Prevention of disease

Introduction:

Prevention of any disease causing agent at livestock farm by managemental mechanisms and operations is known as biosecurity.Due to increased incidence of many foreign and emerging diseases such as FMD and Avian Influenza has made it of major concern. Biosecurity is basic phenomena in disease prevention at farm. there are many factors that contribute towards disease at livestock farm .Their list includes

• Farm visitors
• Veterinarians themselves
• Regulatory personnel
• Dead stock collectors
• Friends

all of these should understand the importance of biosecurity. if any one of these does not aware of biosecurity he will ultimately contribute to make himself and animal susceptible to disease.

May be it is possible that a person carrying infection visit multiple farms in one day and may effect other farms .As a result of which the disease can spread in whole country. So today there is need to develop certain mechanisms and operations to minimize the chances of disease occurance .and this can be done with the help of qualified and experiences staff at farm which include farm manager ,farm supervisors, nutrition and extension specialists, Because various problems in practical implementation for prevention of disease are due to the fact that majority of livestock farms are managed by illiterate and ignorant persons who ignore the basic principles of biosecurity and sanitation .improper sanitation provides the ideal environment to bacteria, parasites ,viruses and fungi and provide shelter to germs. Proper sanitation identify the causes of all preventable diseases and make all those causes ineffective to spread diseases .By this animal can live in the favorable conditions of life with provision of clean water, good ventilation and well sanitize sheds.

There are four basic steps in prevention of disease.

• Proper vaccination
• Detection of disease
• Removal of intermediate hosts
• Control meseaure for infectious disease

Disease results from the intervention of infectious agent in the farm in outs and farm outputs. Farm inputs includes the health of animal , housing hygiene ,feed and water hygiene .farm out puts includes the farm visitors, wild life and visiting vehicles .Farm input and outputs both should be controlled for prevention of disease.

Whenever there is breakage in biosecurity process the infectious agent infects animal which sheds agent in environment (foods, water, housing) and ultimately make animal susceptible to disease .It is shown in following diagram,

Biosecurity increases the death rate of germs, reducing chance of infection . Bioseurity not only prevent disease in this way but also enhances the prevention by sanitation of farm premises ,by maintaining close herd and by killing the natural and mechanical carrier of disease .Bioseurity helps us to prevent the disease causing agents inside the farm and stops them to enter at farm but one thing keep in mind that close observation and biosecurity measures should be adopted at constant basis.

Biosecurity plan

For prevention of disease an effective Biosecurity plan and its accurate implementation is needed at farm. Biosecurity plan limits the chances of disease occurance. It prevents pathogens from entering through different routes of transmission.

Biosecurity can be broken through any of following routes shown in diagram below.

A biosecurity plan consists of isolation, traffic control and sanitation.

At first isolate animal according to age and production. Isolate sick animals for at least one month and they should be separately feeded. They should be properly vaccinated according to appropriate vaccination programme to produce immunity against infectious diseases. Basic purpose of isolation is to control the visitors minimize contact between disease and healthy animals. New animals should pass through process of quarantine remember that new animal are greatest risk to biosecurity.

Secondly control the visitors and vehicles that routinely visit your farm .Only concerned visitors should be allowed to visit farm. They should be properly dressed up wearing coveralls and gum boots. Vehicles should be properly cleaned and disinfected before entrance. Vehicles should be free of any unwanted material that can cause disease.

Adequate fencing should be provided for protection of animals against wild life and neighboring herds.

Lastly ensure sanitation at livestock farm. Sanitation minimizes the effects of infectious agents by adapting hygienic practices and maintaining health status of animal. Provide proper lightning and ventilation in animal sheds. Clean bedding should also provided .Adopt all the sanitary conditions to ensure a healthy calf at birth. Good hygienic conditions for young animal are important in both safeguarding health and future profit .Sanitation should be carried out in all aspects including farm equipments, farm employee, farm visiting vehicles. Milking should be done in hygienic environment .both milking man and milk collecting utensils should be clean. Teats should be dipped regularly and do not handle udder with dry hand because it will lead to chapping of udder.

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Disinfection is process to kill all bacteria and parasites with the help of specific compounds. Disinfection should be thoroughly carried out. Before disinfection a thorough cleaning of building is necessary to facilitate disinfection. Instruments (hoof knives, clippers, dehorners) are main source of cross contamination so, should be disinfected before and after use. There should be separate instruments that are to be used on disease and healthy animals. As the infectious agents are very small and they become indefinite in dust, cracks and crevices and surfaces of buildings .so, disinfection should be done with extreme care and attention to kill all the life threatening bacterial, parasitic, fungal and viral agents. At a limited area disinfectant can be applied with help of brush while for a large area disinfectant can be applied by spraying on that area. Some disinfectants are extremely irritating to eyes and skin so person applying disinfectant should wear gloves to protect skin and goggles to protect eyes.

Disinfectants commonly available in market are pyodine (iodine), parachlorometoxylenol (dettole), methylated spirit, and carbolic acid or phenol. They are available in low cost. Some insecticides are also available that are applied externally to kill ticks, mites and fleas on animal body. These include coal tar, petroleum and nicotine.

Employee clothing should be continuously washed with detergents.. In addition to disinfectant the sanitizer can also increase death rate of infectious agents and decrease their population. A sanitizer kills about 99.9 percent of all bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Disinfectants are classified into three types sunlight ,heat(hot air, steam, fire) and chemical disinfectants .Chemical disinfectants are further classified into three types compounds (pot.permnganate), alkalies(pot.hydrooxide,limesoln) and acids(boric acids, carbolic acids).classification of disinfectants is shown below in diagram

Conclusion

Biosecurity is an important step towards the prevention of disease before its occurance as prevention is better than cure .Biosecurity play a significant role in production of healthy and profitable livestock.