Protect yourself and protect the well-being of the animals in your care by providing the first line of defense - biosecurity. Whether you’re managing a large farm or working with a small livestock operation, biosecurity is the first line of defense in protecting livestock from disease outbreaks and ensuring a safe, healthy environment. By following essential biosecurity practices, you can safeguard your animals, your farm, and your own health.

Here is a guide to the must-know biosecurity practices for livestock handlers to protect themselves and their animals.

1. Limit Visitor Access
   Visitors can unknowingly carry harmful pathogens on their clothes, shoes, or equipment. To limit risk: restrict access to your farm as much as possible, and if visitors must enter, ensure they wear clean protective gear such as boots, coveralls, and gloves, and provide hand sanitizers or footbaths at entry points.


2. Practice Proper Hand Hygiene
   After handling animals, their feed, or equipment, reduce the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses by washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water, and avoid touching your face after handling livestock. Use hand sanitizers when soap and water aren’t available.


3. Disinfect Equipment and Vehicles Regularly
   Regularly disinfect items that encounter animals. This includes items like feeders, trailers, and vehicles. After moving animals, clean and disinfect all equipment before using it again: saturate by submersion or spray with 10 percent bleach (sodium hypochlorite), 1% Virkon®S (DuPont), or other applicable disinfectants per label instructions.


4. Maintain a Clean and Safe Environment
   Cleaning and maintaining animal pens, barns, and other areas where your animals live and eat can reduce the risk of infections. Remove manure and bedding regularly, ensure proper drainage and ventilation to reduce humidity and contamination buildup, and separate new animals from the main animal group for at least 30 days to ensure they don’t bring in disease.


5. Control Animal Movements
   Limiting the movements of animals on and off your farm can help reduce the risk of introducing or spreading disease. If animals need to be moved, quarantine new arrivals to monitor for signs of illness, only purchase animals from reputable sources, and if possible, avoid mixing livestock from different sources and of different species.


6. Vaccination and Health Monitoring
   Work with your veterinarian to develop a plan for maintaining vaccinations and routine health checks. Monitor and report animals that show signs of illness to your veterinarian immediately.


7. Educate Your Team
   If you have employees or others working on the farm, ensure they are well-trained in proper biosecurity practices and ensure everyone understands the importance of hygiene and safety measures that will protect themselves and the animals on the farm. Conduct regular biosecurity training sessions on how to safely handle animals.


8. Use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
   Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a line of defense to protect the animal handler and prevent contamination between animal groups. PPE can include gloves, boots, coveralls, and face masks (if needed). It is important to change out of or properly clean and disinfect PPE before moving between different groups of animals, especially after handling sick animals. Care you’re your main herd/flock before caring for isolated or sick animals. Ensure you are properly disposing of used PPE like gloves and face masks to prevent contamination into clean spaces.

Implementing small steps create a big impact. You can significantly reduce the risk of disease outbreaks and protect human and animal health by implementing these essential biosecurity practices. Long term sustainability of your livestock operation is dependent on making biosecurity a priority every day to protect your and your animals’ health.

For more information and resources on biosecurity practices, visit the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) website.