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Since 2005, cases of ASF have been reported in 74 countries. Alien Clays, product manager for CID Lines, Ecolab, said that as this highly contagious and deadly viral disease affects domestic and feral pigs worldwide, it is important to prevent and control it through biosecurity and good agricultural practices. is of decisive importance.
In his presentation “How can African swine fever be controlled and prevented?” At last week’s EuroTier show in Hannover, Germany, Claes details the three highest-risk transmission routes on farms and why proper hygiene is essential for entryways, tools and equipment. And transportation is critical. “Overall, the cleaning step is the most important step in the entire process. If you have an effective cleaning, we can remove more than 90 percent of the microbes in the environment,” Claes said. “Following the high-performance cleaning step, we can move on to the optimal disinfection step, where we can reduce all micro-organisms by 99.9 percent.”
To address a specific disease problem, it’s important to choose a product that works on all types of surfaces and has a broad spectrum of activity against bacteria, viruses, spores and fungi, says Clays. It must also be easy to use by end users.
“It’s great if you’re only using one product for different types of applications, so you can foam the product, spray the product, heat the mist, cool the mist, etc,” Claes said. “Safety is also important because when we talk about chemicals, cleaners and disinfectants are chemicals and we have to protect the environment.”
Proper storage conditions are essential to guarantee the product’s shelf life. For accurate application, manufacturers must always maintain the correct concentration, contact time, temperature and pH.
The final factor in choosing a cleaner or disinfectant is efficiency, Claes says, and only approved disinfectants should be used and applied.
To properly clean and sanitize a barn, Claeys recommends starting with dry cleaning to remove organic matter from the barn. The pre-soak step may also be optional, but not always required. “It depends on environmental pollution, but it can make the cleaning and disinfection process more efficient,” Clays said.
“You see what you’ve done, so you see that you’re covering all the different parts of the environment, and that allows for longer exposure times,” Clays said. “If your foam is good quality, it stays where you use it, so it can work longer in that place, like on a vertical wall, and it can work better.”
After the contact time has elapsed, it must be rinsed with clean water under high pressure, otherwise the environment will be re-contaminated. The next step is to let it dry.
“This is a very important issue that is sometimes forgotten in the field, but it is very important if you want to use the correct dilution of the disinfectant after the fact,” Clays said. “So, make sure everything is dry before disinfection, and after the drying phase, we move on to the disinfection phase, where we use foam again, because visually you see what you are disinfecting, as well as better contact time and fastening. Focus on surfaces.”
In addition to implementing a comprehensive system, Claeys recommends cleaning and disinfecting all areas of a building, including ceilings, walls, floors, plumbing, feeders and drinkers.
“First of all, when a truck pulls up to a farm or slaughterhouse, if there are special problems, you should definitely sanitize or sanitize the wheels. water and detergent. Cleaning. Then comes the main foam cleaning,” Kleis said. — After the contact time has elapsed, we flush with high pressure water. We let it dry, which I know in practice is in most cases truckers do not have time to wait for it to dry, but this is the best option.
After the dry time has elapsed, sanitize again, including everything inside and outside of the truck, for best results.
“Salon hygiene is also important…make sure you touch points like the pedals, the steering wheel, the stairs leading into the cabin,” Claes said. “That’s something we also need to keep in mind if we want to minimize the risk of transmission.”
Personal hygiene is also an important factor in transport hygiene as truck drivers move from farm to farm, from slaughterhouses, etc.
“If they carry a pathogen, they can also spread it anywhere, so hand hygiene, shoe hygiene, changing shoes or shoes if they come to an event are also very important,” she said. “For example, when they need to load animals, dressing up is one of the keys. I’m not saying it’s easy to practice, it’s very difficult, but we should try our best.”
When it comes to good practice for cleaning and disinfecting ships, Kleis puts the emphasis on the word “everything”.
“Because we need to make sure all vehicles on the farm are cleaned and sanitized. Not only trucks that enter the farm, but even vehicles that are used on the farm itself, such as tractors,” Claes said.
In addition to cleaning and disinfecting all vehicles, all parts of the vehicle, such as wheels, need to be maintained and washed. It is also important for manufacturers to clean and sanitize their vehicles in all conditions, including elevated weather conditions.
“The fewer people that come to your farm, the lower the risk. Make sure you have clean and dirty areas, clear hygiene instructions, and they know what they should be doing to minimize the risk of transmission,” Kleiss said.
When it comes to cleaning and disinfecting equipment, Clays says procedures need to be specific to the farm, each barn and the different types of equipment on the farm.
“If a technician or supplier comes in and they have their material, it can be risky, so we need to make sure we have the material on the farm itself. Then it’s better to use farm-specific material,” Kleiss said. “If you have multiple barns in one location, it’s also important to use barn specific materials to make sure you don’t spread the disease yourself.”
“In the event of an outbreak of African swine fever or another disease, it may be important to dismantle the equipment and carry out manual cleaning,” she said. “We need to think about all the things that pathogens can transmit.”
While people may think of personal hygiene, such as hand or shoe hygiene, as the easiest protocol to follow on a farm, Kleis said it’s often more difficult than people think. She cites a recent study on hygiene at the entrance to the poultry sector, according to which almost 80% of people entering farms make mistakes in hand hygiene. There is a red line on the floor to distinguish a clean line from a dirty one, and the study found that almost 74% of people did not follow the protocol by crossing the red line without taking any action. Even when entering from the bench, 24% of study participants stepped over the bench and did not follow standard operating procedures.
“As a farmer, you can take the right steps and do your best to make sure they follow the rules, but if you don’t check, mistakes will still happen and there is a high risk of introducing pathogens into your farm environment.” Claes said.
Restricting access to the farm and following proper entry procedures are key, but it’s also important to ensure there are clear instructions and photographs so that everyone who enters the farm knows what to do, even if they don’t speak the local language.
“In terms of entry hygiene, make sure you have clear instructions so everyone knows what to do. In terms of materials, I think the most important thing is the specific materials, so farm and barn specific materials are kept to a minimum.” implementation and disseminate as much as possible.” risk,” Claes said. “In regards to traffic and hygiene at the entrance, if you want to prevent the introduction or spread of diseases on your farm, limit movement around the farm as much as possible.”