Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points Assessment as a Tool to Respond to Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Edmunds, Kelly L.; Hunter, Paul R.; Few, Roger; Bell, Diana J.

Poultry and its products are often transported in considerable numbers across large spatial scales. During transportation, HPAI material may be shed by infected individuals and lead to other poultry coming into contact with viral material. Consultation of published literature has shown that exposure to an environment contaminated with viral material (for example via soil, fomites, feathers, water etc.) can also pose a risk for viral transmission [21] [22] [23] . The mixing and movement of poultry through 'wet' markets (those selling live animals) is known to play an important role in the transmission and spread of HPAI viruses [16, 24] . It has been reported that exposure to live poultry at wet markets increases human/ HPAI H5N1 exposure four-fold [25] . Within some wet bird markets such as those in Hong Kong, current successful control programmes for HPAI viruses incorporate 'rest days' whereby the markets are closed and poultry stalls cleaned [16] . Implementation of such a practice is recommended in Vietnam's cities.