Best practice recommendations regarding cleaning and disinfection

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A thorough cleaning and disinfection protocol is needed to control infectious diseases. Hygiene is equally important for keeping your animals healthy. A proper cleaning and disinfection protocol will reduce the infection pressure. A clean area provides the ideal conditions for healthy animals to live and grow. 

Ideally, a cleaning and disinfection protocol consists of seven steps. It only starts after the removal of animals. 

  1. Dry cleaning

Organic material (faeces, dust, soil) present in the stables/houses should be removed as much as possible. If this step is not performed well, the other steps will already be jeopardized. 

  1. Soaking of all surfaces

Soaking of the surfaces with detergent will loosen the remaining dirt. 

  1. High-pressure cleaning

All foam from the previous step will be removed by cleaning with water under high pressure. Start from the top of the building and work your way down. Don’t forget drinkers and feed troughs. 

  1. Drying

Let the stable/house dry out completely before moving on to the disinfection step. Otherwise, the disinfectant will be diluted and thus less effective. 

  1. Disinfection

Disinfection will further reduce the load of infectious agents. The instructions of the manufacturer must be followed carefully. 

  1. Drying

Make sure the buildings are completely dry before allowing animals to enter. This will ensure the animals cannot come into contact with remaining pools of disinfectant.  

  1. Efficacy testing

Finally, in order to check whether your hard work has paid off, test the efficacy of your procedure by sampling different surfaces. 

 

It is important to perform the steps mentioned above in all animal houses! 

Best practice recommendations regarding entrance control

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Every person entering the farm, including the farmer and his/her staff, should take precautionary measures, as they can carry pathogens onto the farm. All unnecessary visitors should be kept out of the stables and away from the animals. Visitors should adhere to the following measures: 

  1. Park your vehicle as far as possible from the animal housing facilities, on the dedicated parking area. When there is no parking area, leave your vehicle on the public road. 
  2. Never enter the animal housing facilities without informing the farmer/responsible person. 
  3. Before entering the animal facilities:
    • Sign the visitors’ register.  
    • Remove your footwear and overclothing.  
    • Wash and disinfect your hands and/or wear disposable gloves.  
    • Proceed to the clean zone of the hygiene lock (the side where the animals are present). Showering may be obligatory.  
    • Put on farm-specific and clean coveralls/clothing and footwear. Whenever a farm does not have specific clothing or footwear, put on a disposable coverall and overshoes.  
  1. While being in the animal housing facilities, do not touch animals unless necessary.
  2. Ideally, between different houses or animal groups, you should change clothing and footwear andwash and disinfect your hands.
  3. At the end of your farm visit: 
    • Remove farm-specific footwear and clean it before placing it back.  
    • Remove farm-specific clothing and put it into a laundry bin. 
    • Enter the dirty part of the hygiene lock (you may have to shower first).  
    • Wash and disinfect your hands.  
    • Put your own clothes and shoes back on.  

Whenever these measures are followed thoroughly, no additional animal-free contact period is required. However, this can still be imposed by the farmer/government. 

Automatic spray system of Animal Life Plus

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Between rounds, pollution accumulates in stables, with lots of dust, odor and ammonia. Something that is bad for animals, people and the environment. Animal Life Plus delivers an innovative automated barn cleaning system to improve the barn climate.

The automatic spray system is an easy to install system that works from an installation unit containing the spray. This spray is a biological cleaning agent that consists of a wide range of selected micro-organisms. These micro-organisms attach themselves to the core of the contamination, which can be seen as a layer of bonded dust on surfaces. The air remains and is considerably fresh.

The spraying system can be applied in all kinds of sectors, including piglets, sows, laying hens, broilers, calves and dairy goats. The system can be built into new and existing houses.

Prior to spraying, the starter is used to speed up microbiological cleaning, and the cleaner is used to clean between rounds with biological softener. By using these coordinated cleaners, the effect of the spray is optimally highlighted.

The automated microbiological cleaning concept of Animal Life Plus offers many advantages. For this pig farmer, the system has led to better animal health, less use of antibiotics, increased job satisfaction and an improved technical result. This means that the system pays for itself in a short period of time.

