A systematic review on the role of biosecurity to prevent or control colibacillosis in broiler production.

This systematic review aimed at investigating the role that biosecurity can have in preventing or controlling colibacillosis in broiler production. Primary studies with natural or experimental exposure to avian pathogenic Escherichia coli, evaluating any biosecurity measure to prevent or control colibacillosis in broiler chickens with at least one of the following outcomes: feed conversion ratio (FCR), condemnations at slaughter, and mortality due to colibacillosis, were included. A systematic search was carried out in 4 databases according to the Cochrane handbook and reported following the PRISMA 2020 directions. Studies (n = 3,886) were screened in a 2-phase process and data matching the inclusion criteria were extracted. Risk of bias assessment was performed. Four studies reporting biosecurity measures to prevent or control colibacillosis in broiler production were included. In all studies, only disinfection during either the pre-hatching period (n = 3) or the post-hatching period (n = 1) was evaluated as biosecurity measure in broiler production, as well as its effect on FCR (n = 2) and mortality (n = 4) due to colibacillosis. No studies with effects on condemnations at slaughter were found. Due to the heterogeneity of studies in regard to interventions and outcomes, meta-analysis was not carried out. The limited findings of this systematic review do not provide a comprehensive evidence to statistically evaluate the efficacy of biosecurity to prevent or control colibacillosis in broiler production. The scarcity of evidence found suggests that further and deeper investigations on the topic are needed, considering the variety of interventions related to biosecurity.