Backyard poultry production is growing globally with 85 million backyard chickens estimated in the U.S. Whether kept as pets or to provide a local and sustainable food source, flocks can harbor pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can be transmitted to humans via the environment, pests, food products, and direct contact. Poultry waste can contaminate soil and water sources, posing risks to nearby humans and other animals. Flocks can attract pests that may carry diseases and disrupt local ecosystems. This project, which will launch in the summer of 2025, aims to improve understanding among backyard poultry farmers of potential health, environmental, community, and food safety risks associated with their systems and motivate the adoption and promotion of behaviors critical to public health and sustainability of local food systems using a peer-to-peer outreach approach.

Bio sketch
Nafisa Lubna, is an environmental biochemist originally from Bangladesh and currently a second-year PhD student at SNR. She specializes in applied ecology and her research encompasses molecular diagnosis of emerging bacterial infections, zoonosis, root cause identification, and environmental risk factor analysis from poultry and live bird production. She is learning to use health extension in preventing antimicrobial resistance and other infectious diseases working together with Nebraska Extension, and Nebraska One Health.