France

The officers of the branch’s board met by video conference on 25 September 2020. The next meeting will take place in December 2020. See http://wpsa.fr/qui-sommes-nous/conseil-administration

The 2021 general assembly of WPSA-France will take place online 18 March 2021, during a scientific session called ‘WPSA Thursday’ dedicated to the topic ‘Resilience of the poultry production chain following one year of COVID-19’.

The Branch renews its call to all members for their participation in WPC2021 in Paris on 8-12 August 2021, and for the preparation for this event, which will also mark the centenary of WPSAs World Poultry Congresses.

Christophe Bostvironnois, President, and Michel Duclos, secretary WPSA France 

Germany

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we will hold our annual Spring Conference for the German Branch in a digital format on March 19, 2021. Please make a note of this on your calendar.

The XII European Symposium on Poultry Genetics is being planned for Hannover, 08 – 11, 2022. Information will follow.

Inga Tiemann, Secretary, Germany Branch

Italy

The next annual national meeting will be organized in conjunction with the 2021 edition of FIERAVICOLA which will be held at the Rimini Expo Centre from 4 to 6 May. General information on the International Poultry Exhibition is available on the website: https://www.fieravicola.com/en/.

The Italian Branch will host the 23rd edition of European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition (ESPN) which will be held at the Palacongressi of Rimini (Italy) from 5 to 8 September, 2022. The city of Rimini, is an ideal place for the European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition and the modern as well as eco-friendly Venue is the perfect stage for the event. Many attendees including both poultry research scientists and practitioners, leading speakers from across the world joining together to explore the past, share the present and helping to forge the future of poultry meat science. More details are already available at the Symposia website: https://www.espn2022.eu/.

Massimiliano Petracci, Secretary, Italian Branch of WPSA

Japan

The 2021 Spring Meeting of the Japan Poultry Science Association (JPSA) will be held in online (web) style. All activities during the meeting, including presentations of original research findings, a general meeting, and the council meeting, will be organised on the web at the end of March. Details will be announced soon on the JPSA web site (https://jpn-psa.jp/). In the meantime, registration for the presentations of original research findings will be started at the beginning of January 2021, and the deadline will be January 26th, 2021. The details for the registration will also be informed via the JPSA web site.

The Journal of Poultry Science (JPS - the official journal of JPSA, IF: 0.880), the official scientific journal published by JPSA, became a member of PubMed Central (PMC), and articles published in the journal can now be accessed through the PubMed search engine. We welcome the contribution of original research articles and reviews to the JPS using the following web site: https://jpn-psa.jp/en/jps-en/. Free access to download the full-published articles in JPS is available on J-Stage (https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jpsa), which provides an excellent opportunity for all to access the published articles.

JPSA would like to contribute not only to poultry science in Japan, but all over the world by enhancing activities with members from other countries. Thus, JPSA has a membership category for foreign citizens residing abroad as ‘Special International Member’. The page charges for publishing their papers in the JPS will be set at the regular membership price. JPSA welcomes new members from all over the world. Please visit the JPSA website (http://jpn-psa.jp/?lang=en) for further information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tough situation in the world, but JPSA hopes things will get better soon. Please take good care of yourself!

Naoki Goto, Secretary of WPSA Japan Branch

Russia

Scientific communication with industry: The VNITIP Federal Scientific Centre of the Russian Science Academy in Serguiev Posad, Moscow Region, recognises the importance of scientific communication with the industry and has a programme to encourage this effort. Every year more than 1000 experts from Russia and abroad attend lectures from leading scientists in poultry industry areas, exchange experiences and discuss innovations from local and foreign poultry science efforts in Ptitsegrad. All are welcome to attend the courses in Serguiev Posad.

Tatiana Vasilieva, Secretary

United Kingdom

New Opportunity: The GD Rosen Academic Career Advancement Award

The UK branch is pleased to announce a new Academic Career Advancement Award in memory of Professor Gordon D Rosen. Gordon contributed a highly logical and very descriptive approach to animal nutrition from the 1960s through to just a few years before his death in 2015. A full obituary for him is available in volume 71 of World’s Poultry Science Journal. He was an inspirational person whose curiosity and gently framed yet penetrating questions made him a legend. There is a generation of scientists influenced by his presence – always in the front row – of scientific meetings, and now his wife Vanda would like to encourage other scientists to develop their own inquisitiveness through this new award.

The GD Rosen Academic Career Advancement Award provides £2000 each year to fund an academic adventure. With this aim, the award is open in nature, while particularly encouraging people to become multidisciplinary in their approach to research. The award is open to UK branch members who are within their early career spanning from 2 years to 5 years post PhD viva. Examples of proposals might include a request to attend an academic conference (particularly one outside your core field), support for an educational tour of another country or global region, support to visit another institution to learn a new technique or approach, or support to publish a major research output in a journal requiring publication fees.

Proposal forms and conditions of the GD Rosen Award can be found on the WPSA-UK website.

Deadline for applications: 30^th January 2021

Brazil

In 2022, FACTA promotes scientific debates to advance aviculture. Events promoted by FACTA addressed technical issues, animal health, nutrition, markets and industrialization.

In the second semester of 2022, FACTA promoted a series of events that analysed several aspects of the aviculture industry, poultry and egg production alike, addressing production matters, science, technical aspects, animal health, markets, and industrialization.

During the International Poultry and Pork Show (SIAVS), FACTA organized its Symposium on the use of performance-enhancing antimicrobials. The event counted with the participation of specialists from supplying companies, agro-industries, and academic institutions, resulting in a wide debate on the multiple themes involved in an approach to production without the use of performance-enhancing antimicrobials.

Autogenous Vaccines

FACTA promoted a Symposium on the use of autogenous vaccines for birds, swine and fish (tilapia) productive systems. Marcos Vinícius Santana Leandro, veterinarian from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock lectured on ‘Brazilian Legislation on Autogenous Vaccines for Animal Health’.

According to him, the Ministry has the role of making the most tools available for diagnosing, preventing, and treating animal diseases, including zoonoses.

Professor Luiz Felipe Caron, from Universidade Federal do Paraná, focused on the applied principles of vaccinology and non-replicating autogenous vaccines. He stated that, by definition, autogenous vaccines must fulfil some requirements in order to be classified as such.

Professor Terezinha Knöbl from Universidade de São Paulo lectured on the topic ‘Why using autogenous vaccines against bacterial bird diseases’. According to her, autogenous vaccines represent a faster alternative to respond to outbreaks, since the time of manufacture is reduced by the elimination of some steps of clinical and pre-clinical trials and the issuing of an authorization for immediate use.

Larissa Pickler from BRF presented a case study on heavy breeders. She reported that clinical symptoms started to show up in breeders around 7-10 days of age.

