Develop biosecurity plans to match needs of cattle operation

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A biosecurity plan will be different for every cattle operation.

“There is not a one-size-fits-all biosecurity plan because you are going to have different levels of risks, different inputs and different critical control points,” said Sara Chaplin, veterinarian at Iowa State University.

“We’re looking at protecting the health and welfare of our cattle and recognizing that it’s more profitable to prevent problems than correct them,” said Chaplin during a presentation at the Illinois Beef Association Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony.

“Our challenge is to find the balance between what is necessary and what is practical for everyday activities for both the common diseases as well as setting the groundwork so we’re ready to defend ourselves from foreign animal diseases should they cross our borders.”

Biosecurity is keeping both domestic and foreign diseases out of a cattle operation and biocontainment is controlling the spread of diseases that are already on a farm.

Bovine viral diarrhea is one example how cattlemen use biosecurity.

“That’s a disease we have good preventatives for and we also have really good testing for it,” Chaplin said. “So, we can take measures to keep BVD off of our operations.”

Pink eye is a good example of biocontainment.

“Pink eye is really hard to completely eliminate, but if you have an outbreak, you can separate those animals from others that are at risk to limit the extent of the outbreak,” Chaplin said.

Veterinarians can assist cattlemen to implement practices to reduce the introduction and spread of disease agents in their herds.

“We want to help you protect your animals from developing diseases, to help improve animal welfare and reduce production losses,” Chaplin said.

“A biosecurity protocol is the cheapest and most effective means of disease control,” she said. “No disease prevention program is going to work without involving biosecurity on some level.”

Ultimately, the goal is to have a good biosecurity plan in place to mitigate common risks and to use that as a starting point if a foreign animal disease situation develops in the United States.

“And without proper training, people can be the greatest risks for bringing new diseases onto operations,” the veterinarian said.

Chaplin identified four key principles for a biosecurity plan — exclusion, separation, cleaning and disinfection.

Exclusion is difficult to implement in the cattle industry.

“Our colleagues in the swine and poultry industries are very familiar with exclusion since they have more of all-in, all-out types of operations,” Chaplin said. “They have multiple levels of biosecurity and critical control points before entering an operation.”

Keeping diseases away from a cattle herd or eradicating the disease are modes of exclusion, the veterinarian said.

Separation involves reducing comingling as much as possible by separating young calves from other calves, as well as increasing the distance between pens.

“Cleaning is a very impactful intervention step, but in order for disinfectants to work, you have to remove as much organic matter as possible,” Chaplin said.

“If you put disinfectant soap onto mud, all you have is soapy mud,” she said. “It’s not disinfected and it’s not clean — it’s just bubbly mud.”

Therefore, it is important to rinse all contaminated objects such as tires, bottles and equipment thoroughly to get the organic matter off before the disinfectant step.

“Read the label to apply the disinfectant at the proper concentration and use the appropriate contact time,” Chaplin said. “The contact time is one of the most effective aspects of a disinfectant.”

The risk of diseases will vary from herd to herd.

“Start by identifying the diseases you are most concerned about,” Chaplin said. “Then focus on putting biosecurity measures in place to protect your herd from those diseases.”

Diseases are spread through six primary ways. Aerosol spread is a major route of transmission.

“Disease agents are contained in droplets and they can pass through the air, but it requires they are fairly close in proximity to one another,” Chaplin said. “Most of the time, they don’t survive for a long time outside of the animal.”

Preventive measures include increasing the distance between sick and susceptible animals, maximizing ventilation, minimizing humidity and housing animals at appropriate stocking densities.

Transmission by direct contact requires the organism to be in the environment or in an infected animal.

“Animals can become exposed through contact with mucus, saliva or feces,” Chaplin said. “Prevention involves increasing the space between at risk animals and diseased animals and separating sick animals from healthy animals.”

Fomites are inanimate objects such as boots, brushes or trailers that can carry contaminates and diseases.

“Good preventative measures are cleaning and disinfecting and single-use items such as needles or palpation sleeves,” Chaplin said. “Have a change of clothes and have chore boots for the farm and off-farm designated boots.”

Oral transmission occurs with contaminated feed or water, as well as fecal transmission.

“Try not to walk through your feed bunks with dirty boots and don’t put needle caps in your mouth,” Chaplin said. “Have a procedure in place to clean the bucket between using it to clean the pens and to deliver feed.”

Flies, ticks and worms can carry diseases if they get to the cattle.

“We can put protocols in place to control flies to try to minimize the risk of the spread of disease,” Chaplin said.

Zoonotic transmission is the spread of disease from humans to animals or from animals to humans.

“To prevent this, wash your hands and be careful around stillborn or aborted fetuses,” Chaplin said. “Consider respiratory and eye protection and remember your mouth is not a third hand.”

Biosecurity is ultimately disease prevention, the veterinarian said.

“We can mitigate risk, but there is no such thing as zero risk,” she said. “Biosecurity comes down to what you can control on your operation with the resources you have.”

Most cattlemen have not dealt with a highly contagious disease in their herds.

“You don’t want to,” Chaplin said.

“It is going to take an enhanced level of biosecurity to keep a highly contagious disease out of your herd,” she said. “It’s really hard to envision going from just getting started to enhanced biosecurity.”

It can look like a tough journey, the veterinarian said.

“But with proper preparation and the right players,” she said, “we can accomplish that big journey with small steps, so focus on the practical and consistent steps.”