The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) research and advise on many topics related to beef cattle health including disease prevention. They relate and repeat a strategy for disease prevention that can help beat the odds. It is biosecurity.
“Beef producers value pens and pastures of consistently healthy cattle with low treatment costs. Daily habits go a long way to reduce or prevent the spread of disease. It is important to understand the risks associated with working with beef cattle every day to ensure both the animals and the people who care for them remain safe.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) defines biosecurity as practices that prevent or mitigate disease from entering, spreading within or being released from operations that may contain livestock.
Key Points
Having a solid biosecurity policy and plan can prevent disease from striking your farm and help improve your response when it does.
Cleaning and disinfecting techniques of equipment and facilities are an important part of biosecurity.
Some diseases that affect cattle can also make humans sick, which is why proper personal protective equipment is important when working with animals.
Diseases that are considered endemic or common in the population are important to include in a core vaccination program.
The consequences of a trade-limiting disease outbreak on the national cow herd would be economically devastating. It is up to all travelers and producers to follow travel and biosecurity protocols to ensure our country remains free from these diseases.
Biosecurity in Practice
Biosecurity hazards on beef operations are sometimes overlooked, however, the risk of introducing disease onto your farm is real and relatively common. Routine practices such as shared fence lines, buying in replacement breeding heifers or bulls, borrowing stock trailers, outsourcing farm work or hosting visitors can bring unwanted diseases onto your farm.
Fortunately, there are some practices that producers can implement to help manage their biosecurity risks. Many commonsense practices already being implemented on farms across Canada are in line with biosecurity as part of everyday risk management.”
Protect Your Herd
With the recent outbreak of food and mouth disease in Hungary, it is a tragic reminder that beef cattle producers in Canada have a lot to gain by implementing a few straightforward on-farm biosecurity protocols, such as cleaning out stock trailers. Learn about cleaning and disinfecting, plus more practical ways to protect your herd at www.BeefResearch.ca/protect.
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