Flu season for humans normally hits its peak in December, January, and February. Anyone unfortunate enough to catch the flu will have between several days and a few weeks of coughing, sneezing, and fevers. Especially around this time of year, we’re reminded to wash our hands, cover our coughs, and stay at home when we’re sick. Livestock animals are under the same risk of diseases all year long, but they don’t have the luxuries of staying at home. To prevent animals from getting sick in the first place, farmers rely on biosecurity.
The World Health Organization defines Biosecurity as a “strategic and integrated approach to analyze and manage risks in the sectors of food safety, animal life and health, and plant life and health.” The United States Department of Agriculture has many programs available for the industry to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases to production animals. There are 2 main categories of biosecurity practices that farms use: structural biosecurity and operational biosecurity. Structural biosecurity is implemented during construction and maintenance of farms and facilities, like physical separations of animals, equipment, and waste. Operational biosecurity is a long-term continuation of practices and procedures that are followed by personnel on the farm every day.
Operational biosecurity is critical to practice and document every single day, by every person who visits a farm. These are a few of the practices in place at most farms to create effective biosecurity programs:
- Minimizing visitors and contact with animals – tracking everyone who comes on the property (deliveries, veterinarians, vendors, even friends and family) and making sure they follow the farm’s protocols. If they don’t have to come in direct contact with the animals, then they should avoid it.
- Wearing personal protective equipment – disposable boot covers, coveralls, gloves, masks are good methods of reducing the amount of dust, feed, manure, and other possible contaminants that can enter and leave the farm.
- Cleaning and disinfection – tools and equipment must be thoroughly cleaned before taking them to another facility, including vehicles that transport the animals.
- And just like humans – washing hands (and everything else) – hand washing before and after contacting or handling the animals is incredibly important. After leaving farms, personnel should shower and change clothes before visiting another site.
Just like our flu season, vaccines are used to help prevent illnesses when they’re available, but there are plenty of dangerous bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that don’t have vaccines. Several diseases not only lack vaccines, but also have no effective treatment, including African Swine Fever, Foot and Mouth Disease, Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The spread of those diseases can be prevented by good biosecurity practices and strict enforcement of international trade regulations.
So, the next time you’re treating a cold or the flu with some chicken noodle soup or a bowl of ice cream, keep in mind the biosecurity practices that keep those animals healthy and productive to help feed us all!