The veterinarian Cristiane Cantelli, from Grupo Mantiqueira, presented a case study on the use of autogenous vaccines on commercial layers. According to her, this tool is used in the prevention of colibacilloses, salmonellosis, coryza, and other diseases.

The veterinarian G. Donald Ritter, from Poultry Business Solutions LLC, brought a case study on the strategies for using autogenous vaccines against IBDV in the production of broilers. He highlighted that the optimization of passive protection against IBDV is a continuous process in the USA.

Professor Guilherme Arruda Cezar, from Iowa State University College, presented a case study on the use of genomic sequencing in the monitoring and vaccination against the Influenza A virus (IAV).

Symposium on Salmonella

FACTA organized the Symposium on Salmonella. The event aimed to evaluate the environmental factors responsible for the persistence of salmonellae in broiler houses, as well as the most important factors that represent risk of failure in biosecurity procedures, thus emphasizing the importance of preventing salmonellosis.

Veterinarian and consultant Nelva Grando gave a lecture addressing the importance of integrated Salmonella control for food safety. When comparing Brazilian and American policies, she highlighted the importance of transparency of information on Salmonella.

Susana Cazerta addressed ‘Good Fabrication Practices, emphasizing biosecurity’. She lectured on food safety, potential dangers, and fabrication practices used to control Salmonella in feed factories.

The Swedish veterinarian Martin Wierup focused on the theme ‘Feed Factories: prevention measures, monitoring, and control’. According to him, Salmonella-contaminated feed is an important source of contagion of the disease in animal production.

The veterinarian Letícia Dalberto lectured on ‘Pre-slaughter and transportation: impacts on the contamination with Salmonella during slaughter’. She argued that regardless of the rigorous control during the whole rearing process, the last eight hours before slaughter can jeopardize the chain and considerably increase the prevalence of Salmonella in the slaughterhouse.

The veterinarian Jaap Obdam spoke about the critical points for Salmonella control. He highlighted the main reasons to eliminate, reduce, and control Salmonella in aviculture, as well as critical points of Salmonella control in the slaughterhouse, hygiene and biosecurity, sampling per flock, loading and transportation, scalding, defeathering, and the evisceration and cooling department modules.

Embrapa researcher Clarissa Vaz focused on the topic ‘Does the litter management we do actually work?’. According to her, the close contact of the litter with broilers since the housing of chicks until the loading of the flock for slaughter causes the material to accumulate several types of residues, such as feathers, feed remains, insects, excretions and respiratory secretions.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock veterinarian Daniela Baptista presented data from the official Salmonella control by the PNSA (National Avian Health Plan, in the Portuguese acronym). She also gave details on the PNSA.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock veterinarian Suzana Bresslau gave a lecture titled ‘Public policies for the prevention of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – monitoring of Salmonella spp. Isolates from Brazil’. She discussed the relevance of AMR, recommendations of reference institutions, current agreements, results of AMR in Brazilian isolates from broiler production, as well as challenges and opportunities.

FACTA promotes North-eastern Symposium on Egg Production, Processing, and Marketing

in Recife (PE). The event was entirely offline. The current scenario of production and supply, legislation, animal health, nutrition, productive systems, costs, and industrialization of egg production was discussed for three days.

Josiane Tavares de Abreu, PhD in preventive veterinary medicine, president of COESA-MG and member of FACTA'S technical body, was one of the highlights, lecturing on biosecurity in practice.

José Henrique Stringhini, professor of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Universidade Federal de Goiás, discussed the use of additives in poultry diets. He discussed the use of additives in layers' diets and stressed intestinal health as a crucial determinant for the inclusion of additives to promote bird health and consolidate the good performance expected of modern commercial layer lines.

Carla Palermo - FACTA WPSA Brazil (), Event & Communications

Croatia

WPSA Croatian branch has co-organized XIV International Symposium ‘Poultry Days 2022’ (11-14 May 2022, Porec) which is held every two years in Croatia. The branch also organised the workshop ‘Quality System of Products of Animal Origin - Proven Quality’ where employees of the ministry of agriculture, three companies in charge of quality certification of table eggs and poultry meat, as well as several experts in the field from Croatian universities (members of the WPSA-Croatian Branch), actively participated. About 260 participants from 14 countries attended the symposium.

More than 10 members of the Croatian Branch actively participated in the 26^th World's Poultry Congress, held in Paris (7-10 August 2022). Three young scientists’ members of the Croatian Branch received scholarships to participate in the WPC in Paris (Mihael Janjecic, Dora Zurak and Lica Lozica).

In addition to the Poultry Days and the WPC in Paris, Croatian Branch members also participated in:

• 15^th conference on food safety and quality, Opatija, Croatia, May 23-25, 2022.
• Symposium on fodder with international participation ‘Krmiva 2022’, Opatija, Croatia, June 01-03, 2022
• The 7th Mediterranean Poultry Summit, Cordoba, Spain, June 08-10, 2022
• PSA Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA, July 11-14, 2022
• 30th Animal Science Day, Zadar, Croatia, September 21-23, 2022
• 3rd Days of agriculture, fishing and forestry, Pula, Croatia, October 27-29, 2022

During 2022 there were also several tours of poultry farms in Croatia organized by the WPSA-Croatian Branch. With the members of the Section of table egg producers, we also organized a professional visit to poultry farms in Austria, which was made possible by the company Schropper, Drassmarkt-Gnas and the Faculty of Agriculture University of Zagreb.

Czech Republic

XI European Symposium on Poultry Welfare, Prague, Czech Republic, 26-29 June 2023

WG9 together with the Czech Branch of WPSA is actively working on the preparation on ESPW 2023.
The abstract submission deadline is 31 December 2022. Registration is open. Conference link: https://www.espw2023.org.

Martina Lichovnikova, Branch secretary

Indonesia

Commemorating of National Chicken and Egg Day 2022 in Indonesia

On Saturday 15 October 2022, WPSA- INDONESIA BRANCH and the Association of Indonesian Poultry Sciences Society (MIPI), held a Poultry Fashion Week at IPB University Baranangsiang Campus, Central Bogor District. The event was commemorating of National Chicken and Egg Day 2022 in Indonesia, and also used by MIPI to educate the public about the importance of consuming poultry products as an effort to prevent stunting. However, a different way of education was presented by MIPI on this occasion. Education is carried out through a fashion show with the concept of poultry.

The President of WPSA-INDONESIA BRANCH and MIPI, Prof. Arnold Parlindungan Sinurat, expressed his desire to make sure that the community is not malnourished or stunted, especially for children. One of the efforts is to promote the consumption of animal protein, eggs and chicken meat because the prices are relatively cheap.

Trobos Livestock Magazine: http://troboslivestock.com/detail-berita/2022/10/17/57/16430/serba-unggas-pfw-suguhkan-kreatifitas-di-bidang-fashion and https://www.radarbogor.id/2022/10/15/mipi-cegah-stunting-lewat-fashion-show/

Israel

Poultry Science one-day Symposium

The Israeli branch held a one-day symposium on November 10th, 2022, at the Volcani Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The symposium was opened with remarks in memory of Prof. Yoram Weisman, former head of the poultry diseases division of the Kimron Veterinary Institute, who recently passed away.

