Biosecurity

Publish Date: October 17, 2022

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious, viral disease manifesting differently in wild and domestic pigs. Its impact depends on the virus virulence, the infectious dose, and the infection route. African swine fever is not a health or foodborne risk to humans as it only affects wild and domestic pigs. Mortality rate of peracute and acute clinical forms of ASF can reach 100% and in subacute or chronic forms, ASF mortality ranges from 30-70% (Galindo-Cardiel et al., 2013; Sánchez-Vizcaíno et al., 2015).

Publish Date: June 16, 2022

What is biosecurity? Biosecurity can be subdivided into 3 parts: 1) bio-exclusion involves keeping pathogens out of a herd, 2) bio-management involves managing pathogens already in a herd to minimize the negative consequences, and 3) bio-containment involves preventing pathogens from escaping a herd and putting other farms at risk. Bio-exclusion will be the focus of this factsheet. Improving bio-exclusion requires taking time to identify the most significant vulnerabilities on farms to determine what should be done next. It starts with identifying vulnerabilities that can result in pathogens being introduced into a herd (step 1) and then prioritizing bio-exclusion control measures to address them (step 2). Historically, relatively little time has been spent on the first step resulting in slow progress in improving biosecurity.

Publish Date: January 27, 2020

Biosecurity is critical to keep pigs healthy, and the implementation of biosecurity practices, no matter the production type, can help to reduce risk. Alternative pork production presents unique challenges for biosecurity. This video, the first in a short series, will help explain how to avoid the introduction and spread of disease on the farm.

Publish Date: April 10, 2009

In todays swine industry, biosecurity protocols are perceived to be extremely important in order to protect the health status of a herd. While the easiest way to introduce a microorganism into a swine herd is through the introduction of infected animals, the potential for pathogen entry via contaminated fomites, i.e. boots, transport vehicles, etc. has…

Publish Date: November 11, 2015

This factsheet presents a biosecurity protocol for farms raising pigs in alternative housing systems. The protocol can be adapted in various ways to meet the needs of different farms. The main objective is to provide smaller scale, alternative production system users with information they can use to enhance farmstead biosecurity. Developing and implementing an effective biosecurity protocol for livestock reduces the risk of disease, thereby benefiting production and profitability.

Publish Date: May 2, 2022

Good hygiene in your production facility is important to protect the people and pigs from developing infections. The office, kitchen, break room, bathroom and showers can harbor microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, or fungi) that can make people ill. Bacteria such as pseudomonas, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and others are considered a risk for people sharing living areas such as army barracks. Pork production workers share shower and other facilities and may also have some risk of spreading infections among each other as well as transmit infections to animals. Additionally, with all of the current COVID-19-related health challenges, it is more important than ever to focus on protecting farm personnel from infection. By following some simple rules, you can keep your facilities clean and safe for everyone.

Publish Date: April 17, 2012

Preventing the introduction of disease agents is a continuous challenge for pork producers and veterinarians. When a farm or site is affected by disease the impact can be devastating to the health of the swine and the producer’s bottom line. If a foreign animal disease were to overcome the biosecurity safeguards we have placed on our farms and our country, it would have a devastating effect on all pork producers.

Publish Date: April 17, 2012

Both security and biosecurity procedures are important for minimizing the risk of intentional or unintentional introduction of pathogens to your farm. Most producers have implemented biosecurity programs. This guide is focused on farm security issues. The goal of this guide is to provide pork producers with an extensive checklist of security procedures that could be implemented at the farm level. This guide is designed and intended for internal use within a farm or production system. It would not be practical, nor is it recommended, for every farm to implement all of these procedures. Producers need to review their operation and determine which recommendations are appropriate for them. This checklist is intended to be a tool from which individual producers can select relevant security procedures to create a farm specific security program.

Publish Date: June 3, 2006

In today’s swine industry, biosecurity protocols are perceived to be extremely important in order to protect the health status of a herd. While the easiest way to introduce a microorganism into a swine herd is through the introduction of infected animals, the potential for pathogen entry via contaminated fomites, i.e. boots, transport vehicles, etc. has been debated. Therefore, an extensive amount of time, labor and money is invested in the washing and disinfecting of facilities and transport vehicles, particularly in breeding stock operations, in order to reduce the risk of delivering unwanted pathogens along with a shipment of pigs. Unfortunately, there are no published protocols that attempt to measure whether such practices actually impact the microbial population; however, commercial kits are available from the food processing industry. The purpose of this paper is to review two methods, the RODAC System and the Lightning System that are currently being used to measure the cleanliness of swine transport vehicles following sanitation procedures.

Publish Date: June 3, 2006

The house mouse (Mus musculus), Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), and roof rat (Rattus rattus) are common pests in and around livestock and farm facilities. Overall, the house mouse is the primary rodent pest for most confined farrow-to-finish operations. Norway rats and roof rats may affect both confinement operations as well outdoor operations such as hoop facilities, and pasture lot operations. Roof rats occupy the coastal areas of Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as a larger area along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast states from Texas east to Maryland. Roof rats are not established in the mid-western states.