IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science (IOSR-JAVS) e-ISSN: 2319-2380, p-ISSN: 2319-2372. Volume 11, Issue 9 Ver. II (September 2018), PP 01-06 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/2380-1109020106 www.iosrjournals.org 1 | Page Effectiveness of Some Disinfectants Commonly Used in footbaths inside Poultry Farms Shimaa A.E. Nasr 1 , Elshaimaa Ismael 1 , SamahE.Laban 1 , EmanM.Ismail 1 , Mohamed M. Hamoud 2 ,ManalM. Zaki 1 , Osama M.K.Zahran 1 1 Department of Animal, Poultry and Environment Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza,12211,Egypt. 2 Department of Poultry and Rabbit Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt Corresponding Author: Shimaa A.E. Nasr Abstract:Footbath is a very simple form of biosecurity that helps preventing the potential spread of disease. Three experimental studies were conducted to evaluate and compare the bactericidal effectiveness of five commercial disinfectants (CleanZix®, Zix-Virox®, Synergize®, GroundZero® and Halamid®) in liquid and semi-liquid form after one minute contact time ,Besides, comparing the capacity of liquid and semi-liquid foot baths to withstand and remain effective along the study duration for three successive days challenged daily against 12 cm 2 contaminated rubber shoes with poultry deep litter. After one-minute contact time, all the disinfectants were not effective in reducing the bacterial load of the contaminated shoes. Otherwise, the Chloramine-T disinfectant (Halamid®) in its first day of use (liquid form) showed the highest log reduction 4.17. the semi-liquid bath achieved 100% bacterial reduction and showed no viable bacteria along the whole experiment days., the semiliquid foot baths need much time to act correctly as it was more condensed, but this did not lessen its powerful and efficient capacity to remain clean for 3 successive days than the liquid baths. Key words: disinfectants, Chloramine-T, liquid and semi-solid foot bath, poultry, organic matter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 02-09-2018 Date of acceptance: 18-09-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Although the main risk factor for introducing infection to a poultry flock is direct contact to infected poultry, humans are supposed to be another risk factor who may act as mechanical vectors. Subsequently, most biosecurity protocols on poultry production facilities include that employees, visitors, and veterinarians disinfect their shoes before entering facilities. Yet, few studies have evaluated the efficacy of footbaths for reducing bacterial count on footwear. Footbaths will not sterilize footwear, but they could benefit in reducing the risk for infection when used with effective disinfectants. [1]. Numerous disinfectants are commercially available, but careful consideration should be taken before selecting the suitable one for footbath. [2]. Appropriate attention should be taken while mixing disinfectants. Sub-lethal concentrations of disinfectant may keep organisms viable but in non-cultural state. [3,4] or even develop antimicrobial resistance .[5]. Poor maintenance of footbaths and its obvious contamination with organic matter are frequently observed in most facilities. People usually avoid stepping into foot baths or just step through the bath without cleaning their footwear. [6]. Many disinfectants do not function well in the presence of organic matter, such as soil or litter, as quaternary ammonium compounds [2]. Disinfectants may have a limited lifespan after their initial dilution in foot baths due to heat, sunlight, time, organic matter (OM), and other contaminants that reduce their efficacy [7]. The aim of disinfection is to decrease microbial populations.The various classes of disinfectants include, quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), halogens, oxidizing agents, aldehydes, chlorhexidine compounds, and alcohols [8]. Hydrogen peroxide and glutaraldehyde products are most commonly used disinfectants in cleansing and disinfection steps in poultry farms and footbath [9,10]. Peroxygen disinfectant had higher decontamination properties on rubber boots, compared with the QAC disinfectant[1]. The low efficacy of peroxygen was associated to its susceptibility to organic matter [11,12]. The combination of glutaraldehyde and QAC increases their antibacterial effectiveness [13]. Iodophors have powerful bactericidal efficacy against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial, and act through their high affinity to microbial membrane lipids [14,15]. Chloramine-T produces a more stable residual in water than free chlorine providing long-lasting protection against regrowth. Moreover, chloramine could penetrate more deeply than chlorine within the biofilm [16].