WPSA Newsletter

Newsletter Editor: Dr G.B. Havenstein
gerald_havenstein@ncsu.edu

World's Poultry Congress 2008

WPSA Travel Grant Programme
It is generally agreed that enhancing the educational, research and experience opportunities of young poultry science professional and technical people is critical to the pace of development of more efficient poultry production, regardless of whether they are part of an intensive technological industry or they are involved in small-scale, family production systems.......... Read more

European Union Research Opportunities for members of the WPSA's European Federation
During the next four years (2006-2010) the President of the European Federation, Prof Achille Franchini, would like to promote the access of the European Federation’s research groups to the financial opportunities offered by the European Commission within the seventh framework (FP7) that runs from 2007 through 2013................ Read more

Book Review
The interactions between nutrition and disease are now well founded, and there are many publications dedicated to this topic, however there are few that consider this area in its entirety, which is the task Cliff Adams has set himself in this book................. Read more

World's Poultry Science Journal (WPSJ)

Placement of the Proceedings from the World's Poultry Congresses and other WPSA Symposia on the internet
The National Agricultural Library in Washington, D.C., USA, is working on the digitization of the Proceedings of all of the World's Poultry Congresses. So far they have published the proceedings from the 1^st eleven World Poultry Congresses. You can find them on the website of the NAL under the Table of Contents.
Starting in 2002, WPSA formulated a policy by which WPSA and the World’s Poultry Science Journal (WPSJ) would benefit most from the outcomes of the WPSA sponsored symposia and conferences. Briefly, the following is the result of those discussions, and this procedure is now in force. The symposia and conference organisers can make their own arrangements for publishing proceedings for the registered delegates - presumably a book of abstracts and a CD-Rom of the full papers. WPSJ has the first option to publish any symposium papers that are suitable for the journal, i.e. reviews................... Read more

8th Asian Pacific Poultry Conference, March 5-6, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand
It was a busy morning on March 5^th, 2007 when 804 delegates from 53 countries from around the world gathered at the registration desk at Asian Pacific Poultry Conference 2007 in Bangkok Thailand. The 2-day conference was held at the SwissHotel Le Concorde right in the heart of the city, with the theme “Science to Solutions.” .................... Read more

European Federation: Reports from Working Groups
• Working Group 1
• Working Group 10

Pre-Announcement
• 1^st WPSA Mediterranean Summit on “Advances and Challenges in Poultry Science”
• 8^th European Symposium on "Poultry Welfare"

WPSA Branch News

Argentina Bangladesh Chile

Egypt Germany Italy

Japan Kuwait Lebanon

Malaysia Mali South Africa

Sri Lanka Turkey USA

WPSA Sponsored and other poultry related Symposia and Conferences

In less than ten months time the 23^rd World’s Poultry Congress will be held in Brisbane Australia, from 29 June to 4 July 2008. Preparations are well under way for a most successful meeting incorporating an excellent scientific and technical program, the largest poultry trade display yet seen in Australia, and an exciting social programme. With fifteen plenary session keynote speakers and over 100 invited speakers in the concurrent symposia sessions across eight general topic streams, the programme will provide up-to-date information on a most comprehensive range of important issues facing the industry at this time. Details of the topic streams and the keynote speakers and their paper titles, are provided on the Congress website www.wpc2008.com.

Additional to the general program, the Congress includes the following three affiliated meetings which will run concurrently with the Congress: The 6^th Asia Pacific Poultry Health Conference, which will essentially cover the bird health and disease programme of the Congress; the 4^th International Ratite Science Symposium; and the 1988 Poultry Information Exchange (PIX) meeting, which is a large Australian biennial poultry producer-focused meeting. Additional to these, there will be a meeting of the Avian Immunology Research Group on the Gold Coast from 26-28 June in the week preceding the Congress, and in the week following the Congress, the International Marek’s Disease Symposium will be held in Townsville from 6-10 July. Thus, there is an opportunity for everyone, irrespective of their specific interests in poultry science and technology, to gain real benefit from attendance at the Congress and its affiliated and satellite meetings.

The Congress Organizing Committee is keen to receive as many contributed papers as possible from poultry scientists and technologists from around the world. Those wishing to present a paper at the congress should submit an abstract on the website. The deadline for submission has been extended to 30 September 2007. Details for submission are provided on the website. Taking into consideration author preferences, the Scientific and Technical Programme Committee will make the final decision as to the mode of presentation (oral or poster) and place in the programme for contributed papers. Full papers will be required to be submitted by 31 January 2008. The registration brochure is presently being prepared and should be available on the website, as well as a hard copy for distribution directly and through WPSA branches, by mid-September 2007.

In keeping with past WPSA practice of support for young poultry scientists and students, the Congress Organizing Committee have included a Youth Programme as well as a Young Scientist Fellowship Programme. The former is open to application from students and young people with interests in poultry science and technology, and the latter to young poultry scientists from developing countries. Application forms and other details are now available on the Congress website www.wpc2008.com.

