Integrating heterogeneous data to address endemic diseases in broiler production: insights from a Polish case study

Endemic contagious diseases in broilers have a significant impact on production performance. However, endemic contagious diseases are multifaceted and complex. They are rarely monitored on a large scale. This complexity hinders their mitigation, as timely information about their distribution and knowledge about their impact on production performance is scarce. This study aimed to evaluate whether data routinely produced by the Polish broiler industry, the first European meat producer, could be reused to generate knowledge about those diseases and provide stakeholders with contextual information to improve their disease management. The study reused a dataset collected by a large producer and a veterinary laboratory, which implemented a screening program at the end of the production cycle. The high-dimensional dataset covered 115 ‘screened flocks’ produced between 2018 and 2023 across Poland. The information was dispersed across 75 variables on production indicators, health indicators, necropsy lesions, and a list of evidence of infection or infestation by a diverse range of aetiological agents (bacterial, viral, and Eimeria) and regrouped into 8 themes. The ‘screened flocks’, despite strong production performance indicators, exhibited a high mortality rate (mean of 6.01%) and a wide range of pathogens (19 bacteria, 3 viruses, and Eimeria infestation observed). The cluster analysis, after identifying two outliers, defined three flock profiles, linking the observation variables (health, production indicator, necropsy lesions) to the aetiological agents. ‘Screened flocks’ from the first cluster (27 flocks) were described as a flock with high rates of fibrinous lesions, with a high condemnation rate associated with the identification of E. coli. The second cluster (64 flocks) was defined by high production performances but also higher rates of femoral head necrosis. The ‘screened flocks’ from the last cluster (22 flocks) exhibited lower production performance, indicating strong Eimeria spp. infestation and circulation of avian metapneumovirus. The study is an example of how high-dimensional data produced by the broiler industry can be reused and integrated to create contextual knowledge for farmers and veterinarians about endemic contagious diseases. Access to this timely contextual knowledge is essential to enhance disease prevention and management efforts for farmers, veterinarians, and other stakeholders in the broiler industry.