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Pig and poultry farmers have an opportunity to make dramatic improvements to their salmonella biosecurity at a couple of clicks of a button, says animal health expert Jim Bigmore. New official tests show the effectiveness of disinfectants under practical conditions and this could have far-reaching health implications.
A report produced by the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) and published in Veterinary Microbiology, has revealed significant differences between commercially-available disinfectants but many producers are not aware of this valuable, free, source of information.
“Until now, farmers had only two ways of judging disinfectants — either believing the advertising of disinfectant manufacturers or looking at the DEFRA approvals list. The approved list showed the efficacy of products tested only at low temperatures for a short period of time which didn’t necessarily reflect practical farm conditions,” said Mr Bigmore, managing director of international animal health company Hysolv Ltd.
The new report follows an earlier one published in Avian Pathology in 2011. He strongly recommends that farmers read both reports because they show how disinfectants react differently under certain environments which simulate farm environments.
For instance, their effectiveness was altered according to whether they were used on dry, porous surfaces or in wet situations in the presence of organic matter. Whether the organic matter came from either pig or poultry faeces even had an effect. The tests also gave indications on how well different disinfectants managed to break through biofilm as its builds up.
“The AHPA is to be congratulated on these excellent reports which reflect true farm conditions and therefore could have far-reaching consequences for many farmers, but it is a shame that the results are ‘hidden away’ in scientific journals and not more widely available.
“With the pig and poultry industries relying increasingly on biosecurity and disease prevention, this is information farmers should know about and use,” said Mr Bigmore.
July 26, 2017 - Hysolv
