Best
Management Practices for the Prevention and Spread of Livestock Disease
in Utah
Thanks to the
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the NYS Cattle
Health Assurance Program (NYSCHAP) for allowing UDAF to reprint this material.
Utah cattle health
assurance program
The Utah Department
of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) is advising livestock owners to take special
precautions to prevent the introduction or spread of disease among animals.
The UDAF is publishing the following guidelines that are intended to keep
livestock resources isolated from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), as well
as other diseases.
The consequences
of the introduction of FMD in the United States would be devastating.
Conservative estimates of the economic impact of FMD to Great Britain
are put at $400 million each week in lost tourism revenue alone.
If in doubt about
any of the following items, call your local veterinarian or the Utah Department
of Agriculture and Food at: (801) 538-7161.
International
and Domestic Visitors:
- Discourage all
visitors and limit access to the farm.
- Communicate and
explain disease prevention procedures to visitors.
- Exclude international
visitors from your farm for at least 5 days after their arrival in the
United States.
- Ask all visitors
(especially international) to provide information about recent farm
and animal contacts.
- Clothing worn on
other farms (including international operations) should be washed and
footwear should be disinfected. Have plastic, disposable boots available.
- Consider having
overalls available that do not leave the farm.
- No visitors with
soiled clothing and/or footwear from another farm should be allowed
on your farm.
- Do not allow animal
products, clothes, luggage, cameras and other items from affected countries
onto your farm or offer to disinfect them (at owners risk) by wiping
with a clothe dampened with a solution of 5 tablespoons of household
bleach mixed in a gallon of water.
- Do not allow visitors
to walk through feed mangers or have physical contact with animals.
Farm Traffic
- Have one common
entrance/exit onto your farm. Provide disposable boots or disinfectant
footbath.
- Stop all non-essential
vehicles and visitors from entering the farm and arrange, whenever possible,
for collection and delivery of supplies to take place at farm boundary
(i.e. rendering trucks).
- Keep a record of
all deliveries. In case of a disease outbreak this will assist in epidemiological
investigations.
- All vehicles that
must enter the farm premise should be clean of organic material. For
vehicles that do not need direct access to farm operations have an area
available that is a good distance from livestock and feed.
Livestock
- When purchasing
livestock determine the health history of the animal and the source
herd. Test on the recommendations of your veterinarian. Keep records
of all livestock movement onto the farm.
- Segregate new additions
as well as returning animals (show animals, custom raised heifers, etc.)
from home herd for 21 - 30 days. Implement strict health monitoring
procedures for segregated animals.
- Initiate and maintain
vaccination program for incoming and resident animals. Consult with
your veterinarian on a farm-specific program.
- Minimize non-resident
animal contact.
- Prevent contact
with other livestock (fenceline, transport vehicles, sale barns, shows,
fairs).
- Control non-resident
stray dogs and cats.
- Implement management
practices to limit direct contact with wildlife, including deer, waterfowl
and birds.
- Implement control
measures for birds and rodents. Pay particular attention to livestock
feed.
- Implement an integrated
pest management program for the control of insects and parasites.
Manure
- Protect against
manure entry onto the farm from vehicles and equipment, or runoff from
neighboring animal premises.
- Avoid use of manure
(poultry, cattle or other livestock) or manure products and municipal
waste from off premise unless products are certified pathogen free.
Feed
- Purchased feed
may be a potential source of disease organisms and chemical contaminants.
- Purchase feed from
sources using quality control measures to minimize the risk of fecal,
organic or chemical contamination.
- Ensure that purchased
feeds do not contain protein derived from ruminant tissues.
Posted
11 Apr 2001
