Instant Insights: Improving biosecurity in livestock production
About this ebook
The first chapter highlights the importance of implementing biosecurity measures along the pig production chain as a means of minimising disease introduction (external biosecurity) and spread (internal biosecurity) throughout the farm.
The second chapter reviews the diagnosis and monitoring of common pig diseases, as well as the control measures that can be implemented on the farm, focussing on the importance of establishing effective biosecurity measures.
The third chapter provides a brief overview of the emergence and re-emergence of several infectious pathogens of poultry. The chapter highlights the integral role of improving biosecurity in poultry flocks as a means of mitigating future disease risk, including proper cleaning and disinfection techniques.
The fourth chapter provides an overview of good farming practices for beef cattle farms, with particular discussion of biosecurity, animal welfare and the importance of clean cattle policies.
The final chapter summarises key issues of biosecurity which arise in organic animal farming and discusses their significance to human health. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the successful implementation of biosecurity plans as a means of reducing disease risk.
About the author
Dr Jeroen Dewulf is a full Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. His main research interests are quantitative epidemiology and control of zoonoses with a specific emphasis on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals as well as the prevention of epidemic and endemic diseases with a focus on the application of biosecurity measures. He is the head of the Veterinary Epidemiology Unit and is supervising over 10 Ph.D. students who are doing research in the field of veterinary epidemiology. He is (co-)author of over 300 A1 publications in the field of veterinary epidemiology with an H-index of 45. He is the principal author of the annual Belgian report on Antimicrobial Consumption in Animals (BelVetSac) and chair of the JPI-AMR network on the quantification of antimicrobial consumption in animals at herd level. Since 2009 he is a member of the scientific committee of the Belgian federal food agency and is the founder and chair of the board of the center of expertise on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals (AMCRA) in Belgium.
Dr Dominiek Maes is Professor of Porcine Health Management in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University, Belgium.
