Hygiene and biosecurity practices among traditional poultry farms for the control of zoonotic diseases in rural areas of the Centre-Nord region of Burkina Faso

Background: In Burkina Faso, traditional poultry farming help communities to earn income and improve their diets. It employs more than 75% of the workforce and is mainly carried out on a small scale. Poultry farmers face many challenges including limited access to health inputs and poor biosecurity measures, posing a risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases through close contact between humans and birds. This study aims to describe the hygiene and biosecurity practices implemented and options for improvement in traditional poultry farms in a rural region characterized by increasing insecurity.

Methods: The study was conducted in the commune of Boussouma, located in the Centre-Nord region of Burkina Faso, from August to September 2023. We applied a pre-tested knowledge, attitude and practice survey to 483 household heads (453 men; 30 women) keeping chicken randomly selected from 23 villages. Data collection was performed through direct interviews in local languages using smartphones in which forms had been deployed using the ODK tool. Data analysis was carried out in STATA/SE 17.0 generating frequencies and proportions and Chi-square tests at a 95% confidence level.

Results: Chicken confinement is observed in 2.48% of households during the day and 35.85% at night. The frequency of cleaning chicken confinement areas varies, with 35.23% of respondents cleaning daily, 26.14% cleaning weekly, and 16.48% cleaning multiple times a week. Most households (64.80%) remove chicken feces in the compound at least once a day. Over half of the respondents (53.42%) say they throw dead birds in the bush, 47.41% say they bury them and 2.69% say they consume them. The management of chicken manure varies among households with 12.01% respondents doing composting, primarily in male-headed households (P=0.011); 49.07% use feces as organic fertilizer for crops, with significantly more male than female-headed households (P=0.018) using this practice. Additionally, 4.76% leave it on site, 29.61% throw it into the environment outside the compound while 5.18% and 15.94% store it inside or outside the compound near the fence, respectively. Handwashing after handling birds or their waste is done immediately by 89.44% of respondents, only before eating by 4.14%, and is never performed by 6.21%. Among households with children under five, 18.49% reported child-bird interactions, while 6.33% observed children exposure to chicken feces, including 2.68% with fecal ingestion incidents.

Conclusion: Despite the notable commitment to hygiene and biosecurity in many households, practices that contribute to environmental pollution and increased risk of zoonoses from poultry persist. This can be addressed by improving education, raising community awareness and implementing strict hygiene and biosecurity measures in households and in the environment. Strengthening local One Health collaboration involving frontline agencies and communities and zoonotic disease surveillance systems is essential to reduce health risks from avian pathogens and environmental contaminants.