 

Webinar DISARM (ZLTO), Animal Life Plus and Gezondheidsdienst voor Dieren:

WEBINAR: How can the management of clinical and subclinical mastitis be supported by sensor systems?

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An exciting line-up of speakers hosted online by IDF (https://www.fil-idf.org/) on 14th October 2020:

  • Detection of severe clinical mastitis DR ILKA KLAAS, DELAVAL INTERNATIONAL AB, DENMARK
  • Detection of mild/moderate mastitis DR GUNNAR DALEN, TINE DAIRIES SA, NORWAY
  • Detection to support dry off decisions PROF. DAVID KELTON, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, CANADA & DR ALFONSO
    ZECCONI, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO, ITALY
  • Detection of herd level mastitis problems DR HONIG HEN, VETERINARY SERVICE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE,
    ISRAEL
  • Conclusions: Thinking outside the box: Novel ways to utilize sensor data to improve mastitis management PROF. HENK HOGEVEEN, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, NETHERLANDS
  • Questions and Answers on Zoom chat

Watch the webinar here:

 

Download the presentation here

Carcass disposal using an exchangeable storage system

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Disease Prevention > Biosecurity > Resource > Carcass disposal

 

Carcass disposal is an important aspect of external biosecurity. A way to achieve strong external biosecurity is by using the ‘clean-dirty area’ principle (clean area: farm buildings and zone in between; dirty area ‘outside’). Another division into zones consists of a green zone (low risk: the farm buildings), an orange zone (medium risk: the area directly around the farm buildings) and a red zone (high risk: public road, land which is not under own management).

The correct procedure for carcass disposal should avoid contaminating the clean area of farm buildings. For example, the carcass collection service must remain in the red zone and not enter the farm site. This can be achieved by placing the collection point for the carcass container next to the public road. Storing carcasses before collection at a point near the farm buildings means the red zone doesn’t have to be entered when a cadaver has to be stored. Furthermore, the collection frequency can be reduced by storing carcasses refrigerated.

By creating a double storage, the full container can be exchanged with the empty container. In this system, the storage next to the farm buildings has a cooling system; the storage next to the public roads has not. The day the carcass collection service arrives, the full (cooled) container is exchanged with the empty container next to the public road.

A strict separation between the clean and dirty road can be maintained, considerably reducing the risk pathogens being introduced. The refrigerated storage is also hygienic and the reduced odor emissions from cadavers is public-friendly.

Biosecurity on a farrow-to-finish farm

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Disease Prevention > Biosecurity > Resource > Biosecurity on a Farrow-to-Finish farm

Prevention is better than cure, with this aim, Bart Debaerdemaecker had an external coach assessing his farms’ biosecurity and identified areas for improvement. Reducing the risk of diseases entering the farm (external biosecurity) and their spread within the farm (internal biosecurity) are two major factors that make antibiotic usage sometimes seem inevitable. However, targeted actions have the potential to reduce the need for antibiotics and thus reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the video and following text, Bart explains how he improved biosecurity on his farm with simple, low-cost measures.

To prevent the spread of pathogens between different age groups, he uses colour-coded material for each age group. Tools, clothing and footwear are compartment-specific and footwear and hands are frequently disinfected. In addition, he makes use of walking lines to avoid the spread of disease from the older animals to the younger ones. Bart always starts his work in the farrowing pens, proceeds to the weaned piglets, and then ends up in the finisher pig house. The newly purchased gilts, sick bay and cadaver storage are visited last.

A second measure is the use of a gate for a physical separation between the ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ area. To get access to the farm, visitors need to ring the bell at the entrance gate and register. Furthermore, specific footwear to enter the ‘dirty’ area of the farm is provided at the entrance, and always remains outside the gate.

Another ingenious measure is the waiting zone for the pigs between the stable corridor and the loading bay, created with a sliding door from a horse stable. When the outside light is on, the transporter knows the animals are in the waiting zone and ready to load. This way the driver never enters the clean area.

