Inglês — Produção orgânica

ON-FARM BIOSECURITY: TRAFFIC CONTROL AND SANITATION. WHAT IS BIOSECURITY? In the context of livestock production, biosecurity refers to those measures taken to keep disease agents out of populations, herds, or groups of animals where they do not already exist. Biosecurity measures are implemented on national, state, and herd levels. Currently, there is heightened awareness of national biosecurity as the United States attempts to keep foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) out of its animal population. In addition to national concerns, individual states take measures to prevent the entry/reintroduction of livestock diseases they have been able to prevent/eliminate from their herds by setting requirements for arriving animals. Examples of diseases that are of particular concern to states include brucellosis, tuberculosis, and pseudorabies. Herd-level biosecurity usually rests with the herd owner or management team; they try to exclude any disease that is not already present in the herd or limit the spread of disease within the herd. Examples might include Streptococcus agalactiae mastitis, bovine virus diarrhea, ovine progressive pneumonia, and swine dysentery. To be successful, biosecurity plans must address how the group of animals will be isolated away from other groups, how traffic (movement of people, animals, and equipment) will be regulated, and how cleaning and disinfection procedures will be used to reduce pathogen levels.What are the Greatest Risks of Disease Introduction? Although infectious disease can be introduced to a farm in several ways, bringing new animals or animals that have been commingled with, or exposed to, other animals usually presents the greatest risk. New herd and flock sires, or replacement females, are often the way that new genetics are added to the herd. This seemingly innocent process is a very common way of introducing new disease-causing organisms. Producers should attempt to purchase animals from sources with known health status whenever possible. In addition, they should plan to: • Isolate for at least two weeks, but preferably a month, all new arrivals or animals returning to the herd from situations where they were possibly exposed to other animals such as at fairs and shows. Isolation should be in a facility completely separate from the home animals. Outerwear (boots and coveralls) worn when tending to the quarantined animals should not be worn while caring for other animals. If complete isolation is impossible, use a separate pen or pasture that does not allow nose-to-nose contact or sharing of feed and water supplies. While the new animals are isolated, testing should be accomplished for diseases of particular concern; negative test results should be received before the new animals are mixed with the resident herd. • Work with your veterinarian to develop a sound health program that includes parasite control and vaccination for the diseases most likely to be encountered in your operation or management program. • Isolate animals showing signs of disease to minimize exposure of the apparently healthy ones. Contact your veterinarian so that appropriate diagnostic tests and treatment can be initiated. (Gary L. Bowman, D.V.M. - Extension Veterinarian, Swine - amp; William P. Shulaw, D.V.M. - Extension Veterinarian, Cattle and Sheep, The Ohio State University. Adapted from http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/ 0006.html accessed on 23 December 2006.) Choose THE MOST APPROPRIATE ANSWER for the questions below according to the text above:

Biosecurity is defined in the text as a set of measures aiming at: