Relationship between biosecurity and production/antimicrobial treatment characteristics in pig herds

Laanen, Maria; Persoons, Davy; Ribbens, Stefaan; Jong, Ellen de; Callens, Bénédicte; Strubbe, Marieke; Maes, Dominiek; Dewulf, Jeroen

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.08.029

Cited by 220 publications

(264 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The obtained biosecurity scores for Belgium were comparable to the results described by Laanen et al (2013), who carried out a study in Belgium in 2009 to 2010 using the same methodology (Biocheck.UGent TM ). For the other participating countries there were no comparable data on the biosecurity status available, highlighting the importance of this study to get a first insight in the biosecurity level in several countries measured with a common tool.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…An interesting difference was also seen in the score for the 'nursery period', where Sweden was scoring higher and Germany also scored higher. The subcategory 'nursery period' is largely influenced by the high weight factor for the score for the maximum pig stocking density (Supplementary data in Laanen et al (2013)), which is lower in Sweden because of Swedish legislation (Regeringskansliet Sweden, 1988). The same applies, to a lesser extent, to the fattening period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the scoring system, every answer is translated into a score with absence of the biosecurity measure always resulting in score of 0 and presence of the measure varying in a score between 0.5 and 10 dependent on the importance of the measure. Furthermore the sub-categories have specific weight factors, again depending on their assessed relative importance for disease prevention (see supplementary data in Laanen et al (2013)). Finally the Biocheck.UGent TM scoring system provides a score for each subcategory as well as separate scores for internal and external biosecurity each time ranging from a minimum equal to 0 indicating total absence of biosecurity measures and a maximum 100 indicating full application of all described biosecurity measures.…”

Section: Biosecurity Quantificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biosecurity measures are of great importance to prevent or limit the risk of animals becoming infected with pathogens (Amass and Clark, 1999;European Commission, 2007;Maes et al, 2008;Fraile et al, 2010;Nöremark et al, 2010;Lambert et al, 2012;Laanen et al, 2013). A reduction in the risk of contracting an infection might lead to the reduced necessity of (antimicrobial) treatment of the animals (Laanen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmers are likely to be more motivated to implement biosecurity measures if such measures can be expected to be beneficial for their farm performance (Casal et al, 2007;Valeeva et al, 2011;Laanen et al, 2014), yet there is limited quantitative data available to link biosecurity and production parameters (Amass and Clark, 1999;Laanen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The biosecurity status and its associations with production and management characteristics in farrow-to-finish pig herds

Postma

Backhans

Collineau

et al. 2016

Animal

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Disease prevention through biosecurity measures is believed to be an important factor for improvement of the overall health status in animal production. This study aimed at assessing the levels of implementation of biosecurity measures in pig production in four European Union (EU) countries and to describe possible associations between the biosecurity level and farm and production characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 232 farrow-to-finish pig herds in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden between December 2012 and December 2013. The biosecurity status in each of these herds was described and quantified by using the risk-based scoring tool Biocheck.UGentTM (www.biocheck.ugent.be). Production and management characteristics, obtained from the herd management system and by interviewing the farmer, were analysed for their association with the biosecurity level. A causal path was designed to study statistical associations. The results showed that there was substantial room for improvement in the biosecurity status on many pig farms. Significant differences (P<0.01) both in internal and external biosecurity levels were observed between countries. The external biosecurity status, combining all measures taken to prevent disease introduction into the herd, was highest in Germany and lowest in France. The internal biosecurity status, combining all measures taken to prevent within herd disease transmission, was highest in Sweden and lowest, with a large variation, in Belgium. External biosecurity scores were in general higher compared to internal biosecurity scores. The number of pathogens vaccinated against was significantly associated with internal biosecurity status, suggesting an overall more preventive approach towards the risk of disease transmission. A higher external biosecurity was associated with more weaned piglets per sow per year. Furthermore also the weaning age and the mortality till weaning were highly associated with the number of weaned piglets per sow per year. The negative association observed between the biosecurity level and the estimated frequency of treatment against certain clinical signs of disease as a proxy for disease incidence is consistent with the hypothesis that a higher biosecurity level results in healthier animals. These findings promote an improved biosecurity status at pig farms and are of relevance in the discussion on alternative ways to keep animals healthy with a reduced necessity of antimicrobials; Prevention is better than cure

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biosecurity Quantificationmentioning

confidence: 99%