The venue for the Congress, the award winning Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Centre, is located close to the centre of Brisbane and a wide variety of hotels and other accommodation, and a short walk to the Queensland Museum, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Performing Arts Complex. It’s also only a stroll away from South Bank, the site of World Expo 88, with its gardens and bougainvillea-lined walkways along the Brisbane river, as well as numerous restaurants and a swimming lagoon with a white sandy beach; a wonderful place to relax. The Congress technical sessions and the trade exhibition are co-located close together under one roof, which makes moving from one to the other very easy. To facilitate that interaction, morning and afternoon teas will be served in the exhibition area.

The timing of the Congress has been intentionally set for the northern hemisphere summer break to facilitate attendance by European and North American academics. Whilst it will then be early winter in Brisbane, being sub-tropical, the daily temperature normally ranges from a mild 12 to 23^OC. For pre- or post-Congress touring, this is an excellent time to visit the Great Barrier Reef in Northern Queensland or the “Red Centre” of Australia.

The Organizing Committee of WPC2008 extends a very warm welcome to everyone with interests in the poultry and allied industries to join us “down under” in Brisbane from 29 June to 4 July 2008.

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A Nominating Advisory Committee (NAC) has been formed by the Executive Board of WPSA to develop a potential list of nominees to be considered for service on the WPSA Board from 2008 - 20012, i.e. from the time of the election that will be held during the meeting of the Official WPSA Branch Delegates (or Counsellors) that will be held in Brisbane during the 2008 World’s Poultry Congress until the time of the XXIV World Congress that will be held in Salvador, Brazil in 2012. The officers include: the President, Secretary, Treasurer, and five Vice presidents. The presidents of the European and Asian/ Pacific Federations and the President of the Organizing Committee of the Next World congress also sit on the Board.

A letter has been sent by WPSA Secretary Piet Simons to all Branch Secretaries that provides the names of the NAC Members. Please contact your Branch Secretary if you would like to nominate someone (with the individuals permission to do so) to be considered as a potential WPSA Board Member. Individual Branches are urged to also consider submitting nominations to the WPSA NAC. Branch Secretaries have the information on how to submit nominations.

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Three major Scholarship Awards are available to members of the World's Poultry Science Association from a trust fund that was set up by the Netherlands Branch of WPSA. They are presented at each of the World Poultry Congresses in three categories - Education, Organization and Research - which coincide with the wording on the WPSA logo. Recipients of the three Scholarships are chosen by an internationally representative committee, and the committee’s selections are based on the following.

Research Award: The WPSA Research Award is presented to an outstanding scientist in recognition of research achievement related to the poultry industry. Individuals who have been members of the World's Poultry Science Association for at least two years immediately preceding the Congress at which the award is to be made are eligible. The award consists of a suitably inscribed certificate or plaque and € 11,000 (currently about US $13,000).

Education Award: The WPSA Education Award is presented at each World's Poultry Congress to an individual or group of individuals who, has/have made a major contribution to poultry management education in a five year period immediately preceding the current World's Poultry Congress. Nominees, or leaders of groups in the case of joint nominations, must have been members of the World's Poultry Science Association for at least two years immediately preceding the Congress at which the award is made. The award will consists of a suitably inscribed certificate or plaque and € 11,000.

Industry/Organization Award: The WPSA Industry/Organization Award is presented to an individual or organization who/which has made an outstanding contribution to the development and/or success of the poultry industry in a five-year period immediately preceding a World's Poultry Congress. The development of trade organizations, promotional or information programmes, or the invention of new processes or products relevant to the poultry industry will form the basis of the award. Nominees (or leaders of nominated organizations) must have been members of the World's Poultry Science Association for at least two years immediately preceding the Congress at which the award is made. The award consists of a suitably inscribed certificate or plaque and € 11,000.

See the WPSA Website (http://www.wpsa.com) for details concerning nomination procedures for these Awards.

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As was mentioned in the May, 2007 Newsletter, a letter has been forwarded to all Branch Secretaries calling for the nomination of individuals for the IPHF who will be inducted during the XXIII Congress in Brisbane, Australia. All Branches of WPSA may nominate an individual for consideration for this honour (Branches with over 100 members can nominate 2 individuals). No more than 5 individuals, living or deceased, will be inducted at any one Congress, and those honoured will receive a citation, a plaque, and their citation and photograph will be published in the WPSJ. Please contact your Branch Secretary, if you have someone whom you want to nominate. Details concerning the nomination and selection process are available on the WPSA website. Nominations are due before December 31, 2007. Completed nominations must be sent to the WPSA Secretary, Piet Simons.

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Bids for the hosting of the XXV World’s Poultry Congress that will be held in mid-2016 are being sought. The bidding process is described on the WPSA Website (www.wpsa.com). Bids for the Congress must come from the Countries WPSA Branch, with support from the countries government. Please contact WPSA Secretary Piet Simons, if your Branch is interested in bidding to host that congress.

