An overlooked poultry trade network of the smallholder farms in the border provinces of Thailand, 2021: implications for avian influenza surveillance

Soawapak Hinjoy; Pornchai Thumrin; Jitphanu Sridet; Chat Chaiyaso; Weerachai Suddee; Yupawat Thukngamdee; Oiythip Yasopa; Ong-Orn Prasarnphanich; Somruethai Na Nan; Punnarai Smithsuwan; Janjao Rodchangphuen; Carlie L Sulpizio; Anuwat Wiratsudakul

doi:10.3389/fvets.2024.1301513

An overlooked poultry trade network of the smallholder farms in the border provinces of Thailand, 2021: implications for avian influenza surveillance

Front Vet Sci. 2024 Feb 7:11:1301513. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1301513. eCollection 2024.

Affiliations

¹ Office of International Cooperation, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
² Bureau of Disease Control and Veterinary Services, Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok, Thailand.
³ Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
⁴ Division of Global Health Protection, Global Health Center, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
⁵ Division of Global HIV and TB, Global Health Center, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
⁶ Department of Clinical Sciences and Public Health and the Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Abstract

Introduction: In Thailand, community-level poultry trade is conducted on a small-scale involving farmers and traders with many trade networks. Understanding the poultry movements may help identify different activities that farmers and traders might contribute to the spread of avian influenza.

Methods: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of players involved in the poultry trade network at the northeastern border of Thailand using network analysis approaches. Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom provinces, which border Laos, and Ubon Ratchathani province, which borders both Laos and Cambodia, were selected as survey sites.

Results: Local veterinary officers identified and interviewed 338 poultry farmers and eight poultry traders in 2021. A weighted directed network identified incoming and outgoing movements of where the subdistricts traded chickens. Ninety-nine subdistricts and 181 trade links were captured. A self-looping (trader and consumer in the same subdistrict) feedback was found in 56 of 99 subdistricts. The median distance of the movements was 14.02 km (interquartile range (IQR): 6.04-102.74 km), with a maximum of 823.08 km. Most subdistricts in the network had few poultry trade connections, with a median of 1. They typically connected to 1-5 other subdistricts, most often receiving poultry from 1 to 2.5 subdistricts, and sending to 1-2 subdistricts. The subdistricts with the highest overall and in-degree centrality were located in Mukdahan province, whereas one with the highest out-degree centrality was found in Nakhon Phanom province.

Discussion: The poultry movement pattern observed in this network helps explain how avian influenza could spread over the networks once introduced.

Keywords: avian influenza; country border; local community; network analysis; poultry trade network.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the Cooperative Agreement with the Thailand Ministry of Public Health under the project Avian Influenza Surveillance among Poultry and live bird markets in Border Provinces (DGHP-AISP). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.