Quantification of visits of wild fauna to a commercial free‐range layer farm in the Netherlands located in an avian influenza hot‐spot area assessed by video‐camera monitoring

Abstract Free-range layer farms have a significantly higher risk of introduction of avian influenza viruses (AIV) compared to indoor layer farms. Wild water birds, natural reservoir of AIV, likely play a role in the transmission of AIV to chickens by contaminating the farms’ free-range area. The use of a laser as a repellent device for wild birds has been studied since the 1970s, in particular around airfields as bird-strike prevention, but its use at poultry farms to keep wild birds away from the surroundings of the poultry barn has not been studied. Part (1.5 ha) of the free-range area of a layer farm that directly boarded the poultry barn was equipped with a video-camera recording system. Visits of wild birds to this free-range study area were recorded for a month without and subsequently a month with a Class-III B laser in operation in the winter period. The laser was operated in the free-range study area between 5:00 PM and 10:00 AM, chickens were present in the free-range study area between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM. The laser was operated in surrounding grass pastures between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and Western barn owls (Tyto alba) visited the free-range study area between sunset and sunrise; Blackbirds (Turdus merula), Western yellow wagtails (Motacilla flava), White wagtails (Motacilla alba), Common Moor-hen (Gallimula chloropus) and Common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) visited the free-range study area between sunrise and 10:00 AM. The overall (all bird species) efficacy of the laser for reducing the rate of wild birds visiting the free-range study area was 98.2 %. This efficacy was for birds of the Order Anseriformes 99.7 % and for birds of the Order Passeriformes 96.1 %. The overall exposure time of the free-range study area to wild birds (all species) was 617 times lower with the laser in operation compared to a situation in which the laser was not in operation. Exposure time to wild birds of the Order Anseriformes – known as bird flu risk species - was 2,320 times lower compared to the situation without the laser in operation. Summarizing, it can be concluded that the laser equipment used in this study was highly proficient in keeping wild birds – in particular wild ducks - away from the free-range study area of the layer farm.

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The Microstructure of Fused Cast AZS Materials before, during and after the Use for Glass Melting

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.39-40.607 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 39-40 ◽

pp. 607-612

Author(s):

Bernhard Fleischmann

Keyword(s):

Glass Furnace ◽

Glass Melting ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Float Glass ◽

Vitreous Phase ◽

Spot Area ◽

Furnace Campaign ◽

Three Phases

A part of a soldier block, placed in a float glass furnace near the hot spot area, was investigated to learn about the changes in the microstructure during the production of the block, during the use for glass melting and after the shut down of the furnace and the cooling of the block. Beside the three phases after the production (baddeleyite, corundum, vitreous phase) during use as a soldier block mullite and secondary corundum as well as secondary zirconia may occure. Cooling down the used block after the furnace campaign the beginning of the crystallisation of feldspars may be seen.

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Seaweeds as bioindicators of heavy metals off a hot spot area on the Egyptian Mediterranean Coast during 2008–2010

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-014-3825-3 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 186 (9) ◽

pp. 5865-5881 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

N. G. Shams El-Din ◽

L. I. Mohamedein ◽

Kh. M. El-Moselhy

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Mediterranean Coast ◽

Spot Area

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Spatiotemporal Differentiation of the School-Age Migrant Population in Liaoning Province, China, and Its Driving Factors

Land ◽

10.3390/land10101036 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1036

Author(s):

Wenwen Xu ◽

Chunrui Song ◽

Dongqi Sun ◽

Baochu Yu

Keyword(s):

Spatial Autocorrelation ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Driving Factors ◽

Liaoning Province ◽

Teaching Staff ◽

School Age ◽

Migrant Population ◽

Spot Area ◽

Quality Of Teaching

This study analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution and driving factors of the floating school-age population in Liaoning Province, China from 2008 to 2020 using county-level statistical education data combined with spatial autocorrelation and the multiscale geographically weighted regression model. The major findings are as follows. From 2008 to 2020, the distribution of the school-age migrant population exhibited obvious spatial imbalance characteristics both in terms of the number and proportion of school-age migrants. Specifically, the school-age migrant population was concentrated in the municipal districts of large and medium-sized cities and continued to increase over time in the suburbs of large and medium-sized cities. Over the past 12 years, the distribution of the school-age migrant population in Liaoning Province exhibited significant spatial autocorrelation. From the number of school-age migrants, the cold and hot spot area expanded. Conversely, from the proportion of school-age migrants, the cold and hot spot area decreased gradually, whereas the cold spot area became more diffuse. Regarding the driving factors, the quantity and quality of teaching staff, the quality of teaching equipment and conditions, and the quality of the education environment played a role in promoting or restraining the differentiation of the school-age migrant population in Liaoning Province. Moreover, the degree of influence of the driving factors exhibited substantial spatial differences.

