Page 6 of articles about disinfection

Any failure in a cleaning and disinfection programme costs money. This comes from the costs of the programme, the loss of its potential benefits and very probably the costs of disease the failure has allowed to occur. It is also very disappointing for the management and staff of the farm who have done the hard work, and the veterinarian who is trying to ensure healthy efficient production.

In previous articles we have discussed the need for good cleaning and disinfection, how to clean properly and how to disinfect. Now we come to the agents used, and it is vital to realise that the right choice of detergent and disinfectant is a pivotal part of any cleaning and disinfection programme.

In the last article we looked at the need for thorough complete cleaning of a building, room or equipment in any efficient biosecurity programme. If done properly this will reduce the pathogen burden hugely as shown by a typical reduction in bacterial counts by 99%.

It is much more difficult to achieve a good quality of cleaning if the surface you are trying to clean is particularly pervious to water (for example wood) and has many cracks and hidden areas.

To many pig producers cleaning and disinfection is a chore they view as an expensive tedious burden.

Since 1987, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRS) has become a global drain on pig productivity, profitability, and many a producers’ morale. One thing that remains certain is PRRS virus continually finds ways to circumvent our best bio-management efforts. PRRS marches on in a ceaseless continuum of antigenic change making current vaccines and other control techniques of limited value.

The cleaning and disinfection process are critical steps in any biosecurity program in order to minimize the transmission of diseases. Washing is the most critical step of the entire process. This step will remove over 99% of the microorganisms.

Pathogens which are highly infectious and only require small doses to establish infection in susceptible pigs and/or those which are able to survive environmentally for relatively long periods can be spread from farm to farm as fomites

Trailers contaminated with PRRSV can serve as a source of infection for naïve pigs. Therefore, sanitation for livestock trailers and transport vehicles is considered a high priority when it comes to biosecurity practices.