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In December WPSA Branch Secretaries will be receiving a request for a list of official Branch delegates (Councillors) to the XXIII World Congress. Those delegates will be officially recognized as the voting representatives for their Branch, and will be expected to participate in a brief training session, and in the WPSA Council Meeting that will be held during the Brisbane Congress. They will be asked to cast ballots on behalf of the Branch for the election of five WPSA Vice Presidents who will serve during the period of 2008-2012, on any business items that are brought before the Council, and on the location of the 2016 World Congress.

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WPSA has a programme to provide travel assistance for young WPSA members and students to participate in regional and global WPSA Conferences

It is generally agreed that enhancing the educational, research and experience opportunities of young poultry science professional and technical people is critical to the pace of development of more efficient poultry production, regardless of whether they are part of an intensive technological industry or they are involved in small-scale, family production systems. It is stressed that any travel assistance that WPSA does provide, however, must be independent of and in addition to that currently provided by World's Poultry Congresses, Regional Conferences or individual Branches. That is, the travel assistance will target and benefit additional STUDENTS and YOUNG MEMBERS (both scientists and poultry producers) from developing countries and STUDENTS from developed countries. A scheme of open competition for such WPSA Travel Scholarships is now available, and information about the programme can be found on the WPSA website, i.e. www.wpsa.com. Application forms are available on the website.

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During the next four years (2006-2010) the President of the European Federation, Prof Achille Franchini, would like to promote the access of the European Federation’s research groups to the financial opportunities offered by the European Commission within the seventh framework (FP7) that runs from 2007 through 2013.

The first call for proposals regarding theme 2 named "Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology" is now available, and Prof Franchini invites all members of the European Federation to look at calls of interest but also to possible consortia that might be set up around each call to present successful projects. The call for proposals are frequently based on stakeholder research needs disseminated through the documents of the European Technology Platforms (ETPs). Therefore, the chairpersons of the Working Groups of the EF should be aware of the poultry-linked ETPs, Global Animal Health (GAH), Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction (FABRE) and Food for Life.

Another important set of instruments that are needed for participating in the activities of the European Commission are the COST (Co-operation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) Actions documents (www.cost.esf.org). Their main goal is to put EU researchers working in the same research field in touch. In the past very successful poultry related COST actions have been COST 920 "Foodborne zoonosis: a co-ordinated food chain approach", COST Action 923 "Hightech Egg Research", COST Action 97 "Prevention of contamination of poultry meat, eggs and egg products". Proposals for new COST Actions might be discussed during the next symposia.

The European Commission promotes the exchange of researchers through the Marie Curie programs and the members of the EF can apply for these programs. As an alternative, the EF might built its own database in which to include offers to host scientists as well as requests to visit specific poultry research centers.

For more information on these programs and how to apply, please look under research opportunities for the European Federation that are located on the WPSA website (http://www.wpsa.com).

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Nutrition-based Health by C.A. Adams, ISBN 978-1-904761-58-7, 169 pages, £35.00

First published in 2007 by Nottingham University Press, Manor Farm, Main Street, Thrumpton Nottingham NG11 0AX, UK. Order via NUP directly by fax on +44 115 983 1003 or online at www.NUP.com. The interactions between nutrition and disease are now well founded, and there are many publications dedicated to this topic, however there are few that consider this area in its entirety, which is the task Cliff Adams has set himself in this book. Following on from his previous published work, examining the role of nutraceuticals and the total nutrition of farm animals, this book considers the many nutritional and feed issues that can affect the health of agricultural species. For a complete review of the book, see the September issue of the World’s Poultry Science journal.

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As members may know, they now have the choice to receive the on-line version of the World's Poultry Science Journal instead of the printed one. The on-line version is fully searchable with many advanced features that will appeal to active scientists. To receive a password that provides access, members must register with the WPSA office. This can be done on the home page of the Association website www.wpsa.com.

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Dr. Lucy Tucker has been appointed as the new editor of the World’s Poultry Science Journal. She will take up her duties in full at the end of this year on the completion of WPSJ Volume 63. Meanwhile, she has already started assisting the present editor, who plans to retire.

Dr. Tucker is a registered animal nutritionist and has worked with poultry since 1992. Her first degree, in Combined Biology, was obtained from the University of Lancaster, UK, where she specialised in animal physiology, microbiology and biochemistry. She went on to obtain a PhD in monogastric nutrition, entitled ‘The nutritive value of wheat for broiler chickens’ from Harper Adams University College, in the UK. Since the mid-1990’s she has worked commercially all over the world, researching and developing feed ingredients for several species, and advising poultry producers large and small. Her work has taken her to more than 40 countries, and she has been involved in producing books on several aspects of animal nutrition and health, as well as speaking regularly at conferences and seminars. She is an active researcher, and a recognised associate at Massey University, and holds membership for several societies, being an active member of WPSA since 1993. After working for three very different international animal nutrition companies, she moved to New Zealand in 2005 and became an independent consultant for local and international clients.