The symposium focused on the following topics:

• Reovirus evolution in Israel between 2015-2022.
• Enterococcus Cecorum: ‘Rising star’ in the broiler morbidity in Israel.
• Avian flu in Europe: Immediate threat for Israel?
• New technologies for pasture chicken rearing: Family farming in Italy.
• Challenges in the transition of raising non-cage layers:
  • Pullet rearing, performance and typical diseases

Eighty participants from all disciplines of the Israel poultry sector took part: academia and research institutes, poultry producers, veterinary services, extension service, and commercial companies serving the industry.

Yitzhak Malka, Secretary - WPSA Israel Branch

Italy

On November 17, 2022, during an official ceremony with the Rector of the University of Bologna, the International Poultry Hall of Fame plaque was presented to Prof Achille Franchini. Prof Franchini could not attend WPC2022 to receive the award (https://magazine.unibo.it/archivio/2022/11/17/il-professor-achille-franchini-nominato-membro-della-international-poultry-hall-of-fame).

The Italian Branch of WPSA is organizing the 23rd edition of European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition (ESPN) in the city of Rimini, an ideal place for the ESPN, with modern as well as eco-friendly.  Prominent invited speakers from countries across the world already confirmed their participation. They will address emerging issues on poultry nutrition and feeding. Preliminary programme is now available on the Symposium website.

Special reduced registration fees are offered for WPSA members and students (early bird registration ends on March 12^th, 2023). More details are available at the Symposia website: https://www.espn2023.eu/.

Massimiliano Petracci, Secretary, Italian Branch of WPSA

Japan

The 2022 Autumn Meeting of Japan Poultry Science Association (JPSA) was held online (web) style on Saturday, September 17 from 9am to 5pm. The JPSA Autumn meeting was hosted by Tokyo University of Agriculture. The meeting included 30 original research presentations, a general meeting, and an online seminar conducted by the Young Members' Executive Committee of JPSA. Although the meeting was an online style, it was a great success where more than 100 members joined it.

The Young Members' Executive Committee of JPSA held a seminar titled ‘Patent Strategies for Poultry Researchers - Academia and Corporate Perspectives’. In this seminar, Prof. Hideo Nagai, Patent Attorney, Office of Academic and Social Cooperation at Hiroshima University, lectured on comparison of trends and strategies for patent applications in the poultry sector between academia and industry. During the seminar, very useful information was provided, and nice discussions were held.

The special lecture titled ‘Challenges and Issues in the Poultry Industry’ was also held. Dr Atsushi Tajima, former President of JPSA. He talked about the challenges and issues to be resolved for the further development of the poultry industry in Japan.

The 2023 Spring Meeting of JPSA will be held with online style on March 28 and 29, 2023. The meeting will include original research presentations and a general meeting. In addition, some award ceremonies of 2022 will also be held. Moreover, a public symposium by volunteers in JPSA will be held in the afternoon on March 28, 2023. The details of meeting and symposium will be soon announced on the JPSA web site (https://jpn-psa.jp/en/meeting-information/). JPSA will welcome a wide participation over the globe. It is also welcoming original research presentations in English.

The Journal of Poultry Science (JPS), the official scientific journal of JPSA, obtained the Impact Factor of 1.768 (2021 Journal Citation Reports, Clarivate Analytics). The JPS is also a member of PubMed Central (PMC), and the articles of the journal can be accessed through PubMed search engine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/3725/). Moreover, JPS is available on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) database (https://doaj.org/toc/1349-0486).

JPSA welcomes the submission of original research articles and review papers to the JPS using the following website: https://jpn-psa.jp/en/jps-en/. Free access to download the full-published articles in the JPS is available on J-Stage (https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jpsa), which provides an excellent opportunity for all to access the full published articles.

JPSA would like to contribute to the Poultry Science in Japan and over the globe by enhancing the international activities with the members from different countries. Thus, JPSA has a membership category for foreign citizens residing abroad as ‘Special International Member’. The page charges to publish their papers in the JPS will be set at a membership price. JPSA invariably welcomes new members from all over the world. Please visit JPSA website (http://jpn-psa.jp/?lang=en) for further information.

Naoki Goto, Secretary of WPSA Japan Branch

Korea Republic

The 2022 Annual meeting and symposium of the Korean Society of Poultry Science (KSPS) was held in Daejeon on November 3-4. There were 6 invited speakers, including 3 new poultry scientists, and 72 papers were presented by oral and poster presentations. In the General meeting, Professor Hyung-Kwan Jang of Chonbuk National University was elected as the new president of KSPS for next year.

Dr Bong-Guk Oh, honorary professor at Seoul National University passed away on September 1, 2022, at the age of 97. Professor Oh made outstanding achievements in poultry breeding and was a pioneer in the development of poultry industry in Korea. Academia and industry will always keep him in grateful and honourable memory.

Ji-hyuk Kim, Secretary of WPSA Korean Branch

Mexico

The 2nd International Poultry Layers meeting ANECA, co-sponsored by WPSA, was held 17-18 November 2022. It was very successful, and we owe a part of this to the WPSA for the co-sponsored support.

Attendants

We had 110 attendants to this meeting, little more than expected. The attendants included:

• 15 Students, all with WPSA sponsorship without paying the access fee.
• 16 Speakers
• 32 Field Poultry Vets
• 40 Industry Poultry Vets
• 7 Committee Members

Scientific programme

We had a complete Scientific Programme with speakers around the globe: USA, Canada, Panamá, Spain and Mexico. One speaker was sponsored by WPSA. Thank you again for this.

Papers

For this meeting, we had 8 papers. Most of them were students. Also we had the Awards for the 3 best presenting papers (also sponsored by the WPSA).

The meeting was very successful and will be held every 2 years.

Dr Victoria Bowes talking about Avian Influenza in Layers	The three Award winners, Elein (Scientific Committee member) and Miguel Casillas.

New Zealand

The New Zealand Branch is organising the New Zealand Poultry Industry Conference in Nelson (Rutherford Hotel) on 22^nd and 23^rd of March 2023. This will be the first face-to face conference after the COVID19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka

From the inception of Sri Lanka Branch of World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA-SL) in 1995, the organization has contributed to elevate the poultry sector of Sri Lanka from that of back yard farming into integrated poultry operations.

It was a challenging tenure for us to achieve the organizational objectives amidst the prevailed economic situation in the country and the poultry sector. Thus, WPSA-SL had to work very closely with the industry and the state sector to support the poultry sector and to address these issues.