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Genetic relationship between poultry and wild bird viruses during the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 epidemic in the Netherlands, 2017–2018

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases ◽

10.1111/tbed.13169 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 1370-1378 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

N. Beerens ◽

R. Heutink ◽

S. Pritz‐Verschuren ◽

E. A. Germeraad ◽

S. A. Bergervoet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Avian Influenza ◽

Genetic Relationship ◽

Wild Bird ◽

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza ◽

Highly Pathogenic ◽

Pathogenic Avian Influenza

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Tuberculosis Epidemiology and Badger (Meles meles) Spatial Ecology in a Hot-Spot Area in Atlantic Spain

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens8040292 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 292 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pelayo Acevedo ◽

Miguel Prieto ◽

Pablo Quirós ◽

Isabel Merediz ◽

Lucía de Juan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Ecology ◽

Management Practices ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Tuberculin Test ◽

Meles Meles ◽

Home Ranges ◽

Gps Collars ◽

Spot Area ◽

Preferred Habitat ◽

Cattle Herds

We provide a temporal overview (from 2012 to 2018) of the outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) in the cattle and badger populations in a hot-spot in Asturias (Atlantic Spain). We also study the badger’s spatial ecology from an epidemiological perspective in order to describe hazardous behavior in relation to TB transmission between cattle and badgers. Culture and single intradermal tuberculin test (SITT) were available for cattle as part of the National Program for the Eradication of TB. A field survey was also carried out in order to determine the paddocks and buildings used by each farm, and the information obtained was stored by using geographic information systems. Moreover, eighty-three badgers were submitted for necropsy and subsequent bacteriological studies. Ten badgers were also tracked, using global positioning system (GPS) collars. The prevalence of TB in cattle herds in the hot-spot increased from 2.2% in 2012 to 20% in 2016; it then declined to 0.0% in 2018. In contrast, the TB prevalence in badgers increased notably (from 5.55% in 2012–2015 to 10.64% in 2016–2018). Both cattle and badgers shared the same strain of Mycobacterium bovis. The collared badgers preferred paddocks used by TB-positive herds in spring and summer (when they were more active). The males occupied larger home ranges than the females (Khr95: males 149.78 ± 25.84 ha and females 73.37 ± 22.91 ha; Kcr50: males 29.83 ± 5.69 ha and females 13.59 ± 5.00 ha), and the home ranges were smaller in autumn and winter than in summer. The averages of the index of daily and maximum distances traveled by badgers were 1.88 ± (SD) 1.20 km and 1.99 ± 0.71 km, respectively. One of them presented a dispersive behavior with a maximum range of 18.3 km. The most preferred habitat was apple orchards in all seasons, with the exception of winter, in which they preferred pastures. Land uses and landscape structure, which have been linked with certain livestock-management practices, provide a scenario of great potential for badger–cattle interactions, thus enhancing the importance of the badgers’ ecology, which could potentially transmit TB back to cattle in the future.

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Deaths among Wild Birds during Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Virus Outbreak, the Netherlands

Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽

10.3201/eid2312.171086 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (12) ◽

pp. 2050-2054 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Erik Kleyheeg ◽

Roy Slaterus ◽

Rogier Bodewes ◽

Jolianne M. Rijks ◽

Marcel A.H. Spierenburg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Avian Influenza ◽

Influenza A ◽

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza ◽

Wild Birds ◽

Highly Pathogenic ◽

Pathogenic Avian Influenza ◽

H5n8 Virus

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Lack of virological and serological evidence for continued circulation of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 virus in wild birds in the Netherlands, 14 November 2014 to 31 January 2016

Eurosurveillance ◽

10.2807/1560-7917.es.2016.21.38.30349 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (38) ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Marjolein J Poen ◽

Josanne H Verhagen ◽

Ruth J Manvell ◽

Ian Brown ◽

Theo M Bestebroer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Avian Influenza ◽

Wild Bird ◽

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza ◽

Haemagglutination Inhibition ◽

Wild Birds ◽

Antibody Detection ◽

Highly Pathogenic ◽

Pathogenic Avian Influenza ◽

H5n8 Virus

In 2014, H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of the A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage emerged in poultry and wild birds in Asia, Europe and North America. Here, wild birds were extensively investigated in the Netherlands for HPAI H5N8 virus (real-time polymerase chain reaction targeting the matrix and H5 gene) and antibody detection (haemagglutination inhibition and virus neutralisation assays) before, during and after the first virus detection in Europe in late 2014. Between 21 February 2015 and 31 January 2016, 7,337 bird samples were tested for the virus. One HPAI H5N8 virus-infected Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope) sampled on 25 February 2015 was detected. Serological assays were performed on 1,443 samples, including 149 collected between 2007 and 2013, 945 between 14 November 2014 and 13 May 2015, and 349 between 1 September and 31 December 2015. Antibodies specific for HPAI H5 clade 2.3.4.4 were absent in wild bird sera obtained before 2014 and present in sera collected during and after the HPAI H5N8 emergence in Europe, with antibody incidence declining after the 2014/15 winter. Our results indicate that the HPAI H5N8 virus has not continued to circulate extensively in wild bird populations since the 2014/15 winter and that independent maintenance of the virus in these populations appears unlikely.

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