Integrating integrated pest management and sustainability into a biosecurity framework

Globally, biosecurity is instrumental in prevention, control and management of livestock diseases and protection of human health. It is defined, prescribed, adopted and enforced through global, regional and national frameworks, laws, policies and strategies. There is more biosecurity practice research conducted in developed countries than developing ones. Consequently, the gap between the ideals recommended in biosecurity frameworks and what is practical in under-resourced rural settings is poorly understood. This anthropological study sought to assess adoption of biosecurity practices across a cattle, sheep and goat value chains continuum to demonstrate where risks lie. The cross-sectional mixed-methods study took place in Baringo County, Kenya. Qualitatively, it utilized 26 focus group discussions with community members and 10 observational interviews with slaughter facility workers. Quantitatively, it included a household survey with 560 community members and a separate survey with 231 livestock traders. Results show that producers, traders and slaughter facility workers did observe some biosecurity practices but not others due but not limited to personal preference, limitations in veterinary service delivery and enforcement of some biosecurity measures, and lack of requisite infrastructure. The study concludes that the implementation of biosecurity measures in rural settings is more complex than envisioned in biosecurity policies and frameworks. It can be hampered by resource limitations, poor enforcement, and contestations with cultural practices. The study recommends that further studies on willingness to adopt biosecurity measures targeting community members in under-resourced settings be conducted to identify possible critical points of intervention at county and national levels.

Given the significant negative impact of livestock disease outbreaks on animal and public health, preventing disease spread through biosecurity practices is important. In this study, we used a nationally representative dataset that included information on biosecurity practices of almost 300 Irish dairy farmers. We applied parametric and nonparametric estimation methods to assess the economic implications of adopting the following biosecurity measures: vaccination, bulk tank milk testing for diseases, and not pooling colostrum. We found mixed evidence of biosecurity practices on economic outcomes, measured as gross margins per cow. Specifically, we found that vaccination and testing bulk tank milk for diseases were significantly associated with better economic outcomes for dairy farms. However, we found no significant association with the economic performance of not pooling colostrum from more than one animal. Our findings have important policy implications required for targeting support for the adoption of biosecurity practices in dairy herds.

Accidental introduction and/or spread of invasive non-native species (INNS) can result from a range of activities including agriculture, transport, trade and recreation. Researchers represent an important group of stakeholders who undertake activities in the field that could potentially facilitate the spread of INNS. Biosecurity is key to preventing the introduction and spread of INNS. Risk perceptions are a fundamental component in determining behaviour, so understanding how researchers perceive the risks associated with their activities can help us understand some of the drivers of biosecurity behaviour in the field. The aim of this study was to investigate researchers’ perceptions of risk in relation to their field activities and whether risk perceptions influenced behaviour. We gathered quantitative data on perceptions of risk and biosecurity practices using an online questionnaire. Only 35% of all respondents considered their field activities to pose some risk in terms of spreading INNS. Higher risk perception was found in those who undertook high risk activities or where INNS were known/expected to be present. However, whilst respondents with experience of INNS were more likely to report consciously employing biosecurity in the field, this did not translate into better actual biosecurity practices. Awareness of biosecurity campaigns did in fact increase perception of risk, perceived and actual biosecurity behaviour. However, there remains a disconnect between reported and actual biosecurity practices, including a lack of understanding about what constitutes good biosecurity practice. These findings should be used to improve targeted awareness raising campaigns and help create directed training on biosecurity practices.

Objective: To investigate the biosecurity measures practiced at commercial layer chicken farms in Abyek country, Qazvin, Iran.. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all licensed and active commercial layer chicken farms in Abyek county, Qazvin province, Iran in 2019 were recruited. We used a risk-based weighted scoring system (Biocheck.UGent) to assess the level of biosecurity according to internal and external classification. Biosecurity was quantified by converting the answers to 169 questions into score from 0 to 100. The minimum score, “0,” represents total absence of any biosecurity measure on the farm, whereas the maximum score, “100,” means full application of all investigated biosecurity measures. Results: The mean score of overall biosecurity in the commercial layer chicken farms in Abyek county, Qazvin province was 72.7. The mean score of internal and external biosecurity measures were 77.1 and 72.2, respectively. The lowest mean score was due to “Disease management” (69.7) among internal biosecurity measures and the lowest mean scores were for "Location of farm” (39.0) and “Removal of manure and dead animals” (42.6) among external biosecurity measures. The highest mean score was for “Transport of the eggs level” (91.0) for external biosecurity measures. Conclusions: This study showed the biosecurity status of commercial layer chicken farms in Abyek county, Qazvin, Iran and revealed some weaknesses in the implementation of these measures at the internal and external levels. It showed the biosecurity measures of these farms, especially at the external levels need to be improved. This information can aid decision-making on efforts used to improve disease control and prevention strategies in poultry farms.