• WPSA-SL actively participated in series of discussions on scientific perspectives with responsible state organizations in resolving these issues faced by the poultry industry

• The association participated in few media conferences to make public aware on the crisis scenario and possible scarcity of eggs in 2023.

WPSA-SL conducted its routine activities lined up with its objectives: 

• Three webinars were held under the series of “Strategic Approaches to overcome Emerging Challenges for the Sri Lankan Poultry Industry”.

• Two seminars were carried out in Colombo on the theme of “Benefits of Protein for Healthy Lifestyle (with special reference to Eggs)” to celebrate the World Egg Day 2022 on 13 & 14^t October 2022.

President of WPSA-SL delivering the welcome speech at the Seminar

• A Social media campaign was conducted in educating the public on nutritive values of poultry products.

• Egg donations were made to needy pregnant mothers who were visiting state maternity clinics in order to make aware the society on the importance of egg consumption for elimination of malnutrition.

• Two articles were published in international magazines on the contribution of WPSA-SL for sustainability of the poultry sector during the ongoing economic crisis.

• Annual scientific sessions of the WPSA-SL were held on 11 November 2022 in Colombo, under the theme of ‘Application of Scientific Knowledge for Resilience of Poultry Industry in Sri Lanka’.

• Annual industrial evening was also held on 11 November 2022. This year’s discussion at this evening was mainly focused on export promotion of poultry products.

Dr Krishan Dulanga, Secretary- World’s Poultry Science Association, Sri Lanka Branch 

United Kingdom

It’s not quite the end of 2022 but the U.K. Branch are well into the planning of the 2023 annual meeting.

Already set are the dates — 29th-30th March — and the venue, which is the International Conference Centre in Birmingham. This city-centre location has been chosen for its transport links and range of accommodation options.

As in previous years, the Branch’s Spring Meeting is organized in conjunction with the British Society of Animal Production. This long-standing cooperation between the two associations offers synergies for the increasing number of U.K.-based scientists working with poultry and other livestock species.

Right now, the Programme Committee is making its final selection from submitted abstracts to create the most topical, interesting and attractive programme.

Among the regular highlights of these meetings is the Gordon Memorial Lecture, commemorating the life of Dr R.F. Gordon and his contribution to veterinary science and the poultry industry at the Houghton Poultry Research Station. Established after Dr Gordon’s death in 1981, the Robert Fraser Gordon Memorial Trust is a charity established to enable an annual lecture to be given in his name.

Invited to give the lecture in 2023 is Professor Ian Brown, OBE. He is Head of the Virology Department at the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Weybridge, and Director of the OIE/FAO International Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease.

In this year when the number of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza has never been higher or more widespread, the subject of Professor Brown’s lecture could hardly be more appropriate: ‘A paradigm shift in high pathogenicity avian influenza and perspectives for the future’.

The Gordon Memorial Lecture is currently in the programme for Wednesday 29th March, 17:00 to 18:00, and it will be followed by a reception.

All being well, the Branch’s 2023 Spring Meeting will be held exclusively in person, allowing delegates to take advantage of the many networking opportunities included in the programme.

Jackie Linden, WPSA UK Branch Secretary

Australia

Australian Poultry Science Symposium

The 32nd Annual Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) was held as a ‘virtual’ meeting on February 9-10, 2021. APSS is organised by the Poultry Research Foundation of the University of Sydney and the Australia Branch of the WPSA. This annual meeting is normally held as a face-to-face meeting in Sydney, most recently in the downtown Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park Hotel. However, for 2021, the decision was made to change to a fully on-line ‘virtual’ symposium because of the covid-19 pandemic. For the 2020 symposium, there was an initial registration of 280 people, 20 of whom withdrew their registration because of the impact of the early stages of the pandemic. At the 2021 ‘virtual’ symposium, the total number of registrants was 250 and sponsorship was maintained at its usual high level, indicating the extent of participant and sponsor commitment to the holding of the meeting.

The virtual meeting was extremely well delivered. The evening before the symposium proper, there were opportunities to meet with the sponsors at their respective online booths as well as opportunities for networking with random groups of people set up online for short chat sessions. For the main part of the symposium, all presentations were pre-recorded as videos to ensure that the programme was not disrupted in the event of any IT problems. Even the posters had short video presentations attached to the on-line posters and the opportunity for live interaction with the poster presenters. The sections of all sessions were followed by a live question and answer (Q & A) session and participants had the opportunity of asking questions as a presentation was being screened, as well as during the live Q & A.

The virtual event made use of Centium Software, the EventsAIR platform and the live Aircast Studio. Touchpoint Meeting Services provided the direct support to the event.

All recorded presentations and sessions continue to be available to paid registrants for a period of 60 days following the symposium.

Invited speakers from outside of Australia were:

• Dr David Marks (Indonesia) ‘Antibiotic stewardship in east and south east Asia: the trials and tribulations of a field veterinarian’
• Dr Maarten de Gussem (Belgium) ‘Gut health in poultry production: holistic approach leading to novel insights in 2021’
• Dr Robert Renema (Canada) ‘Balancing research, innovation and experience to manage the modern broiler breeder’
• Dr Kenneth Anderson (U.S.A.) ‘Layer nutrition associated with different production systems’

Invited speakers from within Australia were:

• Professor Paul Hemsworth ‘Laying hen welfare in Australia’
• Professor Rachel Ankeny ‘Australian community values and layer hen welfare’
• Dr Sam Abraham ‘Bugs have no boundaries: antimicrobial resistance challenges in Australian poultry’
• Dr David Cadogan ‘Alternative methods of feeding layers’
• Dr Rebecca Forder ‘Maternal stress, the potential impact on broiler breeders and subsequent chick development’

Past proceedings of the APSS, including those from 2021, are available at: https://www.apss2021.com.au/proceedings.

All participants agreed that the virtual symposium was a great success. However, of course, they missed having the usual face-to-face contact and the social gatherings. We are hopeful that the 2022 symposium will be a ‘hybrid’ event with participants attending in person if they are able to but offering online participation for those who are unable to attend in person.

Julie Roberts, President, Australia Branch

Brazil

FACTA WPSA-Brazil confirms 38th FACTA Conference FACTA in 2021

In accordance with its mission of diffusing technical and scientific knowledge in the poultry sector, FACTA WSPA-Brazil confirmed that the 38th edition of its Conference will be held in 2021, entirely online and between June 22nd and 24th.  Following last year's event example, which brought together more than 400 attendees from 16 countries, the Foundation chose to keep the event online, as it was considered a success by the participants and in light of the uncertainties surrounding the next semester.

Themed "Aviculture, recalculating...", the Conference will address relevant issues in the productive sector's adaptation to keep in business, as well as the new ways in which poultry products have started being sold since the start of the pandemic. "We believe that the Conference will be a good moment for us to evaluate the changes that occurred and reprogram processes and procedures", specifies FACTA's president, Ariel Mendes.

