Antibiotic reduction through farm biosecurity measures – Innovation for Agriculture

26 Aug 2017

Livestock infectious diseases cost UK agriculture up to £600m each year through decreased performance, treatment costs and death loss. The majority of losses can be avoided by implementing good farm biosecurity plan.

Infectious diseases can spread within and between farms through a number of means:

• Introduction of diseased animals.
• Introduction carriers animals.
• Vehicles, equipment, clothing and footwear – vets, contractors etc.
• Feedstuffs, especially high risk feedstuff which could be contaminated with faeces.
• Manure handling and aerosolized manure and dust.
• Dogs, cats, wildlife, rodents, birds and insects.
• Impure/polluted water

There are four biosecurity principles which if implemented effectively will curb the introduction and spread of infectious diseases
1. Selection – select all necessary purchased animals from known sources and/or health status to reduce the risk of infection
2. Isolation -strict isolation prevents contact between groups of animals after arrival on farm and reduces the risk of spread of infectious agents.
3. Movement control – includes all vehicles, animals, and people traffic that could introduce infection onto your operation.
4. Sanitation – the disinfection of materials, people and equipment entering the farm and the cleanliness of the people and equipment on the farm.