Breeder and Shelter Biosecurity Guidelines

Introduction

A private sanctuary rescued feral piglets whose mother had been killed. Subsequent brucellosis testing results are positive. Only adequate quarantine facilities convince the authorities that repeated testing of the entire herd for the disease should be carried out instead of destroying all pigs on the premises. Brucellosis did not move into the sanctuary.

Four pigs from a facility with many boarders stop by for a social visit. No biosecurity measures are taken. A contagious and potentially fatal diarrhea breaks out in textbook fashion at the sanctuary that housed the visiting pigs. Three sanctuaries end up in strict quarantine although only one actually had sick pigs. The others were exposed by indirect contamination. It is a costly and exhausting experience for the people involved and pigs suffer needlessly from an event that should have been easily avoided.

These are two recent incidents involving potbelly pigs. It is up to the potbelly pig community to be at the forefront of biosecurity and prevent future events such as this which could have much more dire consequences. Perhaps no other issue is more important to the safety of our pigs and paradoxically more overlooked than biosecurity.

As the social incident points out, the actions of one can affect us all. Those who have taken it upon themselves to be part of the potbelly pig community owe it to the pigs in their care and others in the community to become familiar with and use the very best biosecurity measures available.

It is important to remember that the measures described here may change as pathogens and disease prevention evolve. Because of the differences in the management practices between the commercial swine industry and potbelly pig facilities, our job is actually more difficult. Because our pigs are outdoors, it is much more difficult to control their environment. Therefore, managers must be much more aware of the health of their animals and extremely diligent in their protection.

Biosecurity is defined as procedures that are executed to keep new diseases from entering a farm. There are two basic concepts that affect the safety of pigs in breeding or sanctuary

1) Proactive measures which keep new diseases from being introduced and

2) Reactive measures to take should a disease or suspected disease appears at a facility.

All breeding and sanctuary farms should have a national identification number.

All-in/All-out definition:

1. Note all-in/all-out is not just about animals; it includes water and feed utensils, all manure and bedding removed from the walls and floor, cleaning of the air and ventilation system and finally, but not least, management of any medicines, needles and syringes used during the isolation program.

2. When a pig that leaves the farm and comes back starts at step one again.

3. If a new pig is introduced to a quarantine group, the process starts over.

Cleaning protocols: The key to proper cleaning and disinfection is to first remove all visible manure from the room and equipment. Hot water and detergent make this job easier. Disinfection should only occur after all visible manure has been removed. Manure and urine can interfere with the effectiveness of disinfection. The hardness of the water can also affect how well a disinfectant works and different diseases may require different disinfectants.

Consult with your veterinarian to select the most suitable disinfectant and detergent for your particular situation.

Biosecurity Measures

ISOLATION OR QUARENTINE AREA
The isolation (quarantine facility) is located
With direct contact with resident pigs	Unacceptable
Less than 300 yards from other pigs	Questionable
Greater than 300 yards from other pigs	Adequate
Greater than 1 miles from other pigs	Excellent
The isolation (quarantine facility) is
Completely outdoors	Questionable
Indoor/Outdoor	Questionable
Totally enclosed	Excellent
Isolation (quarantine) duration
Less than 30 days	Unacceptable
30-60 days	Adequate
60 days or more	Excellent
People caring for the pigs in the isolation facility
Go back and forth between the isolation facility without scrub down and a change of outerwear	Unacceptable
Care for isolation pigs last and shower, change clothes before coming in contact with other pigs. The order of care should be young or susceptible but otherwise healthy animals first, all healthy adult animals next, sick or suspect and quarantined last. Wash hands between groups.	Adequate
Person working in isolation has no contact with other pigs or pig facilities	Excellent
Health Care within the Isolation Facility includes
No records are kept, no vaccination or mange	Unacceptable
Detailed Health records kept, pigs vaccinated, mange eradication twice 14 days apart	Adequate
Health records kept, pigs vaccinated/mange eradication, blood tested for brucellosis and pseudorabies	Excellent
Cleaning and feeding procedures in the Isolation Facility
The same cleaning and feeding equipment are used for all pigs	Unacceptable
Separate cleaning, watering, feeding equipment for each pig or groups of pigs	Adequate
Manure and waste bagged separately.	Adequate
Foot baths and separate coveralls	Adequate
All of the above	Excellent
Cleaning and disinfections
Disinfection is absent or disinfectants selected at random	Unacceptable
Disinfectants are based on label claims	Questionable
Rooms are cleaned, disinfected and disinfectant allowed to dry before new pigs are moved in	Excellent
Ceiling, wall, flooring and equipment are all cleaned and disinfected between groups of pigs all-in/all-out practiced	Excellent
Veterinary involvement
No involvement with your vet	Unacceptable
Discussed requirements of isolation with your vet	Adequate
You and your vet design and monitor the isolation requirements	Excellent

