Biosecurity in livestock and poultry production

Biosecurity, a set of practices that controls the spread of disease-causing organisms, is an essential part in livestock production in the country. The Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Animal Industry headed by Director Jose Molina, is seeing to it that this concern is being addressed.

Among the diseases being addressed are hog cholera, foot-and-mouth-disease (FMD) in livestock and newcastle disease and bird flu in poultry farms.

The objectives are: Limit the introduction into a livestock or poultry operation and reduce lateral spread between farms following an initial outbreak. Secure by design, secure by planning and secure by restriction are the three specific principles of disease prevention, aside from veterinary measures.

Secure By Design

The distance of the farms from the center of the national highway should be one kilometer (km) for poultry and three for commercial swine and cattle feedlot farms. However, with the application of advanced waste management technology, exceptions may be granted. Swine and poultry farms must be separated by at least one km from each other and from the boundary of built-up areas as determined by local government unit (LGU). Additional farms should be located in areas with a low density of commercial and poultry or livestock population. The bases for the distances between farms from the national highway and from built-up areas are the waste management facilities.

Commercial farms should be located in areas without backyard or non-commercial farms and should be situated sufficiently close to public roads to facilitate access. Location of farm and operating procedures should take into account prevailing wind direction. And should be securely fenced with notices clearly displayed.

Secure By Planning

Special provision should be made to remove by culling sick and injured animals. Appropriate methods of disposal of sick and dead animals should be observed like burning and burying. The waste management facility must be constructed in compliance with the Environment Clearance Certificate (ECC) requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Secure By Restriction

Biosecurity requires control of human traffic and this involves not only the regular workers in the farms but also the visiting servicemen and customers. The facilities should be provided with decontamination modules to enable personnel and visitors to change into farm clothings. It is necessary to maintain an inventory of protective clothing of the right sizes for workers, supervisors and visitors to ensure that there is a program for regular cleaning and disinfection. A record should be kept of all visitors to a site including name, date of visit and nature of business.

Vehicles should not be allowed in the farm. If this can not be avoided, the vehicle should be thoroughly sprayed with disinfectant before gaining access to the farm. Feed delivery vehicles should be washed before returning to the mixing plant to prevent spread of infection, if any. Where possible, feed should be delivered in a sequence and special precaution should be taken if a disease is present or suspected in a farm.

AO 14 Series 2002

The Department is now also implementing the revised guidelines for the accreditation of swine breeding farms. This is designed to identify, accredit and promote swine farms with quality genetics and improved breeder stocks and to sustain the advanced status of the swine industry by insuring the availability and distribution of good quality breeder stocks in backyard farms which produce 70 percent of the country’s and hog production.

Aside from the legal requirements, the technical requirements are being implemented. These are facilities for testing and identification of genetically superior pigs; records of pedigree lineage of the animals, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio; and certification that the animals being sold are free from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) a hog cholera.

Requirements for domestic accreditation of farms by BAI are: (1) Inspection system for animal husbandry; 2) Quality assurance system for animal health; 3) Staff competence for infrastructure and facilities; and 4) Product identification and traceback system for biosecurity measures.

All these biosecurity measures are for developing a cutting edge savvy in poultry and livestock industry in the country.