Page 40 of articles about biosecurity

Despite its scarce use in commercial artificial insemination programs (used only in 1% of all inseminated sows) nowadays no one questions the sanitary, economic, and productive advantages of cryogenically preserved semen with respect to fresh or refrigerated semen.

Any failure in a cleaning and disinfection programme costs money. This comes from the costs of the programme, the loss of its potential benefits and very probably the costs of disease the failure has allowed to occur. It is also very disappointing for the management and staff of the farm who have done the hard work, and the veterinarian who is trying to ensure healthy efficient production.

In the last article we looked at the need for thorough complete cleaning of a building, room or equipment in any efficient biosecurity programme. If done properly this will reduce the pathogen burden hugely as shown by a typical reduction in bacterial counts by 99%.

Since 1987, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRS) has become a global drain on pig productivity, profitability, and many a producers’ morale. One thing that remains certain is PRRS virus continually finds ways to circumvent our best bio-management efforts. PRRS marches on in a ceaseless continuum of antigenic change making current vaccines and other control techniques of limited value.

The cleaning and disinfection process are critical steps in any biosecurity program in order to minimize the transmission of diseases. Washing is the most critical step of the entire process. This step will remove over 99% of the microorganisms.