LOCATION OF FACILITY
Aerosol transmission of organisms for 2 miles or more has been described for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Pseudorabies, Parvovirus and Foot and Mouth disease. Trying to stay real, groups of pigs should be situated greater than one mile apart from each other.
The facility is located
Less than 500 yards to another pig facility or a market or a slaughterhouse	Questionable
One mile or greater	Excellent
The nearest public road is
Less than 200 yards from the herd site	Questionable
200 to 500 yards from herd site	Adequate
Greater than 500 yards	Excellent
Drainage
Drainage from other animals can pass through the area where pigs have access	Unacceptable
There is no drainage through pig habitat	Adequate
Facility Management
Access deterrents
No biosecurity or information signs at entrance	Questionable
No perimeter fence or gated driveway	Questionable
No perimeter fence, driveway is gated and not locked	Questionable
No perimeter fence, driveway is gated and locked	Adequate
An occupied dwelling exists on the site	Excellent
Perimeter fence exists and driveway is gated and locked	Excellent
Parking area and delivery trucks
Vehicles drive into areas pigs have access to	Unacceptable
A separate parking area for all vehicles	Adequate
Delivery vehicles do not drive into pigs areas	Adequate
Visitor concerns
Visitors wear clothing brought with them	Unacceptable
Visitors must wash hands and arms and wear farm clothing	Adequate
Visitors log is kept and visitors sign in	Excellent
Visitors not allowed to bring vehicles into perimeter fence	Excellent
Feeding concerns
Pig has access to uncooked meat products	Unacceptable
The pig is fed lots of treats	Questionable
The pig has good access to feed and water	Adequate
The pigs are fed a balanced diet with access to pasture in the summer time and the pig’s body condition is kept below score 3	Excellent
Bedding concerns
Bedding is purchased without concern for its source	Questionable
Bedding is sourced from fields not using pig manure	Excellent
Bedding is stored with good rodent control measures	Excellent
Manure disposal
Manure is piled close to the pig’s housing	Questionable
Pigs have access to the manure pile	Questionable
Manure is stored and managed to minimize fly and mosquitoes	Adequate
The manure pile is isolated away from the pig and composed and reincorporated into the soil as quickly as possible	Excellent

Pest/Wildlife Control Program
No pest control program	Unacceptable
Excessive debris and vegetation inside perimeter	Unacceptable
Birds have access to feed and pigs eating	Unacceptable
Dogs, cats or wildlife has access to feed or pigs eating	Unacceptable
A pest control program is implemented by manager	Acceptable
A professional biosecurity program for pest control	Excellent
Feed spills are cleaned up immediately	Excellent
Rodents, feral animals and birds can be sources of pathogens for pigs. Rodents can carry the agents that cause Progressive Atrophic Rhinitis (Pasteurella), Escherichia coli scours, Leptospirosis, rotaviral diarrhea, Salmonellosis, and Swine Dysentery. Dogs can spread Swine Dysentery and Brucellosis pathogens. Wild animals can harbor Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, and Pseudorabies. Birds can carry bordetellosis and tuberculosis. There is also evidence that birds can transmit the viruses that cause Classic Swine Fever, PRRS, Influenza and TGE. Cats are a potential source of toxoplasmosis. Flies and mosquitoes can transmit PRRSv. It is difficult to control bird and other animals in outdoor facilities. This makes it paramount that managers be more cautious and observant. It must be remembered that the best biosecurity measures in the isolation facility will be thwarted if small animals are tracking their unwashed feet between groups of pigs or carrying pathogens from sick to well pigs.
Transportation
Pigs are transported in a dirty truck	Questionable
After moving a pig, the truck is thoroughly cleaned	Excellent
Pigs are transported in a specially modified car or in a protective box	Excellent
Compromised/sick animal care
Medication/needle/syringe storage and usage
Needles, syringes and medicines are disposed of in normal trash	Questionable
No record of medicine use is kept	Questionable
Medicines are used and stored as prescribed by the veterinarian	Excellent
Veterinarian contact
The farm has no working relationship with an experienced veterinarian prior to sickness.	Unacceptable
The farm contacts veterinarian at the first sign of illness	Adequate
All pigs on the farm are examined at least once a year by a vet	Excellent
The veterinarian writes a health program each year	Excellent
Suspected illnesses
Sick pigs are left with the herd, sporadic monitoring	Unacceptable
Sick pigs are segregated and veterinarian consulted. All medical notes recorded including mediation doses	Adequate
All staff are trained in clinical signs of a sick pig	Excellent
Sickness Quarantine
No action taken once contagious disease suspected	Unacceptable
No pigs leave or enter farm until cleared by veterinarian	Acceptable
All possible contacts notified that there is a chance of contamination of disease	Adequate
Public posting of Farm Under Quarantine	Excellent
Carcass Removal
Dead pigs are removed to on site location and left to decompose uncovered.	Unacceptable
Dead pigs are buried in shallow grave without necropsy regardless of suspected cause of death	Unacceptable
Tractor or buckets used to remove dead pigs are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before returning to use.	Adequate
Dead pigs receive necropsy and results are submitted to the Duchess Fund