ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Geography
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin island nation located in the Eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Geographic coordinates: 17° 03' N, 61° 48' W. This country has two major islands: Antigua and Barbuda. They are located in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Antigua and Barbuda are part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago with the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago to the south, Montserrat to the southwest, Saint Kitts and Nevis to the west and Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Anguilla to the northwest.
The terrain is mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands, with some higher volcanic areas. Total area is 442.6 sq km (Antigua 280 sq km; Barbuda 161 sq km). The island of Antigua is divided into six parishes. The island of Barbuda has a population of 1, 241 persons. The capital city of St. John’s has a population of 21, 514. The total population according to a 2005 estimate was 69, 481 persons with a growth rate of 0.527% and a population density of 84/km squared.

Barbuda is a frigate bird sanctuary with hundred of thousands of these birds living in the mangrove. It is thought that some of these birds migrate to mate.

The Poultry Industry
All broilers are reared by small farmers in semi-commercial or backyard type operations. These operations are not confined to any specific area in the country but are spread out over the entire island. There are no large commercial broiler operations in Antigua. Small poultry farmers rear and slaughter approximately 140,000 broilers annually and there are approximately 40,000 layer birds. Annually, approximately 2500 metric tonnes of poultry meat are imported from the USA while local production accounts for 204 metric tonnes.  Poultry meat consumption is approximately 35kg per person per year while egg consumption is approximately 86 eggs per person per year.
Bio-security conditions on the farms are at levels 3 and 4. There are no large commercial processing plants. A few small processing plants are in operation, with many small and backyard farmers slaughtering their poultry in the back yard.  These processed birds are then distributed and sold by the farmers to nearby shops and homes in the community. There are one or two backyard poultry operators in Barbuda.
Baby chicks are imported from Barbados and occasionally from the USA. There are no hatcheries on the island. The chicks are vaccinated in the hatchery in Barbados against Marek’s Disease, Newcastle Disease and Gumboro’s Disease before they are imported. Occasionally, during the grow-out period, broilers birds are revaccinated against Newcastle Disease. Layers are vaccinated against Fowl Pox, Marek’s Disease and Newcastle Disease.  All vaccines are imported from the traditional vaccine manufacturing companies in the USA and require registration by the Ministry of Agriculture before they can be used in the country.
Infectious diseases of poultry, including Avian Influenza (AI) are covered under the Animal Diseases Act and Regulations of Antigua and Barbuda. Veterinarians from the Official Veterinary Services as well as from the private sector provide veterinary services to the poultry farmers focusing mainly on farm bio-security and disease prevention methods. Over the last five years there have been no reports of any outbreaks of infectious diseases in the poultry population. Coccidiosis is the only disease that occasionally causes losses.   
Presently, Antigua does not have a Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory but plans are in place to have a lab constructed in the near future. HPAI diagnostic resources available include the ELISA based rapid test kits. Arrangements are in place to ship surveillance samples to CIRAD in Guadeloupe for AI testing.
There are currently only two veterinarians in the Official Veterinary Services and one attached to the Caribbean Ambylomma Programme which is a programme funded by the USDA and FAO to eradicate the Amblyomma sp. tick form Antigua and other islands in the Caribbean. As of May 2007 vacancy exists for a Chief Veterinary Officer. There are four veterinary technicians and two livestock officers in the Ministry of Agriculture. There are six private veterinarians on the island
The Antigua Poultry Association meets regularly and there exists a relatively good working relationship between the Association and the Ministry of Agriculture.  Meetings of the Association are sometimes addressed by Official Veterinarians who advise farmers on bio-security measures include HPAI prevention and preparedness. 

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