Prepared by David Martin, Editor World’s Poultry Science Journal

The digital archive for the World’s Poultry Science journal provides access from the first issue in 1945 until 2003 online - a total of 240 issues!

Volumes 1 - 59 of World's Poultry Science Journal are now available on Cambridge Journals Online. The archive is fully searchable by keyword and author; abstracts can be saved and emailed, full text articles printed and bibliographic details exported into reference management software. Perpetual Access is available for a one-off fee of just £500/$995. There is an additional annual maintenance fee of £45/$85, payable from the second year of the deal (www.journals.cambridge.org/wps).

For further information, or to purchase the WPSJ Digital Archive, please email jnlsales@cambridge.org.

The Journal Citation Reports data for calendar year 2006, has just been published. The Impact Factor for the World's Poultry Science Journal has gone up to 1.177 from the 2005 rating of 1.056. Our ranking in the list of 44 publications in the Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science has also gone to joint 12th compared with 15th last time. Poultry Science, published by the U.S. Poultry Science Association, has a rating of 1.656 (6th), and British Poultry Science had a rating of 1.135 (15th).

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The National Agricultural Library in Washington, D.C., USA, is working on the digitization of the Proceedings of all of the World's Poultry Congresses. So far they have published the proceedings from the 1^st eleven World Poultry Congresses. You can find them on the website of the NAL under the Table of Contents.

Starting in 2002, WPSA formulated a policy by which WPSA and the World’s Poultry Science Journal (WPSJ) would benefit most from the outcomes of the WPSA sponsored symposia and conferences. Briefly, the following is the result of those discussions, and this procedure is now in force. The symposia and conference organisers can make their own arrangements for publishing proceedings for the registered delegates - presumably a book of abstracts and a CD-Rom of the full papers. WPSJ has the first option to publish any symposium papers that are suitable for the journal, i.e. reviews.

CABI will index the papers in the CAB Abstracts database and will also archive them in the CABI Repository, as well as put them on to AnimalScience.com This way the world's scientists will be able to search and find the papers. Also they will be available in the CAB archive which is linked to the CAB Abstracts Database. This way they will be in the world's body of scientific literature. They will be available for WPSA members via the WPSA website, under Proceedings (www.wpsa.com).

CABI is currently working on the Nutrition 2005 Symposium. After that they will start with the European Poultry Congress 2006 Proceedings.

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It was a busy morning on March 5th, 2007 when 804 delegates from 53 countries from around the world gathered at the registration desk at Asian Pacific Poultry Conference 2007 in Bangkok Thailand. The 2-day conference was held at the SwissHotel Le Concorde right in the heart of the city, with the theme “Science to Solutions.” The conference offered comprehensive educational programmes, 8 keynote topics, and it covered the latest knowledge in genetics’, nutrition, production, breeding, health and other important challenges facing the poultry Industry. In addition, concurrent symposia included 14 sessions with 66 oral presentations and 49 posters, which served as a scientific forum for poultry scientists to publicise their work.

A “Welcome Reception” was held on Sunday, March 4th and a “Gala Dinner” was held on the evening of March 5th, and those social programmes opened many opportunities for participants to exchange useful ideas and to make new friends. The organizing committee wants to thank all of the participants who were involved in making this conference a success.

Pratuang Sudsakorn, Chairman, the 8th Asian Pacific Poultry Conference Organizing Committee
The World's Poultry Science Association Thailand Branch

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Working Group 1: First Round-table conference on poultry economics and marketing held in Paris, June 7-8^th. This WG held its first Round-table Conference on poultry economics and marketing at the ITAVI institute in Paris. The objective was to have a small-scale meeting in order to have profound discussions on several topics relevant to the poultry sector. This was done with 20 participants from nine European countries. The primary invited speaker was Don Bell, emeritus poultry specialist from the University of California, who gave an excellent lecture on recent economic trends and factors influencing profits in the US table egg industry. After his presentation there were six sessions on the following topics:

1. Changes in structure and organization of the poultry industry
2. Impact of the EU zoonosis directive on the poultry industry
3. Economic Impact of Avian Influenza (AI)
4. Bio energy: a threat to the global poultry industry?
5. New trends in poultry consumption
6. Economics of animal welfare (layers and broilers)

After the above sessions country reports were provided with discussions. These discussions often revealed the differences in the viewpoints of different participants and countries. It was generally agreed that this first Round-table conference was a success, and it was decided to have a second meeting of the WG in 2009. The chairman would like to express his thanks to ITAVI in hosting the conference and for its generosity in making it possible to have an inexpensive meeting. For more information contact the chairman: peter.vanhorne@wur.nl.