In addition to the Conference, FACTA will also host the "FACTA Symposium on Salmonella: Updating control and trends" on April 27th and 28th, which will be held online for the first time.

FACTA resumes special Podcast series on aviculture

In the first trimester of 2021, the APINCO Foundation for Poultry Science and Technology continues its special Podcast series on aviculture. The first episode will already be available on the first week of March in FACTA's digital platforms. 19 podcasts were recorded in 2020, addressing varied themes such as Covid-19 prevention in poultry processing plants, biosecurity, immunomodulation benefits, NIR technology, Gumboro disease control, among others. 

FACTA elects its new board members

FACTA's Trustee Council elected two new members for the 2021/2022 biennium: Ariel Antonio Mendes is now the institution's president director and Silvio Hungaro, its financial and managing director.

Ariel Mendes is a veterinary doctor with a Bachelor's degree from UFPR (Federal University of Paraná), Master's from UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), PhD from UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and a post-doctoral fellowship in the Poultry Science Department of the University of Arkansas (USA), with over 40 years dedicated to research and the strenghtening of Brazilian and Latin American aviculture.

Silvio Hungaro is a veterinary doctor with a bachelor's degree from FMVZ-USP (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny - University of São Paulo), having worked in numerous renowned companies in the sector.

The new president director explains that in 2021 the Foundation will continue with the symposiums, seminars and courses, particularly online, which enables reaching people from all over the world and particularly Latin America, FACTA's current priority. It will also focus on face-to-face trainings for contracted poultry growers, in association with the industries and cooperatives that work in the sector.

Heading FACTA in the last six years, professor Irenilza de Alencar Nääs makes the transition for the new board, remarking on the great satisfaction of having served for three terms as the entity's president. The complete board is now as follows: Ariel Mendes, President Director; Anselmo Micheletti, Executive Director; Silvio Hungaro, Financial and Managing Director; Ibiara Correia Almeida Paz, Courses and Publications Director; Marcelo Fagnani Zuanaze, Marketing Director; Rodrigo Garófallo Garcia, Events Director and Eva Hunka, Special Projects Director.

FACTA Library

The FACTA Library has a new title in its collection, the "Doenças das Aves" (Poultry Diseases) book. In its third edition, the publication is authored by Raphael Lucio Andreatti Filho, Ângelo Berchieri Júnior Edir Nepomuceno da Silva, Alberto Back, José Di Fábio and Marcelo A. Fagnani Zuanaze.

The book, coordinated by FACTA, addresses the evolution of poultry medicine that took place in recent years. 120 professionals (from both private companies and renowned educational institutions committed to the poultry sector) were involved in the book’s broad review, which also included new chapters, considered essential for its update.

The FACTA Library has a collection with original works about incubation, broiler breeders' management, poultry production, poultry diseases, among other titles, some of them with international repercussion.

To explore the collection, access: http://facta.org.br/catalogo-de-produtos/

Colombia

The Colombian Association of Veterinarian and Animal Husbandries Specialist in Poultry – AMEVEA, is delighted to receive approval from the World’s Poultry Science Association to become the Colombian branch of WPSA as of 2021.

AMEVEA is a non-profit organization founded 52 years ago, which aims to maintain continuous education in professionals specialised in poultry through the development of academic activities including: seminars, courses, symposia and virtual conferences. It also supports research projects in poultry, in alliances with universities.

Dr Luis Carlos Monroy, vice-president of AMEVEA’s board of directors was chosen as president of the Colombian Branch and the Secretary is Dr César Augusto Pradilla, executive director of AMEVEA.

Our members come from different backgrounds: there are veterinarians, animal husbandries, biologists and microbiologists, all of them with extensive field experience in poultry.

France

The 2021 general assembly of WPSA-France took place online 18 March 2021. Four new members of the Board were elected on that occasion. The Branch also held at a scientific session on that date called ‘WPSA Thursday,’ dedicated to the topic ‘Resilience of the poultry production chain following one year of COVID-19’. The event was freely accessible to all 2021 members of the French Branch of WPSA, who can access all documents at https://www.wpsa.fr/12-qui-sommes-nous/79-jeudi-de-la-wpsa-2020

In its subsequent online meeting, the board elected Christophe Bostvironnois as president, Michel Duclos as secretary, Catherine Hamelin as treasurer, Michel Lessire and Michele Tixier-Boichard as vice-presidents.

Christophe Bostvironnois, President, and Michel Duclos, secretary WPSA France 

Germany

The German Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association held its Annual Meeting online on March, 9^th to 10^th 2021, due to the pandemic situation. In total, 120 members attended the scientific presentations that covered specific topics from AI, to measuring dust, to in-ovo sexing. The speakers and their topics included:

• Timm Harder, from the Institute for Virus Diagnostics, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Institute for Animal Health: Cyclic re-emergence of high pathogenicity avian influenza epidemic in Europe – any lessons learned?
• Birgit Spindler, from the Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation: Possibilities of automated recording of animal welfare indicators in poultry
• Carolin Adler, Inga Tiemann, and Wolfgang Büscher from the Institute for Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn: Elevated perforated areas in broiler housing – the universal solution?
• Jörg Hurlin, from Agri Technologies GmbH, Visbek: Sex determination in the egg – chances and limits.
• Falko Kaufmann, Focus Applied Poultry Science, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences: Brother cocks – opportunities and limits.
• Silke Rautenschlein, from the Clinic for Poultry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover Foundation; and Inga Tiemann, from the Institute for Animal Science & Institute for Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn: Dual-purpose chickens – opportunities and limits.

Practical prizes from the Ulmer Verlag publishing house were presented to Christiane Ahlers and Martin Huchler for: Keeping laying hens with untrimmed beaks - a view of the flock is not enough; and, to Christiane Keppler, Inga Garrelfs and Birgit Spindler for: Dealing with and injured pullets and laying hens. - Decisions about life and death.

A Master’s Thesis Award was presented to Senta Becker from the Institute for Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn: Evaluation of two flooring systems regarding their dust emissions in broiler production and comparison of two dust measuring systems.

Many thanks to the presenting authors, and also to the audience! See you next time, hopefully in Berlin,

The XII Euroepan Symposium on Poultry Genetics is being planned for Hannover, 8-10 November 2023. Information will follow.

Inga Tiemann, Secretary, Germany Branch

Hungary

The Hungarian Branch in cooperation with the Poultry Product Board of Hungary is currently organizing the 19^th ’World Egg Day’ conference. The date for that conference will be 8^Th October 2021 and it will be held in Budapest. We have a arranged a general lecture with a speaker from Rabobank, and five other speakers from different fields such as animal health, feeding, diseases, and egg processing.

Györgyi Molnár, Secretary, Hungarian Branch

 For further information concerning the venue, registration, etc., please contact:

Györgyi Molnár PhD.
+3630 561 7103
Agricultural Secretary
Poultry Product Board
Hungary

India

The India Branch sponsored a ‘National e-Quiz competition on Eggs’ on October 9 2020 in conjunction with our annual World Egg Day. The competition was organized by the Department of Poultry Science at Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India.

