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Farm and Home Biosecurity
Livestock/Row Crop Producer
Arkansas Farm Biosecurity
Plan -
Biosecurity Protocols for Farm Visitors
General Guidelines
• Foreign Visitors or Persons Who Have Visited a Foreign Country
• Vehicles and Equipment
Biosecurity protocols should be a part of every farm's biological risk
management plan. The current concern over FMD has provided an opportunity to
develop or refine current biosecurity protocols for farm visitors. It is
recognized that there are a number of individuals who need to visit the farm as
part of the daily operations. These individuals include AI technicians,
veterinarians, feed industry personnel, and supply sales representatives and
equipment repair individuals. Each of these individuals should be aware of your
farm's biosecurity plan and follow your recommendations. This plan should also
include visitors. As a farm owner, it is wise to develop and enforce biosecurity
policies for all individuals visiting your farm. The following guidelines can
assist you in developing your biosecurity program.
General Guidelines
- Determine if there is any need for the
individual to enter any animal housing areas on your farm.
- Determine if the individuals have been on another
farm before visiting your facility.
- Keep a visitor log of the names and dates of the
visitors. This could be useful for tracking purposes if a disease outbreak
occurs. See the Appendix for a Sample Visitor's Log.
- Establish one area on the farm where visitors can
enter. This area should not be an animal housing area and should be clearly
marked so visitors go directly to this entry point once on the farm.
- Individuals driving "off-farm" vehicles should
report to the visitor receiving area upon arrival.
- Designate a parking location for vehicles at the
visitor receiving area. The location should be a paved or concrete area away
from the animal housing areas and production sites on farm to avoid contact
with dirt, mud or manure. If this is not possible, be certain that tires are
free of dirt and debris by hosing the tires and wheel wells before leaving the
premises. If this does not clean the tires adequately, take the vehicle to a
pressure car wash.
- Visitors should avoid livestock areas, pens and
barn unless it is necessary.
- Discourage visitors from having direct animal,
feed or water contact. Consider appropriate animal viewing locations that
minimize risk of disease transmission.
- Wash hands with soap and water or an antibacterial
gel before entering and after leaving the premises to avoid transmitting
disease agents from person to person.
- Visitors to the animal housing units should wear
only clean clothing and boots on your farm. You may want to consider providing
disposable coveralls and plastic boots for these visitors.
- For industry individuals who frequently visit the
farm, consider providing a set of coveralls and boots for the individual to
wear while on your farm.
- Provide footbaths or disinfectant containers at
the entrance to each animal housing area on your farm. The individual should
clean boots when moving between animal housing units. Footbaths must be
properly maintained, and boots should be scrubbed to remove all dirt and
manure before stepping in the footbath. Footbaths should be cleaned daily.
This involves properly discarding the used disinfectant, scrubbing the
footbath pan and recharging with fresh disinfectant each day.
Foreign Visitors or Persons Who Have Visited a Foreign Country
- Do not allow foreign visitors or those who have
visited a foreign country on the farm until they have been in the country for
five days. Individuals who have arrived in the United States within the last
seven days from a country with FMD should be prohibited from entering the
animal housing area.
- Foreign visitors or those who have visited a
foreign country should follow the same protocol as all farm visitors.
- Do not allow foreign visitors or those who have
recently visited a foreign country to bring any clothing, foods or accessories
they have had in another country onto the farm.
Vehicles and Equipment
- Designate a parking location for vehicles at
the visitor receiving area. The location should be a paved or concrete area
away from the animal housing areas and production sites on farm to avoid
contact with dirt, mud or manure. If this is not possible, be certain that
tires are free of dirt and debris by hosing the tires and wheel wells before
leaving the premises. If this does not clean the tires adequately, take the
vehicle to a pressure car wash.
- Individuals driving "off-farm" vehicles should
report to the visitor receiving area upon arrival.
- Do not let "off-farm" vehicles drive through the
animal housing units.
- Ideally, vehicles should be cleaned and
disinfected before entering your animal housing areas.
- If animals are loaded or unloaded onto trucks, it
is best to bring the animal(s) to the truck. The truck should be parked
at an area removed from the animal housing facility.
- Any equipment coming onto your farm (hoof trimming
tables, etc.) should be cleaned and disinfected before it enters your
property. If it is not properly cleaned and disinfected, do not permit it in
the animal housing unit. Locate it on an area away from the barn and have it
cleaned and disinfected at that location.
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