Poultry Biosecurity Management and Disease Prevention Protocols in Commercial Farms in South West Nigeria

This study examines biosecurity management systems and disease prevention protocols in commercial poultry farms in South West Nigeria, assessing the adequacy of existing practices and identifying gaps requiring professional intervention. Poultry disease outbreaks cause catastrophic economic losses in Nigeria's commercial poultry sector, and robust biosecurity is the most cost-effective disease prevention strategy. Despite awareness, implementation of comprehensive biosecurity protocols in Nigerian poultry farms remains inconsistent. This study uses a structured biosecurity audit methodology, assessing 40 commercial poultry farms of varying scales in Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo States. The audit framework covers infrastructure biosecurity (farm perimeter, visitor control, vehicle entry), operational biosecurity (all-in-all-out system, cleaning and disinfection, litter management), biological measures (vaccination programmes, pest control, water treatment), and record-keeping practices. Each farm is scored against an adapted National Animal Disease Information System biosecurity standard. Flock disease history and annual mortality rates are correlated with biosecurity scores. Findings reveal that biosecurity compliance scores range widely from 28 to 88 percent across sampled farms. Visitor and vehicle control systems are the most consistently weak biosecurity elements. Farms with biosecurity scores above 70 percent show annual mortality rates 42 percent lower than farms below 50 percent. Vaccination programme comprehensiveness shows the strongest individual correlation with disease incidence. The study concludes that biosecurity improvement is a high-return investment for South West Nigerian poultry farms. It recommends professional biosecurity audit services and industry minimum standards.

Keywords: poultry biosecurity, disease prevention, commercial farms, South West Nigeria, mortality reduction.