Indonesia

Indonesian Branch of WPSA held the 5th Virtual Congress and elected New Committee for 2020 – 2025

WPSA-Indonesia (MIPI), which is a branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA), was founded in 1992. MIPI received its legal status in August 2, 2020 and since then the organization is legally known as the Indonesian Poultry Science Association or Perkumpulan Masyarakat Ilmu Perunggasan Indonesia (MIPI).

MIPI welcomes all Indonesians who have an interest in poultry science, businesses, and government officers. MIPI disseminates knowledge and technology on all aspects of poultry production by organising technical seminars and scientific conferences. MIPI tries to harmonise the relationships between scientists, government officers, poultry farmers, and people working in the poultry industry.

On December 23, 2020, MIPI held a congress virtually. The congress was opened by MIPI President Prof. Dwi Sunarti, followed by a presentation of a scientific seminar with two speakers: Dr Nasrullah, the Director-General of Livestock and Animal Health Services, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, and Dr Roel Mulder, the Secretary of the World’s Poultry Science Association.

The Indonesian government hopes that MIPI can participate in solving problems faced by the poultry industry in this country, such as problems of unstable supply and demand on poultry meat in Indonesia.

The WPSA Secretary Dr Roel Mulder described general information about WPSA, such as its mission and vision. He also described the outlook for the global poultry industry such as the perspective on COVID-19 impact on the egg industry, which is currently in a difficult situation due to the covid-19 pandemic. The Covid 19 pandemic has caused a big drop in food service and tourism industries and has increased feed costs.

The 5th MIPI congress elected the executive committee for the 2020-2025 period. The committee consists of Prof. Ir. Arnold Parlindungan Sinurat, PhD as the President of WPSA Indonesia, Dr Chutaemil Marom as Vice President, Prof. Dr Ir. Maria Endo Mahata, MS, as Secretary, Yopi Safari, S.Pt as vice Secretary, and Dr Ir. Rd. Triana Susanti, M.Si as Treasurer.

The new committee discussed some programmes to be executed this year such as strengthening the organisation, renewing the membership, and conducting some online seminars or discussions. MIPI is also preparing to host the 7th World Waterfowl Conference to be held in Indonesia in 2022.

Italy

The next annual national meeting will be organized in conjunction with the 2021 edition of FIERAVICOLA which will be held at the Rimini Expo Centre from 7 to 9 September. General information on the International Poultry Exhibition is available on the website: https://www.fieravicola.com/en/.

The Annual Meeting will be jointly organized together with the Italian Branch World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA).

In order to avoid overlapping with WPC in 2022, ESPN will take place at the same planned venue, Palacongressi in Rimini, from 21 to 24 June, 2023. Our Branch would like to thank again VET International and Palacongressi of Rimini for their cooperation and understanding during this time. The city of Rimini, is an ideal place for the European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition and the modern as well as eco-friendly Venue is the perfect stage for the event. Many attendees including both poultry research scientists and practitioners, leading speakers from across the world joining together to explore the past, share the present and helping to forge the future of poultry meat science. More details are already available at the Symposia website: https://www.espn2023.eu/.

Massimiliano Petracci, Secretary, Italian Branch of WPSA

Japan

The 2021 Spring Meeting of the Japan Poultry Science Association (JPSA) was held online (web) style on Saturday, March 27 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Japan standard time. The meeting included 43 original research presentations, a general meeting, and ceremonies for the JPSA Award and the JPSA Incentive Award. All activities were on a live stream. Although the meeting was our first experience with the online style, it was a great success.

During the Spring Meeting, Awards for Excellent Presentations were given under the categories of ‘student member’ or ‘regular member aged 30 yrs. or below’ for the following presentations: 1) ‘Analysis of innate immune response in the duck RIG-I knocked-in DF-1’ by Kennosuke Ichikawa (Hiroshima University); 2) ‘Sensitivities to weak and strong acids in chicken oral tissue’ by Saki Ishibashi (Hirosaki University); 3) ‘Effects of supplementation with the lactic acid bacterium fermented sweet potato-shochu distillery by-product on growth performance and meat quality of broiler chickens’ by Daichi Sonoda (Kagoshima University); and 4) ‘Investigation of nutritional factors inducing fatty liver and analysis of its pathogenic mechanism in laying quail’ by Daiki Mori (Nagoya University). JPSA congratulates the presenters who received the Excellent Presentation Awards during the JPSA’s Spring Meeting 2021.

The JPSA Award was also presented to Dr Atsushi Asano (University of Tsukuba) during the Spring Meeting. In addition, JPSA Incentive Awards were presented to Dr Takahiro Nii (Hiroshima University), Dr Fuminori Kawabata (Hirosaki University), and Dr Mei Matsuzaki (Hiroshima University).

A meeting of the Young Members' Executive Committee of JPSA was held through an online seminar entitled ‘How to Conduct an Effective Referee Reading’ on March 26, which is just one day before starting the 2021 Spring Meeting. Peer review is an important process to ensure the quality of academic journals, and it is one of the most important tasks for researchers. In this seminar, it was discussed about the principles and tips of effective peer reviewing by two Professors, Dr Kazuhisa Honda (Kobe University), the current editorial board chair, and Dr Takashi Bungo (Hiroshima University), a former editorial board chair of the Journal of Poultry Science (JPS). This seminar provided very useful information, especially for our young scientists. There were also good discussions during the seminar.

The 2021 Autumn Meeting of JPSA will be held online style (zoom meeting) and will be hosted by Tohoku University on Thursday, September 16 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Japan standard time. The details for the Autumn Meeting are available on the JPSA Homepage at https://jpn-psa.jp/en/meeting-information/. JPSA will welcome a wide participation over the glove.

The JPS, the official scientific journal of JPSA (IF: 0.880), became a member of PubMed Central (PMC), and the articles published in the journal can now be accessed through PubMed’s search engine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/3725/). Moreover, JPSA is also available on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) database (https://doaj.org/toc/1349-0486).

We welcome the reception of original research articles and review papers to the JPS using the following website: https://jpn-psa.jp/en/jps-en/. Free access to download the full-published articles in JPS is available on J-Stage (https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jpsa), which provides an excellent opportunity for all to access the full published articles.

JPSA wants to contribute to the Poultry Science in Japan and over the globe by enhancing its international activities with members from different countries. Thus, JPSA has a membership category for foreign citizens residing abroad as ‘Special International Member’. The page charges for such members to publish their papers in the JPS will be set at the regular membership price. JPSA always welcomes new members from all over the world. Please visit our JPSA website (http://jpn-psa.jp/?lang=en) for further information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a tough situation in the world, but JPSA hopes things will get better soon. Please take good care of yourself!