Online e-Learning is increasingly being used to provide environmental training. Prevention measures including biosecurity are essential to reducing the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS) and are central to international and national IAS policy. This paper is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of e-Learning as a tool to increase awareness, risk perception and biosecurity behaviour in relation to IAS among individuals conducting work activities or research (fieldwork) in the field. We surveyed participants (a mixture of students and professionals) before, and 6 months after undertaking an e-Learning course on IAS and biosecurity practices. Awareness of IAS and self-reported biosecurity behaviour increased after e-Learning among students and professionals. Students had a lower awareness of IAS than professionals before training (20% of students vs 60% of professionals), but after training students showed a greater increase in awareness which led to similar levels of awareness post-training (81%). Prior to training, risk perception was also lower amongst students than professionals (33% of students and 59% of professionals were aware of the risk that their activities posed to the accidental spread of IAS). There was no change in risk perception amongst professionals after training, however training led to a doubling of risk perception in students. E-Learning also led to an increase in reported biosecurity behaviour and cleaning practices and there were higher levels of biosecurity cleaning amongst professionals. The higher awareness and better biosecurity amongst professionals is likely to reflect their familiarity with the issues of IAS and day-to-day activities in the field. Our results suggest that e-Learning is an effective tool to raise awareness and encourage behaviour change among field workers and researchers in an attempt to reduce the risk of accidental introduction and spread of IAS.

The swine industry is vulnerable to different infectious diseases. The pig industry and pork consumption have increased in Nepal for the past several years, but African swine fever in 2022 affected this industry badly. One of the possible ways to prevent disease is by employing good hygiene and strict biosecurity measures in farms. This study, conducted in 2023 in Dang and Jhapa districts of Nepal, sought to assess the management and the biosecurity practices across the pig farms. A survey conducted among pig growers included questions on major management practices, biosecurity measures (isolation, traffic control, sanitation) and demographics of respondents. Farm owners indicating having good practices in place as related to each question were given a score of one and zero to those indicating not having good practices in place. The findings showed the cumulative scores for all three biosecurity components to be 9.1±3.0 (mean±SD). The farmers lacked basic knowledge on biosecurity measures to be implemented in the farm. The data and analysis lead to the conclusion that there is a strong need for appropriate policies and programmes for helping and motivating pig farmers to adopt biosecurity practices and reduce the disease risk in Nepal.

Farming practices such as the use of antibiotics, feed and feed additives, housing as well as biosecurity measures are important factors leading to spread and persistence of infectious agents and pathogens in farms, environment and transmission of infectious agents to humans. The aim of this study was to assess pig farmers practices and the occurrence of Porcine Salmonella in Nasarawa State of Nigeria. A total of 637 farmers were assessed across the tree agro-ecological zones of the State comprising of 13 local government areas using structured questionnaires alongside 637 fecal samples collected from pigs to determine the association between management practices, Biosecurity practices and general hygiene vis-a-vis Salmonella occurrence. The fecal samples were subjected to culture and isolation methods as described by ISO 6579: +A1:2007. Data from questionnaire responses were subjected to multivariate logistic regression analysis using Epi info version 7.2 to ascertain the risk factors. The study recorded Porcine Salmonella occurrence and observed gaps in knowledge and best farm practices such as farm sanitation practices, biosecurity measures, unhygienic containment methods, feed and water administration promoting the occurrence of Porcine Salmonella. A coordinated One-Health approached is recommended in order to curtail Salmonella transmission and safeguarding the environment from contamination and the health of pig farmers of Nasarawa State.

This study investigates the relationship between biosecurity implementation and the prevalence of ESBL-producing bacteria in Greek swine farms, revealing an alarming 82% prevalence rate, which is significantly higher than in other European nations. Our findings indicate that comprehensive biosecurity measures are more effective than focusing on priority controls alone. Notably, there was a lack of significant associations between farm size and individual biosecurity parameters, underscoring the importance of cumulative improvements across multiple measures. Moreover, we identified a critical threshold for biosecurity implementation: farms scoring less than a critical level were consistently vulnerable to ESBL contamination. Escherichia coli emerged as the dominant species among ESBL isolates, reflecting patterns seen globally. This suggests a need for targeted biosecurity strategies, as mixed species occurrences imply shared resistance pressures. Our results advocate for a paradigm shift in biosecurity practices, emphasizing holistic improvements across all measures rather than isolating specific controls. With current implementation levels averaging only 35% of recommended biosecurity practices, our findings highlight the urgent need for comprehensive interventions to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in the Greek swine industry.

