Bugs On Board!

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Stopping Truck-Based Disease in its Tracks

By Geoff Geddes

Though hitchhikers with their thumbs out could pose a threat, it's those unseen stowaways that can really be a handful. As transports take animals from site to site, they may also carry harmful material that endangers pig health, and, in the process, producer profits. Since pig movement is not optional, finding ways to minimize the risk is essential.

"Biosecurity remains the single most effective means we have to fend off disease," says Dr. Egan Brockhoff, veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council (CPC). "Whether you are a backyard producer with 10 pigs, or the largest commercial producer in the world, biosecurity as a tool is available to everybody."

While guarding against disease is important at every phase of production, transport entails unique considerations for all concerned.

You thought herding cats was hard

"Transferring pigs is a high-risk area, both in terms of causing and preventing disease movement and infection," says Dr. Jessica Law, veterinarian at Prairie Livestock Veterinarians in Red Deer and Lethbridge, Alta. "What makes it especially problematic is the number of factors involved: Different drivers; various equipment; a range of barn and load-out designs. When you think of all the shipments within and between provinces, you rarely see one scenario replicated more than a few times."

As well, there is no "slow season" for pig transport. Movement happens every day of the year, regardless of the weather or other elements.

"The production sector is chock-a-block with animals at all times," says Law. "There is no slack in the system, and animals must be shipped when they are ready to go, which means we need to be 'on' 24/7."

Apart from the added difficulty in having good biosecurity en route, the fallout from failure is also magnified.

Disease danger downstream

"If a truck is not washed effectively, for example, it could expose animals at downstream premises to danger as well," says Jenelle Hamblin, director of swine health with Manitoba Pork. "In turn, a disease could then move from those premises to two downstream nurseries, and suddenly you have three farms affected instead of just one."

Adding to the biosecurity challenge, transports are typically dispatched to high-traffic sites, making it vital to create lines of separation between the hauling unit and loading/unloading docks.

"By nature, you will still get some cross contamination, but enforcing these lines can help to minimize it," says Brockhoff. "Make sure you follow strict entry and exit protocols for your trailer that includes the driver changing boots and overalls when getting in and out. The driver should not enter the office while at the dock, and no one from the slaughter plant or assembly yard can enter the trailer."

Steps to success

Just as proper handwashing keeps humans healthy, the right truck-washing procedure can do the same for your animals. This includes thoroughly washing the unit with soap, disinfecting with the right concentration of disinfectant for the proper amount of time, and applying thermally assisted drying with hot, dry air to maximize the killing of pathogens.

"If you follow that procedure, you will get the trailer back home and park it with no risk of further cross contamination," says Brockhoff. "It involves time and expense, but it's a great investment and motivates you even more to rigorously apply lines of separation between clean and dirty."

Though much has been done to enhance transportation biosecurity over the years, industry is committed to further progress on many fronts.

"A key area for me is better understanding the load-out process," says Hamblin. "Barn design plays a huge role, as some sites are better designed to protect pigs than others."

At present, the Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network (CSHIN) is working on design recommendations for newly built or modified barns to improve biosecurity during load-out. Co-funded by the Canadian Pork Council, the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System, CSHIN is a collaboration aimed at improving swine health and disease surveillance.

"We have also made great progress in regard to truck washing," says Hamblin. "Over the past six years, that aspect has improved by leaps and bounds, so that is a great success story for industry. I think there is always room for evaluation and looking at ways that we can do things better. The key is examining how we can continue to meet the demand for our product while being both efficient and effective, and not causing more problems by trying to cut corners."

Watch, learn, apply, repeat

Continuous improvement requires ongoing training, and there are numerous resources to make that possible. Chief among these are the latest educational offerings from the CPC and provincial pork associations like Manitoba Pork. They include a number of videos to give you a visual interpretation, as this is a subject where a picture really is worth a thousand words.

"These are powerful tools providing information in an easily accessible and consumable way that really registers with people," says Hamblin. "Awareness of the latest practices, and an understanding of why they are important, is crucial throughout the swine sector. We can't just tell people what to do; they need to know the rationale and the repercussions if they don't follow these steps."

Not all audits are scary

Since you can't improve what you don't measure, biosecurity audits are another critical piece of the puzzle.

"These audits should be done on an annual basis at minimum," says Brockhoff. "They help us track adherence to biosecurity principles and get a picture of what people are actually doing out there. Audits that look at trailer management, interaction of drivers with lines of separation, and wash facilities and procedures can go a long way towards promoting compliance."

Industry is also encouraged to provide consistent retraining for staff each year around transport biosecurity to provide a refresh, ideally coinciding with the audit.

