Introduction
Biosecurity protocols reduce the introduction and spread
of pathogens among swine farms. For pigs, biosecurity
ensures market stability, maintains export opportunities,
and controls spread of production and public health
diseases. Salmonella, the second most common cause of
bacterial foodborne illness, causes gastrointestinal
illness. Pigs can be asymptomatic carriers of the bacteria
and pork products are a known source of salmonellosis
in humans. Salmonella have been isolated from pigs,
boots, flies, rodents, bird feces, feed, feed-ingredients,
and feed trucks. The objective was to identify
management factors to reduce the risk of disease spread
among swine farms through feed trucks.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in two phases - the first phase
included a series of focus groups and key-informant
interviews; discussions held with swine producers and
feed company personnel explored the protocols currently
in place that reduce the risk of disease spread through the
delivery of feed. Participants were asked to identify
possible management changes that could further reduce
the risk, and to rate these ideas in terms of their effect on
disease control, and feasibility based on implementation
and economics. This information was used to structure
the second phase of the study – a pilot study. The pilot
study was conducted over 6 weeks in the winter of 2013,
and included 40 feed truck drivers from 3 Ontario feed
companies. Truck drivers filled out log sheets as they
delivered feed to swine farms, and provided information
about the prevalence of the identified biosecurity risks
during the day-to-day delivery of feed. Drivers were
randomly assigned to be in either the treatment or
control groups. Drivers in the control group delivered
feed as they normally do. Drivers in the treatment group
were: i) asked not to enter the barn unless absolutely
necessary, and ii) were provided with re-usable,
washable rubber over-shoes and were asked to wear a
clean pair at each farm when they felt safe doing so. Chisquared
tests were used to compare the usage of clean
boots between drivers in the treatment and control
groups.
In total, 40 drivers from 3 companies, delivering feed to
2202 farms over 6 weeks (in the winter) collected
descriptive data on the factors and compared use of
different boots.
Results
The factors followed by the proportion of farms and
drivers where the factor was found were found as
follows: Most farms were: keeping areas (driveway, feed
bin and barnyard) clean of mud and manure (82%), and
dead-stock (91%) was appropriately disposed of and not
visible to the driver. Some farms had an outbuilding to
deliver bagged feed (24%). Other factors that were
identified that producers should work on were to provide
farm boots and coveralls for the driver if the driver
needed to go into the barn, ordering the correct amount
of feed to decrease the numbers of deliveries (or
frequencies of deliveries) of feed, and notifying feed mill
of a disease outbreak on the farm. Feed truck driver
factors included wearing a separate pair of clean,
disinfected, dried boots (25%) and gloves (50%) at each
farm that is visited (even if the driver does not go into
the barn, remaining outside the barn (92%); washing the
steering wheel (49%), floor mat (77%) and outside of the
truck (32%) every 24 hours. From these results, it may
be advisable to increase the frequency of washing the
truck. Another factor identified was for the driver to
know and follow the farm biosecurity protocols. Half of
the time, the driver left the feed bill outside barn (54%).
Drivers given disinfected rubber boots were more likely
to wear these on farms (42%) than plastic disposable
boots (4%) (P<0.05). These drivers were also more
likely to wear disinfected rubber boots than the control
drivers (11%) (P<0.001).
Conclusions and Discussion
Biosecurity is a responsibility that is shared among all
members of the industry. Feed personnel were
encouraged to know more about disease transmission.
Acknowledgments
Canadian Swine Health Board for funding, feed
company personnel and producers for participation
