Biosecurity Practices and Characteristics of Poultry Farms in Three Regions of Cameroon

The outbreak of diseases is the main factor affecting poultry production in Cameroon. The implementation of biosecurity measures in poultry farms is essential to reduce disease outbreaks. This study aimed to assess biosecurity practices in poultry farms in three regions of Cameroon. The study was carried out using a structured questionnaire on 90 randomly selected poultry farms. Most of the farmers were men (85%) with deep litter (77.8%), battery cage (2.2%), and both deep litter and battery cage (20.0%) housing systems. Amongst the farms surveyed, 9/30 (30.0%) in the Centre; 8/30 (26.7%) in the Littoral; and 13/30 (43.3%) in the West were aware of biosecurity measures. The biosecurity score (BS) of surveyed farms ranged between 2 and 3. The findings indicated that 39 farms (12 in the Centre, 14 in the Littoral, and 13 in the West) were at moderate risk, and 51 farms (18 in the Centre, 16 in the Littoral, and 17 in the West) were at high risk. Reasons for keeping chickens and the number of chickens per farm did not significantly influence BS, while the farm category could significantly affect it. The outbreak of diseases correlated with BS, showing a tendency of increase in the outbreak of diseases with increasing BS. This study underlines the fact that biosecurity practices in Cameroon have not been well implemented by chicken farmers. This leads to disease outbreaks, and consequently, important economic losses as well as massive use of drugs that may be unsafe for human consumption. Therefore, the effective monitoring of biosecurity in chicken farming should be encouraged by extension of training to the farmers to support the efficient production of chickens by respecting biosecurity that drastically reduces the risk of disease outbreaks and provides good quality chicken products for human consumption.