"Above all, success in this area comes down to attitude and commitment to the process," says Brockhoff.

The effort to enhance transportation biosecurity has been further bolstered by advances in technology.

Tracking the trucks

"Disease pressure in swine is always on farmers' minds," says Rob Hannam, CEO of Farm Health Guardian in Guelph, Ont. "More and more farms are connected to each other by people or trucks that move between them, and disease is often a bigger risk than people realize. That movement can include livestock trucks, feed trucks, maintenance suppliers and shared workers. From our standpoint, the next step in reducing the risk is keeping a better tab on these vehicles."

Farm Health Guardian is a biosecurity software system that enables the monitoring of trucks to and from farms. With this technology, users can ensure that trucks are going in the right order from site to site, and are being washed as needed.

"Tools like this really aid in visibility and verification," says Hannam. "Next to livestock trailers, feed movement is the second riskiest area for transportation biosecurity, and deadstock removal is high on the list as well. This is all about confirming that the biosecurity rules you have established for your business are being followed consistently."

Analyzing risk can be rewarding

The aspect of risk is another key priority for the swine sector going forward.

"We are giving more attention now to how we quantify risk," says Brockhoff. "Conducting risk assessments can be difficult, so our focus is on using new technology to perform enhanced, science-based assessments that will generate sound mitigation measures."

This is a departure from the days of PED (porcine epidemic diarrhea), where swine personnel were told that they must do certain things regardless of the nuances.

"Transportation is too broad now to just call it one big risk pathway," says Brockhoff. "We need to get more detailed about how different pathways interact with transportation in their own way. PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) behaves differently in transport than PED; Brachyspira species doesn't react the same as ASF (African swine fever)."

It is even possible to go one step further and perform a risk pathway analysis for each pathogen, allowing industry to really fine-tune mitigation steps with more detail.

Success by design

Leaving no stone unturned, trailer manufacturers are exploring designs that will be easier to wash. Powerful new truck-wash technology is also being scrutinized by SaskPork, Swine Innovation Porc (SIP) and the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), including systems to automate the process and eliminate the risk of human error.

In addition to improving the mechanical side of washing, industry is also working to better understand the chemical process involved in cleaning and disinfecting.

"We have always used soaps and disinfectants, yet there may be other things we can try," says Dr. Brockhoff. "Applying heat and pressure are two options, and there is growing interest in different types of radiation, such as UV, to make truck washing more effective. There is more studying to be done, but these alternative approaches are an exciting are of research."

'I got this … or do I?'

Of course, whenever you have humans involved, there is the danger of complacency setting in, and this is certainly the case with transport biosecurity.

"All of the steps involved in these practices can seem frivolous at times if they aren't thoroughly explained and justified," says Law. "A driver might think they can step into the office at a plant and get someone to help them load or unload. In that case, they may not realize that every time they break one rule, they are increasing the overall risk.

As Law explains it, the principle underlying transport biosecurity is similar to Swiss cheese, which begs a simple question: "Huh?"

"No aspect of biosecurity is perfect; they all have holes," says Law. "If you layer them, however, there is less chance of having a gap that lets disease through."

Don't choose to lose

Taking all the right steps can be expensive, whether it is the price of truck washing or the cost of constantly disinfecting and drying coveralls. With boot covers, there is considerable waste as you need to dispose of them after each trip. Apart from complacency, this could result in some people actively choosing to ignore the rules, so it's important to emphasize the need for consistency at every stage.

"Everyone involved in transport should keep in mind that by doing one step properly, it helps make the next one more effective," says Law.

"If we fail to do that, we may be cancelling out our efforts and not realizing the cumulative effect of these actions."

Sometimes it's a seemingly innocuous act or omission that leads to trouble. Some people complain about the hazards of boot covers in the winter when it's cold and slippery, and might decide to forego them. In this instance, education can be invaluable, as there is actually more risk of disease transmission in winter when disinfecting is less potent and there is less sun and heat to kill pathogens. This can be a time to explore alternatives, such as switching to a different type of boot cover that might offer more traction.

Making assumptions can also be hazardous to transport biosecurity, so Law advises people to ask questions, to avoid assumptions, and to be open to constructive feedback.

"Ultimately, the challenge with transport biosecurity is that it takes real commitment and attention to detail," says Brockhoff.

"It requires effort every day, from every single person or service provider that comes in contact with your farm. That can be difficult, but at the same time, the foundation of biosecurity is simple: Creating lines of separation. Here is the clean side and here is the dirty side; the healthy side and the sick side."

Like much of life, the concept is easy; it's the proper execution on a regular basis that will make or break success. And when it comes down to "make it or break it," the choice should be obvious. BP