Peter van Horne, Chairman European Federation Working Group 1, Economics and Marketing

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Working Group 10: The 4^th International Symposium on Turkey Production was held at the end of June, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Organised by Professor Hafez from the Free University, the meeting attracted approximately 180 delegates from 25 different countries. Forty-one presentations were given over the three day period which covered aspects of nutrition, disease, management, genetics and welfare. Highlights of the meeting included three papers covering the history, development and current situation of the turkey industry in France, Turkey and Hungary. These papers provided useful economic and commercial details for anyone tracking the changes in turkey meat production. Nutrition aspects covered included the application of enzymes, natural antioxidants, protein and amino acid issues, and gut health. In the welfare and husbandry session, a paper on standardising a scoring system for footpad dermatitis provoked a good deal of discussion from veterinarians and commercial delegates alike. The potential issues arising from increased bio-fuel competition for feed materials for the poultry industry has been a key focus in 2007, and was also discussed in the context of turkeys. Within the Health Disorders session, blackhead (Histomoniasis) dominated the presentations, with descriptions of the disease and the problems with modelling the challenge discussed. The ways of potentially controlling the disease using alternative methods and the influence of genetics on the severity of the disease were also examined. The final day focused on disease and veterinary aspects, with many papers on avian influenza and several concerning respiratory tract disease. The conference provided an excellent source of information for anyone involved in any aspect of turkey production.

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Pre-Announcement: 1^st WPSA Mediterranean Summit on “Advances and Challenges in Poultry Science”

The 1^st WPSA Mediterranean Summit on “Advances and Challenges in Poultry Science” will be held in Chalkidiki (Porto Carras Grand Resort), Greece, on May 7-10, 2008. This conference is aimed at addressing the latest developments in research and technology including emerging diseases, food hygiene, animal welfare, novel products and sustainable development. The programme will cover topics of high importance for animal scientists, veterinarians and industry executives, and key technical issues will be widely discussed.

For more information contact: Professor Angeliki S. Tserveni-Goussi, Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece, Tel. +30/2310999964, Fax +30/2310999963 E-mail: goussi@vet.auth.gr

Website: www.mcps2008.gr. CONGRESS SECRETARIAT, DIASTASI Travel Agency, , 24, Kon. Karamanli str., P.C. 54639 Thessaloniki, Greece; Tel : +30/2310 889244 or 889245 ; Fax: +30/2310 889246 ; E-mail: diastasi@diastasitravel.gr

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Pre-Announcement: 8^th European Symposium on "Poultry Welfare"

The 8^th European Symposium on “Poultry Welfare” will be held in Cervia, Italy on May 18-22, 2009. The Scientific Programme will cover sessions on: 1) Welfare of meat producing poultry [broilers, turkeys, waterfowl and gamebirds]; 2) Welfare of laying hens; 3) Welfare of reproducing poultry [parent stock, breeders]; 4) Welfare of pullets during rearing; 5) Welfare of organic poultry; 6) Welfare and poultry nutrition; Welfare of poultry during transport; 8) Welfare problems related to potential/actual outbreaks of Avian Influenza and other diseases; 9) Welfare related to endo- and ectoparasites; and 10.) Free papers.

Abstracts will be due on November 1, 2008. Watch for information concerning this Symposium‘s contacts, registration information, and other details on the WPSA Website

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WPSA Branch News

Argentina Branch: The Argentinean Branch collaborated in the organization of the 7^th Annual Meeting of Poultry Veterinary Association (AMEVEA) during 2006. This scientific meeting was held on September 6-8, 2006 at Colon city, Entre Rios Province. It was attended by more than 350 producers, students and professionals , representing one of the most important events of the Argentinean poultry community.
WPSA provided funding to bring in one expert speaker to provide one of the 16 conference presentations for the meeting. Dr. Jean Pierre Vaillancourt presented a lecture about strategies to control avian influenza in Canada, and was supported by the “WPSA Bureau Speakers” programme.
Since Peter Hunton (Former President of the WPSA) made his first visit to Argentina in the year 2000 to work together with the new local Council of the Argentinean Branch, the number of local members has increased from 27 to 85 members (314%). We hope this first meeting where our Branch has been involved will be the beginning of an active participation of the WPSA in local poultry meetings that will increase even more the number of local WPSA members.

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Bangladesh Branch: The Bangladesh Branch was formed in July 1997 and now has 170 members. It plays an important role in promoting the poultry industry in Bangladesh where poultry has become an emerging agribusiness, successfully supporting employment generation, poverty alleviation and food security. The biggest achievement of the Branch is the organization and conduct of its International Poultry Show and Seminar that has been held every odd year since 1999. The Poultry Show facilitates and encourages different poultry stake-holders including poultry farmers, scientists, educators and policy makers to understand each other and find out the ways and means that they can support the poultry industry by updating their knowledge, scientific information and technologies related to breeding, feeding, health care etc. that will help the rapidly emerging poultry industry in Bangladesh.
The 5^th International Poultry Show and Seminar was held from March 1- 3, 2007, and included 163 exhibitors of which 36 were from overseas and 127 were local. A total of 31 papers were presented in seminars that were divided between seven sessions. Major topic areas covered were Poultry Industry; Food Safety and Organic Poultry Farming; Avian Influenza; Poultry Nutrition; Family Poultry, and Duck rearing. The number of exhibitors and the attendance for the 5^th International Poultry Show and Seminar 2007 was considerably higher than for previous shows, and included the participation of President Prof. Dr. Rüveyde Akbay and WPSA’s Secretary, Dr. Piet Simons.