Preventing streptococcal infections 

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Disease Prevention > Biosecurity > Resource > Preventing Streptococcal infections

There are several management measures that can be taken towards preventing Streptococcal infections. Biosecurity rules designed to prevent the introduction of germs like Streptococcus suis onto the farm must be respected. Important factors are: separating clean and dirty areas, biosecurity measures for persons entering the barn (washing hands, company clothing and boots), restricting the purchase of animals, and proper pest control.

Measures relating to spread of germs within the farm must also be observed. Piglet relocation must be limited and done via a pre-established protocol. If foster sows are used, these should be brought to the piglets (and not vice-versa). Working lines should be respected, from young to old (farrowing pen -> piglet battery -> fattening pigs). Between stables, it is important to wash hands and change overalls and boots. It is advisable to have different equipment per animal group, and to clean and disinfect this material regularly.

Around the time of farrowing, sows’ manure must be removed. Wound prevention is important: if castration is necessary, it must be done hygienically; and default teeth removal should be avoided. The floor in the farrowing pen should not be rough, to avoid injury.

Piglets should be weaned at minimum 25 days old; animals of the same litters should be kept together and piglets should be separated by age.

After weaning, access to fresh feed and drinking water and enough light must be ensured. The piglet house must be dry and sufficiently warm (temperature must be 5°C warmer than in the farrowing pen). Air flow in the battery should be checked prevent draught at the level of the lying areas.

Finally, cleaning and disinfection of the wards must follow a fixed protocol: dry cleaning, soaking, wet cleaning, drying, disinfection.

Slower growing broiler crosses for reduced antibiotic use

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Disease Prevention > Breeding for Resilience > Resource > Slower growing broiler crosses

In Europe, the demand for high-quality poultry meat is rising. This tendency goes hand in hand with understanding and implementation of animal welfare and activation of organic farming. There are points in the organic farming format which conventional farmers can use to reduce the frequency of diseases and antibiotic usage. One of these points is to use slower growing broiler crosses and another is lower stocking densities.

The classic conventional broiler crosses are fast growing and kept in high densities so they are more susceptible to heath disorders including bacterial and protozoa diseases which are usually treated with antibiotics.

Today there are a lot of offers in Europe for various farming systems. The slow growing broiler crosses are more suitable for organic farming, but there are also offers for differentiated growing broiler crosses which are more robust and less sensitive to heath disorders. These can be used in conventional farms and can be realized from day 48. There are also possibilities to choose specific dwarf breeds for parent stock to reduce feed costs but at the same time maintain high productivity levels.

Stocking density also influences animal health and spread of disease. Reductions in bird count or bird live weight mass per m2 play an important role in both productivity (better weight gain) and disease incidence.

In conclusion, animal welfare, vaccination programs and biosecurity programs will play an important role in overall flock health level, but in combination with differentiated and slower growing broiler crosses, it is more feasible to keep broilers healthy, reduce antibiotic usage and offer high quality poultry meet to consumers.

 

Paratuberculosis control requires a national plan

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Managing Sick Animals > Diagnostics > Resource > Paratuberculosis control requires a national plan

 

Paratuberculosis is a chronic, contagious bacterial disease (caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis (MAP)) of the intestinal tract which primarily affects sheep and cattle, goats, and other ruminant species. There is no known treatment for the disease. Control involves good sanitation and management practices including screening tests for new animals to identify and eliminate infected animals and ongoing surveillance of adult animals.

Implementation of regional/national control programmes are successful. They are related to growing industry concerns about the zoonotic potential of MAP, the desire to be proactive in control at both the farmer and processor levels, and/or to meet trade requirements. The interest among processors serves to take a voluntary control and/or status programme and make it mandatory for farmers.

The primary tools used for control across countries range widely, from testing options, on-farm risk assessments, incentive programmes, education and awareness campaigns and vaccination. Successful countries recommend some form of testing; faecal culture or PCR of environmental samples, bulk tank milk ELISA tests, or the use of similar methods at the cow-level. More recent developments and variations exist in the use of a combination of tests (e.g. ELISA followed by direct faecal PCR for confirmation) and/or cut-off values (e.g. test label vs. cut-off for high shedding animals). Many nations supplement these testing schemes with the recommendation to complete a herd-level risk assessment, which can be either specific to the disease or part of general biosecurity risk assessments.