The movement of birds throughout the supply chain – even from uninfected farms – stops during a disease outbreak. Tactical biosecurity strategies based on risk-based science can mitigate the spread of pathogens.
“It isn’t possible to test every single bird on a farm during an outbreak to determine whether they are infected. Because of that, we use an algorithm that helps us determine the likelihood of infection in a bird,” explained Carol Cardona, DVM, PhD, Professor and Pomeroy Endowed Chair in Avian Health, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Minnesota.
“During an outbreak, everyone is focused on the infected farms. This leaves farmers wondering how to protect themselves. There’s a whole world of things you can do. The key is to find the things that give you the biggest bang for your buck.”
Strategies to limit disease spread
Typical farm biosecurity methods include keeping a visitor log, limiting people from visiting other farms within a certain time period and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Tactical biosecurity goes above and beyond these methods to limit disease spread by implementing a pre-movement isolation strategy that prohibits all visitors, garbage pickup and more.
Under these plans, birds from uninfected farms are tested twice over a two-day period.
“A diagnostic test tells you with certainty you are not infected at that moment. But you could be exposed to the virus in the next moment. That’s why this algorithm and these strategies are so important – they help us determine with certainly the likelihood that a farm is infected or uninfected,” Cardona said.
Comprehensive guidance on tactical biosecurity strategies can be found for free at https://securepoultrysupply.umn.edu.
“These secure plans tell farmers what they need to do to move birds or eggs during an outbreak,” Cardona said. “The strategies are customized depending on the type of product moved and contain science- and risk-based strategies we have developed.”
Cardona and a team of other researchers at the University of Minnesota recently received a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). They will be using this money to work with private partners to determine which tactical biosecurity strategies make sense in a real-world setting.
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