Biosecurity

What is biosecurity?

Biosecurity practices are designed to keep animals, facilities, and people safe from germs that can cause disease. If an animal disease outbreak occurs, biosecurity practices can help to reduce the spread of disease within a farm or ranch and prevent the disease from spreading to other producers. Good biosecurity practices can improve overall productivity and farm income. Currently, biosecurity is extremely important because of the threat of animal diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, and African swine fever.

10 Biosecurity tips

Every facility has different biosecurity requirements depending on factors such as herd size, farm location, production type, local disease situation, and herd health status.  The following are basic biosecurity tips that apply to most facilities:

1. Minimize visitors and traffic on your farm to prevent disease introduction.
2. Clearly identify and maintain farm perimeter and entrances so you can control access to your farm. Gated entrances provide the best way to physically stop vehicles before they enter areas where you keep your animals.
3. Do not share vehicles and equipment between multiple farm sites, even if you own all the sites. If you must share, be sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect vehicles and equipment between sites.
4. Isolate new animals for 4 weeks to make sure they are healthy before adding them to your herd or flock. Animals returning from sales, fairs, and shows should also be isolated for 4 weeks.
5. Monitor the health of your animals every day. Contact a veterinarian immediately if there are any unusual deaths or illnesses in your animals. Isolate sick animals away from healthy animals.
6. Give animals only clean, uncontaminated feed and water. Store your feed in a clean and secure area and keep wildlife and rodents out.
7. Properly dispose of waste and dead animals. Contact the Mississippi Board of Animal Health if you have any questions.
8. Routinely clean and disinfect animal housing facilities, vehicles, and equipment. Regularly clean production areas and always clean equipment after use.
9. Prevent contact between wildlife and your livestock and poultry.
10. Create a written biosecurity plan for your farm. Having a written biosecurity plan can also help farms more quickly obtain permits in the event of a disease outbreak.

Biosecurity resources

POULTRY

• Poultry Biosecurity (poultrybiosecurity.org)
• National Poultry Improvement Plan (poultryimprovement.org)
• Biosecurity Measures to Combat Avian Influenza Threat (msstate.edu – PDF)
• UDSA Defend the Flock Biosecurity Resource Center (usda.gov)
• Video: Raising Backyard Chickens – Biosecurity (msstate.edu)

BEEF

• Secure Beef Supply Plan (securebeef.org)
• Beef Quality Assurance Biosecurity Resources (bqa.org)

DAIRY

• Secure Milk Supply Plan (securemilksupply.org)
• National Milk Producers Federation: Biosecurity Resources (nmpf.org)
• Dairy Cattle: Biosecurity for H5N1 Virus (nmpf.org)
• Spread and Prevention of H5N1 Virus in Dairy Cattle (nmpf.org)
• Secure Milk Supply Plan: Enhanced Biosecurity for H5N1 (nmpf.org)
• Safeguarding tips for Milk Haulers (PDF)

SWINE

• Secure Pork Supply Plan (securepork.org)
• US Swine Health Improvement Plan (usswinehealthimprovementplan.com)
• Pork Checkoff: Biosecurity (porkcheckoff.org)
• USDA Biosecurity for Pigs with Outdoor Access (usda.gov – PDF)
• Pork Checkoff: Keep Your Pigs Healthy at the Fair (aasv.org – PDF)

SHEEP and GOATS

• USDA Biosecurity for Sheep and Goat Producers (usda.gov)
• Secure Wool Supply (securesheepwool.org)
• Goat biosecurity (extension.org)

HORSES

• USDA Biosecurity Brochure (usda.gov – PDF)
• AAEP Biosecurity Guidelines (aaep.org – PDF)

RABBITS

• USDA Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Factsheet (usda.gov – PDF)

FAIRS and EXHIBITORS

• Keeping Your Show Animals Healthy (mssstate.edu – PDF)
• CDC Recommendations to Minimize Influenza Transmission at Dairy Cattle Livestock Exhibits (usda.gov – PDF)