Naoki Goto, Secretary of WPSA Japan Branch

Pakistan

DR MUHAMMAD ASLAM

1 August 1953 – 21 December, 2020

At the end of the day, it is not about what you accomplished or how much wealth you attained, but it is about who you have lifted up and who you have made feel better. It’s about what you have given back to this world. It’s about how hard you worked and what you worked hard for. And that is what he used to say: ‘Work like labour, live like king.’ We were walking in the fields full of fruit and pine trees which he had planted. I asked him why he had planted those trees which would take years and years to grow. ‘You and I may not be able to reap the benefits of these trees but the coming generations will.’ I did not understand that until now. He did not plant them for himself, he was simply stating that someone would be sitting in the shade today because someone had planted a tree a long time ago.

Dr Aslam was the epitome of being the person who always thought of giving back to the people in some way. He was a very down to earth man, always smiling and helping others. I would ask him often: "Abu, what is the reason behind your success? I spent more than what my pocket had on people.” He replied. He was a friend, a father, a husband and a businessman. To many, he was a source of comfort, for others, he was a source of guidance. But for me, he was a reflection of my own self, passing everything of him onto me.

Every successful businessman has his own story, his own struggle to the top. Dr Aslam had his own story. In the 1970s, the young Dr Aslam had left his village from the district of Okara to pursue further studies in Lahore. The young man ended up securing a place in UVAS, Lahore and graduated from there as a DVM. Later on, he graduated from Rawalpindi medical college as an MBBS doctor. The young graduate then started a small poultry farm in 1981 that housed only a couple of thousands of birds, delivering and selling the products himself on a rented van. At that time, the poultry industry was emerging in Pakistan. With hard work, dedication and honesty he established one of the biggest poultry companies in Pakistan. He always adapted latest innovations & technologies and set high standards for himself and his team, which resulted in high quality products, some of the principles that he had laid for the company. And that is the foundation on which the company stands on today. Looking after the employees was the basis running his company. He would say, “The business has to grow every year to give better benefits to employees.” He was declared businessman of the year in 2011 by RCCI.

Dr Aslam acted on his ideology of giving back to society throughout his life, he was a very charitable man. He built District Public School, Gogera based on that principle; to provide excellent education to the underprivileged by spending from his own pocket when needed. He also did charitable donations to Allied hospitals, Rawalpindi as the Chairman of the board to strive and make the visiting patients’ lives much easier. Today, they possess some of the most modern medical equipment in the country. As a representative of Flood relief Committee Rawalpindi, he raised and distributed over 15M rupees to flood victims, benefitting over 600 families. He would also distribute Cheque at doorsteps of needy people in all in all the union councils of Rawalpindi. Additionally, he remained Chairman Public Safety Commission, district Rawalpindi for three years, serving and providing to hundreds of families.

As the pioneer of the poultry industry of Pakistan, he remained the chairman of PPA several times during his career and contributed substantially towards the betterment of the industry. Dr Aslam did not just leave behind a legacy that would be remembered for generations, but he also left behind people who feel his absence daily. He did not leave amassing a great wealth but he left amassing the blessings and prayers of many. And that is what a visionary is supposed to be; to live forever in the hearts of everyone yet, still not be around. May Allah Grant him the highest of ranks in Jannah, Ameen!

Positions held:

• Executive Member Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Chairman, Pakistan Poultry Association
• Member Punjab Bait-ul-Maal Council, Lahore
• Chairman Public Safety Commission, District Rawalpindi
• Convener Flood Relief Committee, Rawalpindi
• Member Punjab Poultry Board
• Member Human Rights Commission, District Rawalpindi
• Chairman Board of Management Rawalpindi Medical College/Allied hospitals
• Life Member of World’s Poultry Science Association

WPSA Women wing

WPSA Pakistan branch is the first WPSA branch in the world to have its women wing. Like elsewhere in the world, female students are slowly dominating the veterinary, animal husbandry and Poultry Sciences Universities and will also change the ratio in the Poultry Industry.

Keeping this situation in mind, WPSA Pakistan branch female member Dr Fareeha Talha floated the idea of a women's wing. The idea was approved by the executive body WPSA Pakistan branch and the women wing was developed with Dr Fareeha Talha elected its first president.

Dr Fareeha Talha is the first female veterinarian from the north of Pakistan and the first female veterinarian entrepreneur in the poultry industry of Pakistan. She has the vision to support females related to the poultry industry for entrepreneurship and to facilitate female students and researchers to be more innovative and practical in solving problems related to poultry industry. Dr Fareeha Talha aims to develop better liaison between industry, academia and poultry research institutes. Keeping in view the social norms of the country, women can be the best researchers, poultry lab workers, farm managers and feed mill nutritionists.

The WPSA Pakistan branch women wing's first executive and general body meeting was held on 11th Feb 2021. The executive body outlined their programmes for 2021 which included national level seminars, consumer awareness on poultry products among females as they have most say in the kitchen, membership drive for females related to industry, organising awareness lectures for females on entrepreneurship in poultry industry and providing opportunities for them.

WPSA Online Lecture Series 2021

The WPSA Online Lecture Series 2021 - Coaching and Nurturing Young Talent has started with the first presentation on Poultry Disease by de joint Secretary of WPSA-PB Women Wing, Dr Sumaira Ali on May 22, 2021.

Dr Shahzad Naveed Jadoon, Director/CEO Alltech Pakistan opened the meeting by sharing the key principles of WPSA-PB (World’s Poultry Science Association Pakistan Branch), which are: Research, Education and Organization. He appreciated the dedicated zones of WPSA-PB including Northern, Southern, Research and Development and Women wing and their valuable contributions towards the improvement of poultry industry Pakistan. He shared that the purpose of arranging this Online Lecture Series is to convert the challenge of limited interaction because of COVID-19 into a learning opportunity. He added that the main objective is to support the young talents and provide them with an opportunity to polish and improve their skills, learn from experiences and share their knowledge and ideas. He stated that two sessions per month will be scheduled.

Dr Sumaira Ali gave a brief presentation on Infectious Laryngotracheitis Diseases in Poultry and elaborated its devastating impact on commercial poultry and local small scale poultry farms. She discussed its etiology, transmission, clinical signs and diagnosis, also shared the preventive measures and vaccination programmes that could be effective in lowering the severity of the disease caused by virus.

Dr Fareeha Talha, President Women Wing WPSA-PB attended the session and thanked Dr Jadoon for his idea of coaching and nurturing young talent. She stated that WPSA-PB’s aim should be to promote the young scientists, researchers and young talent. She emphasized that WPSA-PB should be a blend of veterinarians, researchers, scientists and youth, people from diverse backgrounds rather than relaying on only poultry companies. The first step is always the hardest, but women wing has come forward and initiated the run. She thanked Dr Sumaira for her presentation.