Background: Annually, approximately 10 million pilgrims travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for Umrah from more than 180 countries. This event presents major challenges for the Kingdom’s public health sector, which strives to decrease the burden of infectious diseases and to adequately control their spread both in KSA and pilgrims home nations. The aims of the study were to assess preventative measures practice, including vaccination history and health education, among Umrah pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional survey was administered to pilgrims from February to April 2019 at the departure lounge at King Abdul Aziz International airport, Jeddah city. The questionnaire comprised questions on sociodemographic information (age, gender, marital status, level of education, history of vaccinations and chronic illnesses), whether the pilgrim had received any health education and orientation prior to coming to Saudi Arabia or on their arrival, and their experiences with preventative practices. Results: Pilgrims (n = 1012) of 41 nationalities completed the survey. Chronic diseases were reported among pilgrims (n = 387, 38.2%) with cardiovascular diseases being the most reported morbidity (n = 164, 42.3%). The majority of pilgrims had been immunized prior to travel to Saudi Arabia (n = 770, 76%). The most commonly reported immunizations were influenza (n = 514, 51%), meningitis (n = 418, 41%), and Hepatitis B virus vaccinations (n = 310, 31%). However, 242 (24%) had not received any vaccinations prior to travel, including meningitis vaccine and poliomyelitis vaccine, which are mandatory by Saudi Arabian health authorities for pilgrims coming from polio active countries. Nearly a third of pilgrims (n = 305; 30.1%) never wore a face mask in crowded areas during Umrah in 2019. In contrast, similar numbers said they always wore a face mask (n = 351, 34.6%) in crowded areas, while 63.2% reported lack of availability of face masks during Umrah. The majority of participants had received some form of health education on preventative measures, including hygiene aspects (n = 799, 78.9%), mostly in their home countries (n = 450, 44.4%). A positive association was found between receiving health education and practicing of preventative measures, such as wearing face masks in crowded areas (p = 0.04), and other health practice scores (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Although the experiences of the preventative measures among pilgrims in terms of health education, vaccinations, and hygienic practices were at times positive, this study identified several issues. These included the following preventative measures: immunizations, particularly meningitis and poliomyelitis vaccine, and using face masks in crowded areas. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for further studies that focus on development of accessible health education in a form that engages pilgrims to promote comprehensive preventative measures during Umrah and Hajj and other religious pilgrimages.

Dairy goat producers’ understanding, knowledge and attitudes towards biosecurity and Q-fever in Australia

Ours is an age of unprecedented levels of environmental alteration and biodiversity loss. Beyond the exposure to environmental hazards, conditions such as environmental degradation, biotic impoverishment, climate change, and the loss of ecosystem services create important health threats by changing the ecology of many pathogens and increasing the incidence and/or severity of certain noncommunicable conditions. They also threaten health in the future by weakening the Earth's life support systems.Although physicians remain one of the most often accessed and most trusted sources of information about the environment, there is currently little emphasis on educating medical professionals about these environmental issues. This lack of training reduces the ability of most physicians to be efficient science-public interfaces and makes them ineffective at contributing to address the fundamental causes of environmental problems or participate in substantive environmental policy discussions. This is an important challenge facing medical education today.To turn medical students into effective physician-citizens, an already-overwhelmed medical school curriculum must make way for a thoughtful exploration of environmental stressors and their impacts on human health. The overarching question before medical educators is how to develop the competencies, standards, and curricula for this educational endeavor. To this end, the authors highlight some of the critical linkages between health and the environment and suggest a subset of key practical issues that need to be addressed in order to create environmental education standards for the physician of the future.