Dr. Md. A. Saleque, Secretary WPSA-Bangladesh Branch

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Chile Branch: On April 3, 2007, the Chile Branch of WPSA sponsored their 3^rd Symposium on: “Poultry Nutrition Optimization, in Face of the Biofuels Challenge”. Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph was the featured speaker, presenting two talks on the “Future of Broiler and Layer Nutrition for the next Decade”. Presentations were also given by Karina von Baer, Olentop, Chile on “Rapeseed: Its use for Biofuel Production and Alternatives for Animal Nutrition”; by Dr. Jose Luis Arias on “Important Factors in Relation to the Internal and External Quality of Table Eggs”. A round table was held with lots of discussion from the 60 conference participants following the formal presentations.

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Egypt Branch: The 4^th Poultry Science Conference was held in Sharm ELSheikh, Egypt (March 27 – 30, 2007), organized by the Egyptian Poultry Science Association (EPSA) in cooperation with the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA). The following topics; Genetic and Breeding; Nutrition and Feeding; Physiology; Diseases and Immunology; Production Housing and Rearing Systems were presented orally during the conference by 50 speakers (total attendance 106 members). The President of WPSA, Rüveyde Akbay, provided an introductory welcome to the participants and discussed increasing the Association’s membership in the Middle East region. Also, three invited speakers (Hafez M. Hafez, Barbara Tzschentke and Rama Bhurtel) addressed plenary lectures topics concerning Avian Influenza, embryo performance and poultry production in Nepal. At the end of the conference six nominees were declared winners for their excellent scientific papers they presented, and each won 500 LE.

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Germany Branch: Despite generally decreasing public support for poultry research, the German Branch enjoys fairly stable membership. Germany has the second largest WPSA Branch (almost 350 members) and three of its members are also chairmen of Working Groups of the European Federation.
The annual meeting of the German WPSA Branch, March 13-14, was hosted by the German Poultry Association in attractive new conference facilities in former East-Berlin. As special guest, Prof. Achille Franchini as president of the European Federation of WPSA addressed the audience with a brief review of the European Poultry Conference 2006 in Verona and an outlook for future activities of the European Federation.
Following the business meeting, six scientific papers were presented on a range of current topics, including poultry welfare, health status of turkeys, global trade flow, fundamental physiology research and functional food.
For early October 2007, the German WPSA Branch is planning a bus tour with approx. 25 participants to the Baltic States around the 15^th Baltic Poultry Conference in Riga (Latvia), starting in Vilnius (Lithuania), and ending in Tallin (Estonia).
During the business meeting it was decided to support young scientists from Germany with travel support to encourage their active participation in Symposia of several Working Groups of the European Federation during 2007, e.g. Poultry Genetics Symposium in Denmark, Egg/Meat Symposium in Prague, Biology of Breeding Symposium in Edinburgh.
Highlights planned for 2008 include the annual meeting to be held March 11-12 in Halle and the World Poultry Congress in Brisbane, which will be supported by the German Branch with travel grants for young scientists from Germany with accepted contributions.

Italy Branch: The Italian Branch sponsored two major Congresses during 2006, including the 44^th National Congress on “Campylobacter spp. in poultry: traceability, risk assessment and control measures,” that was held in Forli, Italy on March 31, 2006; and the 12^th European Poultry Congress that was held in Verona on September 10-14, 2006. The Forli congress featured six invited speakers, and the proceedings have been published on the web site of the Italian branch www.wpsa.it.
The opening ceremony for the Verona Congress took place on Sunday, September 10^th at the Gran Guardia Palace in Piazza Bra. The Welcome was provided by the chairman of the Conference, Prof Achille Franchini from the University of Bologna who is also the President of the WPSA Italian branch, and by the President of the European Federation of the WPSA Branches, Prof. Dietmar Flock from Germany. The ceremony closed with Opera melodies performed by artists of the Arena di Verona and the get-together party took place in front of the remarkable piazza Bra during a full-moon night.
The scientific sessions took place on Monday the 11^th through Wednesday the 13^th. The Conference included more than 1000 researchers and poultry technicians from around the world, coming from sixty-five countries on all five continents. Seven hundred twenty one scientific studies were presented in plenary, and in simultaneous oral and poster sessions, as well as in workshops.
The plenary sessions included an outlook on the world trade of poultry products and the impact of developing countries on global egg and poultry meat production, meat trends and consumer attitudes, genetic resistance to diseases and their effect on production traits, the current and future strategies applied to meat-type selection industry to obtain increasing reproductive efficiency, high standards of bird health and welfare and product safety, a prevision for future nutrient requirements for laying hen growth and/or egg output, and on avian influenza infection in the world. Besides the 59 communications that were presented by invited speakers, a total of 129 short oral presentations were provided and discussed during the Conference. The Conference was organised in four parallel sessions on different topics such as genetics, reproduction and incubation, nutrition, physiology, welfare, meat and egg quality, poultry product safety, economics, education and technology transfer. Additionally, due to the great number of the accepted scientific contributions, 527 posters were presented during the Conference.
The Conference was planned to highlight the importance of a safer and better food supply, the need for greater concern related to the consumer’s health, for better animal welfare, and for better monitoring of animal diseases and traceability of poultry products.
During the European Council Meeting, Prof. Achille Franchini, chairman of the Conference and President of the Italian branch of WPSA, was appointed as the new President of the European Federation of WPSA for the next 4 years.
The Italian Branch will be hosting the 45^th National Congress on “Welfare of broilers: a prerequisite or an added value?” on March 30, 2007 in Forli, Italy. The proceedings will be published on the website of the Italian Branch.

