The importance of implementing structural and procedural biosecurity measures to prevent disease introduction from all possible directions was discussed by Dr. Geoffrey Lossie, DVM, MS, Purdue University, during the 2022 Virtual Shell Egg Academy on August 15, 2022.
Structural biosecurity involves the physical construction and maintenance of the poultry premises that strengthen biosecurity while operational or procedural biosecurity is the practices, procedures and policies that are consistently followed by personnel, according to Lossie.
Structural biosecurity
Concerning structural biosecurity measures, Lossie gave examples including the perimeter buffer, line of separation, farm traffic poultry house entry, foot baths, mortality disposal, water sources and fences.
“One of the best examples for structural biosecurity are fences. They keep unwanted guests off the poultry farm,” he said.
“If you’re using well water, there is potential for that water to become contaminated, changing the water sanitation program needed.”
Danish entry systems were noted as an effective and simple biosecurity measure in which street clothes are removed before entering a poultry house. “Biosecurity doesn't always have to be technologically advanced, so this is a good example of a simple entry system,” he added.
Procedural biosecurity
Regarding procedural biosecurity measures, Lossie gave examples including standard operating procedures (SOPs) for personnel and contract labor, personal protective equipment usage standardization and maintenance of structural biosecurity measures such as footbaths or hand sanitizer stations.
Bird moving crews or vaccination crews that work with other companies were described as high risk due to their travel between different farms after potential exposures to other poultry. Poultry non-contact times of 48 to 72 hours are a common addition to contractor or visitor SOPs to ensure no contact with other poultry, including backyard or small flocks, has been had for anyone entering the farm’s premises.
“Making sure that contract laborers and the companies that represent them have fully understood and signed a visitation policy or agreement and read through your SOPs is very important,” he added.
Visitor logs were noted as one of the most crucial, yet frequently ignored, aspects of procedural biosecurity.
“Visitor logs are one of the most neglected aspects that I find when evaluating a site's biosecurity,” stated Lossie. “Knowing what individuals outside of the company that have been on a premise is extremely important for tracing the source of a potential disease outbreak.”
Some commonly forgotten biosecurity aspects
The order of operations when evaluating multiple flocks is important to remember, he explained. Young flocks should be evaluated first, and sick flocks should be evaluated last.
Evaluating sick flocks first will increase the risk of spreading disease to other flocks. Younger birds have had less time to be exposed to disease compared to older flocks, so the chances that they could be infected are lower.
Additionally, hats and cellphones are likely to cause biosecurity breaches, Lossie noted.
“If you want to wear hats and in a poultry barn, you need to have site specific hats, just like you do everything else.” he said. “I have seen people rip holes in their bio suits to access cell phones while in a barn. Cell phones are by far one of the biggest personal biosecurity errors that I see.”
Lossie recommended that cellphones be placed in Ziploc bags while in the barn and wiped down with disinfectant after leaving.