Salmonella spp. infection is considered a crucial trouble of the poultry industry in Bangladesh. Hence, this study was aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of Salmonella spp. in poultry along with biosecurity practices that are associated with this Salmonella spp. infection. The study was conducted during the period from January to September, 2021 in Mymensingh and Gazipur district of Bangladesh. A total of 314 samples were considered to determine the seroprevalence. Seroprevalence was determined by performing the rapid serum plate agglutination test. The result revealed that the overall Salmonella spp. seroprevalence was 47.77% in the study area. The higher seroprevalence was in Mymensingh (51.59%) than Gazipur (45.21%) without significant (p>0.05) difference. The highest seroprevalence was in broiler (51.33%) where in layer and sonali was 32.67% and 16% respectively. Seroprevalence was significantly (p<0.05) higher in summer for layer (56.45%), broiler (60.64%) and sonali (51.22%) than the winter seasons. In layer farms, the flock size of >2000 to <2500 had significantly (p<0.05) higher (71.43%) seroprevalence. In broiler farms, 15 to 30 days old birds had significantly (p<0.01) higher (77.05%) seroprevalence than other age. Among the different categorical level of biosecurity practices, the poultry farms that used surface water (OR=0.182, 95% CI=0.106-0.314); disinfectant regularly (OR=0.296, 95% CI=0.171-0.511); having density of 8-10 birds/meter2 (OR=0.379, 95% CI=0.219-0.654); cleaned waterer and feeder regularly (OR=0.503, 95% CI=0.294-0.862); and having visitor restriction (OR=0.375, 95% CI=0.219-0.643) showed lower tendency (p<0.001) to seroprevalence. In brief, Strict farm hygienic practice and biosecurity measures are significantly linked to decrease the Salmonella spp. seroprevalence.

The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in food-producing animals contributes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), posing a global threat. Understanding the factors associated with antibiotic use is critical to combat resistance while maintaining animal health. This study examined antibiotic use practices, mortality rates, biosecurity levels, as well as the associations between biosecurity and antibiotic use, and between biosecurity and mortality, in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya.The study was conducted in 129 semi-intensive farms with total flock sizes between 200 and 2000 birds across three peri-urban counties in Kenya. Data were collected prospectively over one production cycle, with farms visited biweekly using questionnaires and a drug bin approach. Biosecurity levels were assessed by a panel of experts who weighted scores for various external and internal biosecurity subcategories. Directed acyclic graphs (DAG) described potential relationships between explanatory variables, confounders and outcome. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with antibiotic use as the outcome variable. Explanatory variables with P < 0.25 in the univariable logistic regression were included in the multivariable regression. Similarly, linear regression was conducted using mortality as the outcome.Overall, 72% of farms used antibiotics, primarily for prophylaxis (66%), with erythromycin and oxytetracycline being the most commonly used antibiotics. The median mortality rate across the production cycle was 6%. There was no significant difference in mortality between farms using antibiotics and those not using antibiotics. Biosecurity practices were low, with a median biosecurity score of 14.3/67.9. Univariable screening suggested potential associations between antibiotic use and vaccination of day-old chicks, flock size, cleaning protocol for chicken drinkers, resting period between batches, feed store cleaning, water source, distance from neighbouring farms, and age. However, these were not significant in multivariable logistic regression. Linear regression showed an association between mortality and biosecurity measures, specifically disease management and visitor entry regulation.This study highlights widespread antibiotic use, low biosecurity implementation, and variability in mortality rates in the farms surveyed. There is a gap in farmers' implementation of effective biosecurity measures and understanding of prudent antibiotic use. An urgent need exists to develop comprehensive data collection methodologies, education, and interventions to promote responsible antibiotic stewardship and cost-effective biosecurity practices among poultry farmers in Kenya.

The goat industry in Australia: Using Bayesian network analysis to understand vulnerability to a foot and mouth disease outbreak

African swine fever (ASF) is currently the most important challenge for domestic pig production worldwide. The virus reached Eurasia in 2007, and is today affecting more than half of European Union member countries. Among Western Balkan countries, Serbia suffered the first case of ASF in a backyard holding in 2019. Since then, numerous outbreaks in domestic pigs and wild boar have been reported throughout the country despite the efforts of the veterinary authorities to control the disease. The lack of an effective vaccine is one of the main constraints, and the only currently available option to prevent further ASF infections is the application of strict biosecurity measures. Regarding biosecurity, backyard pig producers and smallholding farmers in Serbia have substantial gaps in the knowledge and fail to comply with safe production behaviour that favours the spread of ASF virus. In the currently prevailing smallholder and backyards farming systems, farm biosecurity is largely non-existent. The aim of this review was to identify specific ASF-risks factors in the current pig production system and gaps in biosecurity measures related to the human activities recognised as social and cultural identity in Serbia. Moreover, the main risk factors for ASF spreading and transmission at the domestic/wild boar interface, biosecurity practices in different production systems, and possible future control measures and awareness campaigns are discussed.