity practices were associated with environmental contamination. We surveyed 800 poultry shops to describe biosecurity practices and collect environmental samples. Samples from 205 (26%) shops were positive for influenza A viral RNA, 108 (14%) for H9, and 60 (8%) for H5. Shops that slaughtered poultry, kept poultry overnight, remained open without rest days, had uneven muddy floors, held poultry on the floor, and housed sick and healthy poultry together were more frequently positive for influenza A viruses. Reported monthly cleaning seemed protective, but disinfection practices were not otherwise associated with influenza A virus detection. Slaughtering, keeping poultry overnight, weekly rest days, infrastructure, and disinfection practices could be targets for interventions to reduce environmental contamination.

Risk Areas for Influenza A(H5) Environmental Contamination in Live Bird Markets, Dhaka, Bangladesh

“…Our analyses provide the most comprehensive account of the recovery of influenza A(H5) virus in specific LBM work zones over 3 months across a large sample of LBMs (n = 104) within the Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. This study overcomes many of the limitations seen in previous studies of LBMs in Dhaka in the context of within-market measurement of environmental contamination (11,12,19,20,22,25).…”

“…A recent study evaluated the effectiveness of environmental sampling for infl uenza A surveillance and described multiple sampling sites in an LBM (17). Earlier studies from Bangladesh primarily focused on collecting samples from market environment sites (such as market fl oor, stall fl oor, slaughter area, waste bin, poultry cage, water, fecal material on or underneath the poultry cage, blood, and poultry offal) to understand the LBM environment status for infl uenza A (11,12,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25).Few studies to date-1 in Indonesia and 3 in Guangdong, China-have performed simultaneous sampling in different LBM work zones, such as the poultry delivery, poultry holding, poultry slaughter, poultry sale, and waste disposal zones (26)(27)(28)(29). These studies indicated that the poultry slaughter and sale zones were the 2 most contaminated LBM work zones for infl uenza A(H5N1) in Indonesia ( 27) and infl uenza A(H7N9), (H5), and (H9) in China (26,28,29).…”

“…A recent study evaluated the effectiveness of environmental sampling for infl uenza A surveillance and described multiple sampling sites in an LBM (17). Earlier studies from Bangladesh primarily focused on collecting samples from market environment sites (such as market fl oor, stall fl oor, slaughter area, waste bin, poultry cage, water, fecal material on or underneath the poultry cage, blood, and poultry offal) to understand the LBM environment status for infl uenza A (11,12,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25).…”

Major zoonotic diseases of public health importance in Bangladesh

“…The live poultry market is considered a high‐risk area for HPAI virus transmission in poultry and humans (Khan et al., 2018). The environment of poultry shops that slaughtered poultry within their shop was more contaminated with influenza A viruses compared with shops that did not allow slaughter (Chowdhury et al., 2020). Poultry workers at live poultry market are frequently exposed to avian influenza viruses, and antibody against the H5N1 virus was detected in 2% of poultry workers.…”

Potential application of novel technology developed for instant decontamination of personal protective equipment before the doffing step

“…These microorganisms can be considered important vectors for the dissemination of diseases and, consequently, the increase in mortality and morbidity rates, causing overload of the health system worldwide [ 2 ]. There is currently growing concern that the environment may be an underestimated source for the spread of emerging viruses, including of the influenza virus [ 3 ], Ebola virus [ 4 ], and coronaviruses, especially the severe acute respiratory syndrome named SARS-CoV-2 [ 5 ]. SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of novel coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) which was isolated and identified for the first time in humans in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China [ 6 ].…”