Calendar

Russia

Scientific communication with industry: The VNITIP Federal Scientific Centre of the Russian Science Academy in Serguiev Posad, Moscow Region, recognizes the importance of scientific communication with the industry and has a programme to encourage this effort. Every year more than 1000 experts from Russia and abroad attend lectures from leading scientists in poultry industry areas, exchange experiences and discuss innovations from local and foreign poultry science efforts in Ptitsegrad. All are welcome to attend the courses in Serguiev Posad.

Tatiana Vasilieva, Secretary

South Africa

AI has reached our shores and with covid the Poultry Industry has had a tough time lately. The SA branch of the WPSA did not have their annual Scientific Day in 2020 but we are excited to announce that we will host an online conference over 2 days in November 2021. We have a great range of speakers lined up and are partnering with an experienced  company to manage the online event. We will distribute information regarding registration soon.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Branch of the WPSA had scheduled the 19^th Annual Scientific sessions in 2020, but had to postpone it due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Even this year due to the spread of Covid 19, it was impossible to hold these sessions, because meetings and gatherings were not allowed. Keeping to the Sri Lankan health guidelines the Scientific Session was held successfully on 7^th May 2021 as a virtual meeting with Zoom technology. Around 67 participants attended the virtual meeting. The Secretary General of WPSA Dr Roel Mulder also participated.

There were 7 papers presented as follows:

• A comparison of growth performance and feed cost of broilers fed diets supplemented with a phytogenic growth promoter – by Leelaratne B.S.S., Atapattu N.S.B. Mm, Kumara R.P., and Premasiri H.P.
• Assessment of current welfare status of broilers in Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka – by Dodangoda D.G.I.L., Kumari M.A.A.P, Dissanayake S.P., and Somasiri S.C.
• A survey on public perception on utilization of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL:Hermetia illucens) in waste management and poultry feeding in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka by Ellawidana E.W.D.M., Perera R.N.N., Lakmini P.K., Priyadarshana M.K., and Magamage M.P.S.
• Detection of an outbreak of Inclusion Body Hepatitis in commercial broiler chickens in North Western and Western Provinces in Sri Lanka – by Perera G.I.S., Fernando P.S., Bandara W.M.P., Karunarathne G.M.C.R., Wijekoon W.M.S.K., and Dulakshi H.M.T.
• Antimicrobial resistance of E Coli isolated from commercial layer and backyard chicken farms from two Veterinary Divisions in Kalutara district in Sri Lanka. – by Gunathilaka G.A.D.K.K., Kottawatta K.S.A., Thilakaratne D.S., and Kalupahana R.S.
• Effect of the coconut- shell biochar incorporation on ammonia emission from broiler litter – by Lavanniya K., and Atapattu N.S.B.M.
• Two incidents of Infectious Bursal Disease in small holder poultry layer farms despite vaccination.- by Rathnayake R.M.I.M., De Silva N., Kalupahana A.W.

Dr Mrs A L Godwin, Secretary WPSA-SL

Turkey

For obvious reasons known to all, the WPSA-Turkey Branch has been unable to hold activities at the desired level. However, since the beginning of 2021, two board meetings have been held through video conferencing. In these meetings, in order to maintain common interest in our branch, matters such as organising meetings on current issues related to poultry, combating misinformation about poultry products that appear from time to time in the media, and cooperation with relevant official organisations and NGOs were discussed.

We hope to continue our activities after these difficult days are over and life returns to normal.

Prof. Dr Kâzım Şahin, Secretary, WPSA Turkish Branch

United Kingdom

UK Branch annual meeting

UK Branch annual meeting went online (almost) without a hitch. Like so many events over the past year, the United Kingdom (U.K.) Branch opted to hold its annual meeting online in April.

Number of registrations was 120 — rather more than have attended the branch’s regular Spring Meetings in recent years. Actual attendance was almost constant at between 62 and 68 throughout the two days.

Main themes of the four invited presentations were slow-growing poultry, and opportunities for value-added poultry products. From Wageningen University in The Netherlands, Dr Peter van Horne described how slower growing broilers were introduced onto the Dutch market, while the future of slower growing breeds was explored by Dr James Bentley (Hubbard SAS). ‘Opportunities and challenges for added-value chicken meat’ was the title of a presentation by Dr Francesca Soglia of the University of Bologna in Italy. From Switzerland, Dr Isabelle Gangnat of the ETH Zurich discussed further opportunities for higher value meats, specifically chicken.

In addition to these invited talks, the meeting programme included 26 scientific presentations. These covered original research on a range of topics including nutrition, health and bird welfare.

The President’s Prize for the best long presentation went to Salvatore Galgano of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). His talk was entitled ‘Peracetic acid pre-cursors for non-antibiotic modulation of gut microbiota and possible modulation of performance in broilers’.

For the best short talk, the President’s Prize was awarded to Rebekah McMurray of Queen’s University Belfast. The title of her presentation was ‘The effect of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb, Anemone chinesis Bunge and Smilax glabra Roxb on performance, nutrient digestibility and gastrointestinal tract microbiota of broilers’.

Both of these recipients receive a certificate and cash award.

Overall, this first experience for the UK branch in holding its Spring Meeting remotely went very smoothly. This was thanks in no small part to the hard work and dedication of the Programme Committee, expert technical support by Webmaster Richard Harris, and cool coordination by Branch president, Professor Emily Burton.

Poultry Science Symposium postponed to 2022

Sadly, the 33rd Poultry Science Symposium (PSS) organized by the UK Branch — scheduled originally for August 2020, and then the same month this year — has been postponed for a second time. The chosen venue is the University of Cambridge, which informed the branch in April that it will not host any conferences in 2021.

This has come as a bitter disappointment. However, it is the branch’s determined aim to hold the meeting when the situation allows. Discussions are ongoing with Clare College to secure an alternative date in 2022.

Theme of the Symposium will be ‘Pre- and probiotics: Nutritional, veterinary and production perspectives. Latest information will be posted on the event web site: https://www.wpsa2020.org/.

Jackie Linden, UK Branch Secretary

USA

The USA and Canadian Branches of the WPSA will again jointly sponsor the annual WPSA Lecture that will be held on Monday, July 19 during the Virtual 2021 Poultry Science Association Annual meeting. The speaker will be Dr Rozita Dara from the School of Computer Science at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The topic of the WPSA Lecture will be ‘Utilizing Big Data in Poultry Smart Farming: Opportunities and Challenges’.

The coalition of North American branches (USA, Canada and Mexico) is excited to announce our intent to revise and re-submit our bid to host the XXVII World’s Poultry Congress in 2026 in Toronto, Canada. The revised bid will accommodate the postponement of the WPC until 2026 due to the postponement of the XXVI WPC in Paris until the summer of 2022.

Dr Bob Buresh, WPSA Senior Vice President and USA Branch Secretary