Transport Biosecurity, Bioexclusion and Biocontainment Highlight Planned Wean to Harvest Biosecurity Program

The principles of transport biosecurity, biocontainment and bioexclusion are the focus of a wean to harvest biosecurity program now under development.Two task forces, struck by the Swine Health Information Center, the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research and the National Pork Board, one focussing on transport biosecurity and the other on bioexclusion and biocontainment, are in the process of developing criteria for Wean to Harvest Biosecurity program.

SHIC Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says the objective is to put together a call for proposals that can be sent out in October.

Clip-Dr. Paul Sundberg-Swine Health Information Center:

In our analysis of health data, it has become fairly clear that the infected finishing floors, whether that's with PRRS, PED or it very well could be with the next emerging disease, ASF or something else, can serve as a nidus of infection for the breeding herd.

Our history and experience with our Aujeszky's disease or pseudorabies eradication program bore that out as well. We found out that, in order to eradicate pseudorabies from the U.S. we had to vaccinate on finishing floors because they were serving as a point of infection going back to breeding herds.

Our analysis of data shows the same thing is happening with PRRS, the same thing is happening with PED and certainly there's reason to expect and suspect that the same thing would happen with the next emerging disease that we may be faced with.

What we've done is focus on the opportunity to really get some action on finishing floors, finishing biosecurity.That includes everything from wean to harvest because we're trying to be as inclusive as possible.

Dr. Sundberg says a weaning site may have the same biosecurity issues as a finishing floor, there may be farrow to finish sites that we may have to pay attention to and also there is packing plant transmission of pathogens, so that's why it's termed the wean to harvest program.