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Japan Branch: The Japan Branch of the WPSA was established in 1954, and then in 1966 changed its name to Japan Poultry Science Association (JPSA) which also covers the framework of WPSA. The JPSA holds annual meetings twice a year, in spring and fall., and the JPSA publishes two scientific journals, The Journal of Poultry Science (English issue) and Japanese Journal of Poultry Science (Japanese issue), both of which are a continuation of Japanese Poultry Science started from 1966 which evolved into the two separate journals in 2001.
The Journal of Poultry Science is a peer-reviewed journal edited by international editors, and aims to contribute to the world poultry research community. The journal publishes review articles written by outstanding international researchers as well as original research articles. Four issues are published each year, and the full texts of all the papers (PDF) are open in the free online journal (http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jpsa). Manuscript submission and other information for the journal are available at the journal website (http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/jpsa/index-e.html). Currently, there are no page charges for papers from outside Japan. The papers in the journal are indexed by major scientific data bases such as ISI BIOSIS Previews, Biological Abstract and Poultry Abstracts.

Dr Yukinori Yoshimura, Editor-in-Chief, Japan Branch

Kuwait Branch: The Kuwait Branch has been involved in a number of activities during the past year including: branch promotion, technical advice and consultations for poultry producers, collaboration with neighbouring countries in WPSA promotion, and some educational activities including meetings with the local media, and the holding of an Egg Day to promote egg usage and a Shawarma Day to provide information on poultry meat and other poultry subjects.

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Lebanon Branch: The Lebanon Branch of WPSA recently held its spring meeting, attended by all members of the Branch and several other invited guests. The programme was organized jointly with the FAO Office in Beirut, and it consisted of words of welcome and opening remarks by Dr. Nuhad Daghir, the President of the Branch, followed by presentation of the budget by the treasurer Mr. Samir Cortbawi. Two papers were then presented on Avian Influenza. One on “Recent developments on AI” with special emphasis on the Middle East by Dr. Giovani Catolli, an international expert on AI from the Padova Reference Laboratory in Italy, and the second by Dr. Mohamad Farran, the Vice President of the Lebanon Branch on the Lebanese government plan of action for the prevention and control of AI. A lengthy discussion followed the two papers on various aspects of the disease particularly in reference to the pros and cons of vaccinating for the H5N1 virus

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Malaysia Branch: The Malaysian Branch held its annual Poultry Industry Seminar on January 9, 2007. They also held a fund raising dinner on March 16. The Branch also issued three press releases on: 1) Wrong doing by releasing domesticated broilers to the wild environment, 2) Introduction of a Nutritional Egg Programme (NEP) to prevent milk contamination; and, 3) on the Prevention of future outbreaks of Avian Influenza (H₅N₁).

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Mali Branch: The Mali Branch of WPSA was formed during 2007 with Dr. Coulibaly Abdrahamane as its President and Amadou Aya as the Secretary. The branch has 10 founding members.

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South Africa Branch: The South African Branch of the WPSA holds a Scientific Day each year in Pretoria, to which one or more poultry scientists from outside South Africa are invited as speakers. The 26^th Annual WPSA Scientific Day will be held in Pretoria on the October 11, 2007, and will focus on fertility and hatchability issues with commercial layers and broiler breeders, and some of the speakers and their topics follow: Ken Laughlin: Incubation and Hatchery Practice- have we advanced in the last 50 years?; Marleen Boerjan: Changes in incubator technology; Yael Noy: Latest developments with feeding in ovo, in the hatcher, and early feeding of broilers; Otto van Tuijl: Egg quality and hatchability - a field investigation; Colin Whitehead: Vitamins and minerals in poultry nutrition, with emphasis on shell quality; Nicky Tyler: Photorefractoriness and male broiler breeder fertility; and Rob Gous: Photorefractoriness and female broiler breeder fertility. For more information about the event please contact Elmari Relling, email: relling_elmari@lilly.com.

