Genetics company asks for a global biosecurity plan
Biosecurity must be treated as serious as animal welfare issues, warns Wouter Deley, Senior Veterinarian and Health Manager, Business Unit Swine, Hendrix Genetics. A sustainable future can be secured by putting in place processes and protocols for the health of all animals.
"As part of our global standards, we are working to develop a structured biosecurity plan. Once fully completed, the program will include required health status, risk assessments, standard operating procedures (SOPs), health monitoring and screening, training and auditing. This plan also involves minimum standards across all of Hendrix Genetics as well as a structured plan for each species", said Mr Deley.
Swine was the first species within Hendrix Genetics to complete their biosecurity project. Notable achievements from this project included:
- Existing SOPs have been reviewed, uniformed and updated.
- The health and biosecurity manual has been updated.
- An internal audit structure has been determined and a plan for future auditing put in place.
- A training module was developed in multiple languages to ensure personnel have proper knowledge and understanding of the protocols.
As an example, transport protocols are extremely important for swine biosecurity as this is the biggest risk to introduce disease on a farm. Rules for transportation including cleaning and disinfection, downtime, and screening were all defined as part of the program. Following the implementation of the program and auditing, the biosecurity program will be fine-tuned to develop even more improvements, informs the company.
The biosecurity program for each species already contains a wide range of measures, but the process of centralizing the protocols is currently in progress. "With the risk of disease threats, such as avian influenza and African swine fever, and the increasingly connected nature of our world, we are committed to protecting the health of our animals as well as the secure supply of genetics for our customers", added Wouter Deley.
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