Traditional poultry farmers perceptions of fowlpox in southern Benin

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the perception of traditional poultry farmers on fowlpox in southern Benin. A retrospective survey was conducted among 385 poultry farmers. The most common poultry species were chickens (90.8%), guinea fowl (22.8%), ducks (21.4%), turkeys (20.6%), pigeons (6.1%), quails and peacocks (4.4%). 72% of poultry farmers recognized the signs of fowlpox. Morbidity is more observed among young birds (< 60 days). The victims are chickens (94%) and turkeys (21%) with an average mortality of 35 %. The poultry farmers observed the occurrence of fowlpox in the rainy season (47%), in the dry season (30%) and all year round (23%). Only 13.3% of them vaccinate their poultry against fowlpox. Thus, the mortality (36.3%) of unvaccinated poultry is significantly higher than that of vaccinated poultry (26.8 %). The average prevalence estimate of smallpox was 33.8 %. The joint observation of prevalence and mortality of poultry reveals that the most affected departments are not necessarily those in which mortality is high. This study will be extended to the determination of seroprevalence.

Keywords: Perception, Fowlpox, Traditional poultry farming, Southern Benin