Making the Invisible Visible: Using Glo Germ to Study Livestock Biosecurity

Imagine you’ve caught the flu virus. You sneeze into a tissue, doing your best to follow recommended hygiene protocols. Still, tiny droplets and particles of the virus land on your hands. You know you should wash them immediately, but on the way to the sink you grab a glass of water, switch on the hall light, open the bathroom door and adjust the tap unknowingly leaving behind an invisible trail of contamination.

With Glo Germ, that hidden trail becomes visible. This simple tool acts as a proxy for environmental contamination by demonstrating how you can come into contact with germs on various surfaces. It has long been used in human medicine, for example, to demonstrate cross contamination in hospital settings. It is also familiar in the agricultural industry for simulating the spread of pathogens in horse barns. Now, new research is building on these applications, exploring whether Glo Germ can be used to simulate the spread of abortion-causing pathogens in sheep and goats. 

This research brings together a collaborative team based at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), University of Guelph. Leading the group is Dr. Kelsey Spence (BSc, PhD), Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Medicine, joined by her graduate student, Juliet Germann (PhD Candidate) and Dr. Charlotte Winder (DVM, DVSc), Associate Professor in the Department of Population Medicine.

Infectious abortions in sheep and goats is a major concern on farms. These events are not only distressing but also often highly infectious, and many agents are zoonotic. Understanding how these infections spread on a given farm, based on their management protocols, is critical for improving farm-level biosecurity.

To explore this, the team is conducting an observational pilot study with sheep from the Ponsonby Research Flock, housed at the Ponsonby General Animal Facility. They are initially testing different methods of applying Glo Germ to animals and their environments as a starting point to help answer key questions about how this tool can be used to simulate pathogen spread. For instance, one aspect of this preliminary work involves determining how much Glo Germ is needed for effective use.

The team’s observations are valuable to the research community. They provide insights into the effects of different application amounts, highlight the difference between applying to different materials, and offer practical lessons that other researchers can use when exploring Glo Germ in new environments, including different livestock settings.  

For farmers, this research has the potential to strengthen on-farm biosecurity by showing where and how contamination spreads in real-world settings. The insights can inform practical management changes, such as improved lambing or kidding protocols, better handling practices, and targeted hygiene measures, to help reduce the risk of infectious abortions.