Sri Lanka Branch: The Sri Lanka Branch will be hosting the “International Poultry conference & Exhibition 2007 at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and convention Centre (SLECC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka on October 22-23, 2007. For additional information registration of for presenting or exhibiting at the Conference please contact the Sri Lanka Branch before September 30: c/o Madapatha & Company, 15/1. Stamboul Place, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka. Tel: +94 11 2576110; Fax: +94 11 2372223; E-mail wpsasl@yahoo.com.

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Turkey Branch: The Turkish Branch of WPSA organised an international symposium on Avian Influenza that was held in Istanbul on February 15-16, 2006. The speakers were mainly from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Research Institutes and Universities in Turkey. Prof. Dr. H.M. Hafez, President of the World Veterinary Poultry Association and the Chairman of the WPSA Working Group 10 of the European Federation, and Dr. Lance Jennings a renowned Virologist from the Canterbury Health Laboratories in New Zealand were invited speakers. The symposium reached its aim and a total of 220 participants took part.
The “VIV Turkey 2007 Poultry Technologies International Trade Fair” took place in Istanbul on June 28-30, 2007. The Turkish Branch had a stand and contributed to the most important international Poultry and White Meat Products fair in the region of Turkey, Middle East, Balkans and Turkic republics.
The WPSA Turkish Branch has organised a symposium on the “Adaptation process of the Turkish Poultry Sector to the European Union” that will be conducted in cooperation with the Ege University, Department of Animal Science. That symposium will be held on November 15, 2007. All interested participants are welcome to join this symposium. The symposium will cover 6 sessions on various topics relating to Poultry and the EU accession process.
The WPSA Turkish Branch has a good working relationship with other local poultry associations and members of the poultry industry. Most of Branch’s board members act as advisors to the “Healthy Chicken Meat Platform”, which serves as a platform between the poultry industry and government agencies to address issues and problems concerning poultry.

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USA Branch: A major goal of the USA Branch is to encourage, and where possible facilitate, attendance at international poultry conferences. To this end, a limited number of travel grants are available to USA Branch members wishing to attend and make presentations at professional meetings sponsored by WPSA Branches outside of the USA. Members interested in applying for such grants should contact either branch president Nick Dale (drnickdale@yahoo.com) or branch secretary Paul Aho (paulaho@paulaho.com). 
The USA branch will award travel grants to those making presentations at the Brisbane World Poultry Congress who have been members of the USA Branch since at least 2006. The amount of such grants will depend in part on the number of requests received. Those interested are reminded of the early deadline for submission of abstracts (September 30, 2007). Information is available at the WPC website (www.wpc2008.com). If a travel grant is to be requested, please notify Drs. Dale or Aho by September 30.

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WPSA Sponsored and other poultry related Symposia and Conferences

A number of WPSA sponsored and other poultry meetings have been planned for the remainder of 2007 and for the first half of 2008 (See the WPSA Website for contact and registration information), including:

2007

XVIII European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat; and, the XII European Symposium on the Quality of Eggs and Egg Products, 2-5 September 2007, Prague, Czech Republic

XVIX International Poultry Symposium, 10-12 September 2007, Olsztyn, Poland, E-mail: dariusz.mikulski@uwm.edu.pl

XX Latin American Poultry Congress, 25-28 September 2007, Porto Alegre, Brazil

5th European Poultry Genetic Symposium, 26-28 September 2007, Braedstrup-Horsens, Denmark

15th WPSA Baltics and Finland Poultry Conference, 4-5 October 2007, Riga, Lativa

3rd Combined Workshop: Fundamental Physiology of the European Working Group on Physiology and Workgroup on Prenatal Development, 5-8 October 2007, Berlin, Germany.

26th Annual WPSA Scientific Day, 11 October 2007, Pretoria, South Africa (See South Africa Branch news above). Contact: Elmari Relling, relling_elmari@lilly.com

Adaptation process of Turkish Poultry Sector to the European Union, 15 November 2007, Turkey. Contact: Prof Dr Servet Yalcin, servet.yalcin@ege.edu.tr

2008 International Poultry Scientific Forum, 21-22 January 2008, contact: Sylvia Small: ssmall@poultryegg.org

2008 International Poultry Exposition, 23-25 January 2008, contact: Sylvia Small: ssmall@poultryegg.org

1st Mediterranean Summit of WPSA “Advances and Challenges in Poultry Science”, 7-10 May 2008, Porto Carras Grand Resort, Chalkidiki, Greece. Their website www.mcps2008.gr will be available soon.

XXIII World's Poultry Congress, June 29 - July 4, 2007, Brisbane, Australia

We hope that many of you will consider participating in one or more of these poultry educational meetings. See the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com ) for details and registration information.

WPSA Secretariat: Dr Piet Simons, PO Box 31, 7360 AA  Beekbergen, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 55 506 3250, Fax: +31 55 506 4858, E-mail: piet.simons@wur.nl or wpsa@xs4all.nl
Website: www.wpsa.com