Biosecurity Guidelines for Pig Producers
Note Number: AG1154
Published: June 2006
Updated: June 2008
Biosecurity - practical measures to limit the spread of infectious diseases of pigs both within a farm and from one farm to others - is an essential part of risk management for pig producers.
Biosecurity is good for business
Common infectious diseases of pigs such as enzootic pneumonia, pleuropneumonia, mange, progressive atrophic rhinitis and swine dysentery pose constant challenges to Australian pig producers. Millions of dollars are lost each year as a result of deaths and decreased growth and reproductive rates. Control measures such as vaccines, antibiotics and other chemicals further add to these costs. Minimising the level of disease within the herd can dramatically reduce these costs, with a resulting increase in profitability.
Biosecurity is the best form of defence against exotic diseases. Eradication and recovery from an exotic disease outbreak will not only be costly, but the long-term prosperity of the pig industry could be damaged if a foreign disease became established. International market access for pork products is increasingly dependent on proof of absence of certain diseases from Australia.
How do diseases of pigs spread?
Most common diseases are spread by direct pig to pig contact. Respiratory disease are spread in the air when pigs sneeze or cough. Disease agents can also spread by clothes, footwear, animal handling, veterinary equipment, transport vehicles, feed or water, and semen. People moving between farms, aerosols, biting insects, wildlife or contaminated meat products can also contribute to disease spread.
Introduction of new stock
As the most important route of disease spread is from pig to pig, introduced pigs present the greatest risk of introducing new diseases to a herd. Producers are strongly encouraged to buy replacements directly from a single herd of a higher or comparable health status, based on veterinary advice. An alternative is to maintain a closed herd and introduce new genetic material by the use of artificial insemination. Semen should only be purchased from an approved centre of known health status.
Trained staff should inspect all new stock upon arrival and regularly thereafter. Introduced breeding stock should be kept separately (quarantined) from the main herd, ideally for 6 – 8 weeks. The quarantine facility should be situated at least 3 km and ideally 5 km from the home farm. Separate boots and overalls should be provided for use in the isolation building and hands should be washed after handling quarantined pigs. While a quarantine facility may be appropriate for herds introducing breeding stock it is impractical for farms that regularly introduce growing pigs as part of multi-site operations. In well-run operations, an all-in, all-out system should ensure a degree of isolation for each batch, and assist containment of introduced diseases. Buildings should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between batches.
Swill feeding
Feeding swill to pigs is the most likely way that Australian livestock may be exposed to an exotic disease agent. Exotic diseases that can be spread by feeding swill to pigs include foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever, African swine fever and swine vesicular disease. Legislation has been in place for many years in Australia to prohibit swill feeding. Compliance with this legislation and reporting offenders is essential. It should be noted that industry practices such as “feed back” of placenta, still born pigs and dead neonates qualify as swill feeding under Victorian legislation.
Controlled access
Visitors – only prescheduled visitors essential to the farm’s business should be permitted entry. All visitors should enter via a single point where they sign a Visitors’ Book and are issued with protective boots and clothes. This clothing should be used in the piggery only. Clearly demarcated “clean” and “dirty” areas should be established to ensure there is no confusion about where people need to remove their off farm “dirty” clothes and footwear, put on “clean” farm boots and clothing and wash their hands. Signs, locked doors and locked gates can be used to discourage pig and feed truck drivers, or other unauthorised visitors, from entering sheds. Some high health status herds require visitors to have a pig free period of 12 hours or more and a shower before entry if they have recently visited another piggery.
Staff – should be aware of the risks entailed in off site contact with other pigs. Staff should not keep their own pigs unless this is cleared with management first. Rules for staff entry should be similar to the rules for visitors, except that staff need not be required to sign the visitor movement record. Staff should not wear “dirty” clothing in “clean” areas. Staff movements between units within a piggery should be planned, especially if more than one age group is housed on one site. Contaminated clothing should be changed between departments. Staff should move from younger to older pigs through the day. Hands should be washed between units or rooms and after handling sick pigs, which should be visited last.
