Instant Insights: Improving Biosecurity in Livestock Production

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.

• Chapter 1 - On-farm strategies for preventing pig diseases: improving biosecurity: Jeroen Dewulf and Dominiek Maes, Ghent University, Belgium; 1 Introduction 2 What is biosecurity? 3 External biosecurity measures 4 Internal biosecurity measures 5 Measuring biosecurity 6 Conclusion 7 ReferencesChapter taken from: Maes, D. and Segalés, J. (eds.), Optimising pig herd health and production, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2022, (ISBN 978 1 78676 883 4)Chapter 2 - Disease identification and management on the pig farm: Dominiek Maes, Jeroen Dewulf, Filip Boyen and Freddy Haesebrouck, Ghent University, Belgium; 1 Introduction 2 Disease identification 3 Disease management and control: overview 4 External biosecurity 5 Internal biosecurity 6 Vaccination and antimicrobial medication 7 Future trends in diagnostics and disease monitoring and control 8 Conclusion 9 Where to look for further information 10 ReferencesChapter taken from: Wiseman, J. (ed.), Achieving sustainable production of pig meat – Volume 3: Animal health and welfare, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2018, (ISBN 978 1 78676 096 8)Chapter 3 - Improving biosecurity in poultry flocks: Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt and Manon Racicot, Université de Montréal, Canada; and Mattias Delpont, École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, France; 1 Introduction 2 Reducing sources of contamination: cleaning and disinfection of poultry barns 3 Reducing sources of contamination: equipment and vehicles4 Reducing sources of contamination: water and feed hygiene 5 Reducing sources of contamination: insect, mite and rodent pests, wild birds and pets 6 Reducing sources of contamination: manure, litter and dead birds 7 Separating healthy birds from sources of contamination: zoning production sites 8 Separating healthy birds from sources of contamination: hatchery 9 Separating healthy birds from sources of contamination: regional biosecurity 10 Biosecurity compliance 11 The economics of biosecurity 12 Conclusion and future trends 13 Where to look for further information 14 ReferencesChapter taken from: de Wit, S. (ed.), Optimising poultry flock health, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2022, (ISBN 978 1 78676 887 2)Chapter 4 - Food safety management on farms producing beef: Peter Paulsen, Frans J. M. Smulders and Friederike Hilbert, University of Veterinary Medicine, Austria; 1 Introduction 2 Good farming practices and biosecurity for beef cattle farms 3 Animal handling and animal welfare 4 Clean cattle policy 5 From GFP to pre-harvest food safety management: the case of E. coli O157 6 Quality assurance programmes for beef production 7 Summary 8 Future trends in research 9 Where to look for further information 10 ReferencesChapter taken from: Acuff, G. and Dickson, J. (eds.), Ensuring safety and quality in the production of beef – Volume 1: Safety, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2017, (ISBN 978 1 78676 056 2)Chapter 5 - Biosecurity and safety for humans and animals in organic animal farming: K. Ellis, Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety, University of Glasgow, UK; 1 Introduction 2 The challenges of biosecurity risk in organic farming 3 Food safety summary 4 Controlling infectious diseases 5 Conclusions and future trends 6 Case studies 7 Where to look for further information 8 ReferencesChapter taken from: Vaarst, M. and Roderick, S. (eds.), Improving organic animal farming, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2019, (ISBN 978 1 78676 180 4)