Poultry litter is a good source of nutrients and organic matter for growing crops (Marsh et al., 2009). Poultry Manure is made up of faecal droppings, wood shaving (bedding), waste feed and high load of microbes (2 - 4). It is commonly used by vegetable farmers as organic fertilizer (1 - 3). Vegetable contamination by pathogenic microbes is of great health importance in leafy vegetables, especially those consumed raw, as farmers often broadcast their poultry manure over already established crops (2, 3). Human exposure to poultry dust has been associated with various infectious, allergic, respiratory and immunologic diseases (4).
Avian influenza (AI) is a highly contagious viral disease affecting several species of birds used for food (chickens, turkeys, quails, guinea fowl, etc.), pet birds and wild birds (5). The AI viruses are orthomyxoviruses, influenza type A and exhibit high frequency of genetic resortment with resultant antigenic changes in the viral surface glycoproteins. This makes influenza viruses