Vehicles– load out areas present a risk if a pig transport vehicle arrives at farm already carrying pigs. This should not be allowed to occur unless the pigs on the truck have the same health status as your own pigs. There is a risk from aerosols and from movement of pigs onto the truck and then back to the farm by mistake. This risk can be reduced by providing a “dirty” loading area that is separated from the “clean” farm areas, with a “no return” policy, “no return” gates, and appropriate signage. All vehicles transporting pigs should be cleaned and disinfected before pigs are loaded. Wherever possible a perimeter load out site should be used.
Movement records
Records should be kept of the movements of animals, people and vehicles onto and off the farm to assist tracing in the event of an emergency disease outbreak. This information is vital to ensure that the disease is rapidly and effectively tracked and contained.
Pig identification
Identification of pigs going for sale or slaughter is an essential part of monitoring for diseases and chemical residues. All pigs consigned for sale or transportation to an abattoir or knackery for slaughter, must be identified by either a tattoo brand or ear tag prior to leaving their property of origin. The tattoo or tag must identify the property on which the pigs have been kept for the previous 7 days. Pigs less than 25 kg body weight must be tagged with an approved ear tag. Pigs over 25 kg body weight are required to be tattooed with the owner's property identification number.
Separation from other animals
Where appropriate, a secure pig proof fence should be erected around the piggery to prevent access of feral pigs and other animals. Strict measures should also be in place to ensure that all gates are kept closed when not in immediate use.
Pest and insect control programs should be in place. Flying foxes (fruit bats) have been implicated in the spread of Menangle virus in Australia and Nipah virus in Malaysia. If necessary, bird netting and habitat reduction can be used to limit the access of flying foxes to the pig herd.
Sheep, cattle and goats grazing between piggery buildings normally pose little risk, provided that they do not move between properties, their manure does not come in contact with pigs, and they are not grazed around feed silos nor allowed to eat pellets that contain meat meal. However in the case of an FMD outbreak in a piggery they would pose a significant threat.
Farm location
A minimum buffer distance between neighbouring pig farms and between units within a piggery is desirable to limit the risk of aerosol disease spread, although this may be impractical for existing piggeries in pig dense areas. Aerosol spread is just one of the many ways a disease could enter a piggery and a distance barrier will not protect a piggery that, for instance, has no controls over stock introductions. The level of risk also depends on the diseases present, the level of infection in the herd, stocking intensity, the topography of the area and wind direction. A minimum biosecurity buffer distance of 3 km between sites is a useful guideline, but should not be interpreted too prescriptively as effective biosecurity is achieved through a combination of measures.
Hygiene
The farm’s biosecurity program must provide for mandatory cleaning and disinfection of any equipment (such as snares or ultrasound pregnancy detection equipment) that is moved by consultants from farm to farm. Syringes used for injection or needles used for blood collection should remain on farm and be destroyed after single use. Post mortem implements used by veterinarians for sample collection should remain off farm or be used in areas that are not in direct contact with the herd.
Disposal of piggery effluent, dead pigs and other biological material should be by approved methods.
Staff training
Staff should be trained to recognise signs of disease in the herd and to report any unusual signs or explained deaths promptly. Mortality and disease records should be kept. If something unusual or unexpected happens and infectious disease is suspected, veterinary advice should be sought as soon as possible. Rapid recognition of abnormal disease patterns is extremely important and will lead to prompt diagnosis and efficient management of any emergency disease. DPI Victoria conducts testing for suspected emergency diseases free of charge to the producer.
Further information
Contact the Pig Health and Research Unit, Victorian DPI.
Phone: 03 5430 4444
E-mail: diagnostic.lab@dpi.vic.gov.au
The Australian Pork Industry Biosecurity Program (2003) available from Australian Pork Limited www.australianpork.com.au
Australian Pork Limited also administers the Australian Pork Industry Quality Program (APIQ), a simple and practical quality assurance program that incorporates biosecurity elements and is designed for on-farm use.
Eradicating Diseases of Pigs (2001) Ed. R. Cutler, Pig Research and Development Corporation, Kingston, ACT
This Agriculture Note is one of a series. Other relevant Agriculture Notes include:
- AG0521: Pig identification systems: tattoo branding and ear tagging
- AG0922: Swill feeding is banned in Australia
