Tomi Obe

Bird flu’s growing impact calls for urgent action at international summit

By Jenifer Fouch
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to infect more than just birds, scientists and industry professionals want to prevent it from infecting more species and continuing to impact animal and human health, the environment and the economy.

CLUCKING UP SOLUTIONS — Guillermo Tellez-Isaias, the chairman of the summit leads opening remarks at the 2024 Internaional Avian Influenza Summit. (U of A System Division of Ag photo)

The four-day International Avian Influenza and One Health Emerging Issues Summit hosted by the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science had a total of 1,270 registered participants from 51 countries, in-person and virtually, to share and learn more about HPAI, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, and other diseases impacting animals and humans.

Guillermo Tellez-Isaias, the chairman of the summit and retired research professor for the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, says there are other threats to animal and human health in addition to the bird flu.

"The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus has naturally been able to adapt to species that it never infected before. If it fully adapts to humans, COVID-19 will look like a small cold compared to what this virus could cause," Tellez-Isaias said, comparing its threat to the Spanish flu in 1918. "So, that's why we wanted to have this summit, to create awareness for people worldwide."

Tellez-Isaias said participants at the summit will produce a document with guidelines and recommendations for national and international health authorities, based on group discussions and expert presentations, to help guide future efforts in combating highly pathogenic avian influenza and other emerging health threats.

The Center of Excellence for Poultry Science is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. The center performs the three land grant missions of teaching — carried out through Bumpers College — and research and extension through the Division of Agriculture’s Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service.

After a successful inaugural event in 2023, Tellez-Isaias said, organizers expanded the scope in the second year to include other emerging issues affecting cattle, swine, bees, humans and more as part of the One Health concept, which emphasizes that animal, human and environmental health are all interconnected.

"The first two days, we focused on highly pathogenic avian influenza, but not only in poultry. We extended it to wild and commercial animals, including dairy," Tellez-Isaias said. "And we discussed avian influenza and other diseases, including exotic diseases like the African swine fever, which is already in our backyard in the Dominican Republic. It's something we are keeping an eye on."

Urgency of collaboration

Tellez-Isaias says it's urgent to focus on these diseases globally, as bird flu has spread to different species in all continents including  Antarctica.

"These diseases know no borders," he said.

Members of industry, governmental and regulatory agencies, and scientists from around the world presented their work at the summit. Tellez-Isaias said their findings could improve animal health overall and potentially contribute to minimizing the impacts of bird flu and other viruses.

From the Division of Agriculture, Sami Dridi, professor of poultry science, talked about poultry production sustainability, specifically heat stress challenges and potential mechanism-based strategies. Dridi's research includes working with chickens bred to conserve water while maintaining growth under heat stress. He found that water efficiency is improving with each new generation and has the potential to expand with application to other poultry operations, such as turkeys and ducks.

Tomi Obe, assistant professor with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and the poultry science department, presented research on pre- and post-harvest strategies for salmonella control in poultry production. She discussed different methods to consider at feed mills, farms and the processors. Obe is also part of the Arkansas Center for Food Safety within the food science department.

PROTECTING POULTRY — Jada Thompson, assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, gave an overview of how highly pathogenic avian influenza affected egg prices and resulted in other economic impacts. (U of A System Division of Ag photo)

Jada Thompson, assistant professor in the agricultural economics and agribusiness department, talked about the economic impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza, including how the disease impacts producers and consumers.  

Bill Potter, associate professor and extension poultry specialist with the Division of Agriculture, discussed One Health strategies to optimize poultry intestinal integrity and pre-harvest food safety. He discussed proposed regulations around salmonella and shared research showing the efficacy of implementing vaccines in poultry.

Adnan Alrubaye, assistant professor of poultry science, talked about management practices to mitigate lameness in broiler chickens caused by specific bacteria.

Those attending the summit included both international and local researchers, veterinarians and private sector professionals.  

Amanda Bray, a poultry science alumna and co-owner of Northwest Arkansas Veterinary Services in Springdale, said staying informed on industry trends domestically and internationally helps her learn what services to offer.

"Our primary focus is the poultry and dairy industries,” Bray said. “And [bird flu] is a very big problem. So, the more knowledge I have, the better I know how to support others in the industry and what tests we need to develop and offer."

United front for global health

Liliana Monroy is founder and CEO of Natural Animal Health, a company providing gut health products to producers. Monroy said she has garnered a long-trusting relationship with researchers with the Division of Agriculture, and that “collaboration is vital” to fight highly pathogenic avian influenza.

"If you want to be successful, you have to go to the people who know more,” Monroy said. “And you need to work very closely with professors and researchers. We cannot work in silos. Since we come from different backgrounds, we need to unite efforts with doctors, environmental entities, leaders in the private sector, and so on, to stop what's going on."

Monroy, who also presented during the conference, says biosecurity protocols, although crucial to preventing the spread of bird flu, have also created many roadblocks for businesses and producers.

The International Avian Influenza Summit was hosted by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science. The American College of Poultry Veterinarians and the American Veterinary Medical Association approved the conference for continuing education credits with 23 and 26 CE credits respectively and the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization with 12 CE credits. The event was held at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville, Sept. 30 through Oct. 3.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

New poultry science researcher plans to pursue foodborne pathogen control

By Jessica Wesson
Center of Excellence for Poultry Science
U of A System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tomi Obe, new assistant professor with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and department of poultry science, is eager to find ways to identify and control foodborne pathogens in the poultry industry.

SAFE FOOD — Tomi Obe, assistant professor of poultry science, will focus on identification and control of foodborne illnesses in poultry. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)

“I was introduced to poultry processing and food microbiology,” Obe said. “This attracted me to want to investigate Salmonella in poultry, and I have since dedicated my research to investigating Salmonella in poultry during live production and processing.”

Obe conducts research for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. She received her bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in poultry science — all from Mississippi State University.

While at Mississippi State University, Obe said she became interested in improving food safety in poultry and poultry products. Her current research focuses on understanding Salmonella and Campylobacter persistence in poultry production and processing environments.

Salmonella is a leading cause of bacterial foodborne illness in the United States. According to Obe, 1 in 6 human cases is linked to poultry. 

Salmonella is very diverse with over 2,500 serotypes that are unique, and it has been a challenge for the industry to effectively prevent contamination of poultry products,” Obe said.

Serotypes are distinct types of Salmonella within subspecies of Salmonella species, and some forms of control may not work for all serotypes, she said.

Obe said she plans to build on her past research on Salmonella. At Mississippi State University, she tested how the bacteria adapted to stressors in poultry processing.

“I evaluated ways that Salmonella adapts to poultry processing-related stresses to acquire tolerance, persistence in processing environments and biofilm formation on food contact surfaces,” Obe said.

Biofilms are structures formed by microorganisms like Salmonella, she said, often as an adaptation to survive in less ideal conditions. Data from her previous research showed that Salmonella could persist on processing surfaces using different techniques, especially biofilm formation. Moving forward, her team will be bio-mapping Salmonella prevalence and quantity on food-contact surfaces and exploring ways to establish targeted mitigations for virulent serotypes.

The end goal, Obe said, is to improve control methods that will benefit the poultry industry in a practical way.

“Our goal is to use the information from our research to develop techniques to quickly identify virulent foodborne pathogens and establish targeted control strategies,” Obe said.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Tomi Obe join our program. She has an impressive background in researching the presence of foodborne pathogens in commercial poultry in both the production and processing environments,” said David Caldwell, director of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and poultry science department head. “We fully expect that Dr. Obe will make impactful contributions to our research, teaching, and outreach programs. She is a great addition to the faculty in our department and center.”

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: aaes.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. For information about the Cooperative Extension Service, visit www.uaex.uada.edu and follow us on Twitter at @AR_Extension. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.