Biosecurity and Mini Pigs
Photo credit: dvorak.org
Mini Pig Biosecurity
People have always said pigs do better in pairs and I agree with that theory. There are times when someone isn't initially able to get 2 pigs at once, so they decide later on to add another pig to the family. We encourage that, but we also encourage you to practice basic safety when adding another pig. Treat EVERY pig as if they have a contagious disease because until they're cleared by a veterinarian. They actually could and allowing your pig to make contact with a pig who may have a contagious disease obviously puts your pig at an unnecessary risk of contracting that disease.
The number 1 goal of any pig household/producer/farm is eradication, although that is rarely achieved in the larger venues. In 1-2 pig households? That shouldn't be a significant problem, but depending on where you acquire your pig can be. There are breeders, there are pig brokers, there are pig flippers and there are regular, everyday homes with pigs in addition to the pig rescues/sanctuaries. Each one of these will do things differently. Some proactively treat for parasites, some have never been treated, some are tested and treated as needed, for example.
Disease transmission includes any mechanism by which an infectious agent is spread from an infected host or environmental reservoir to a susceptible host. In this transmission, a new host becomes infected. This is different than an exposure event whereby an infectious agent is presented to a potential host with transmission being a potential outcome.
An understanding of why disease occurs and how ir can be controlled requires some knowledge of contributions made by the environment in which the host and pathogen reside. This is a relatively complex interaction between the pathogen and host.
There are a few methods of transmission:
Separate any new pigs from the others until you know without a doubt, that the pig is free from disease. Doing this may very well save your other pig(s) lives. Biosecurity plans at their most rudimentary level to manage the risk of introducing new pathogens to farms, livestock communities or industries and/or countries and to minimize the transmission of endemic diseases between farms between those levels. These goals are accomplished through segregation of uninfected from infected animals (or form the actual pathogen itself) thorough cleaning of the premises in which these pigs live as well as facilities they've lived in and appropriately manage the disinfection of the same. We are obligated as pig parents to develop a more holistic approach to biosecurity that appreciates the agriculture contribution to zoonotic disease transmission and our broader impact on the environment and biodiversity.
Biosecurity is fundamentally about managing two sources of special cause variation on farms/communites, pathogens and people. Biosecurity should be used as a discipline and reviews of updated literature should be done often to be sure there are no additional methods that can be implemented where you are to further protect your pig from transmitting a potential agent that could've been avoided. Biosecurity risk management has been suggested as a term for use in identifying infectious hazards to pigs, assess the risks presented by each hazard, then develop plans for managing each of the hazards.
Basic principles that should be followed:
Sources: Diseases of Swine, 10th edition Wiley-Blackwell
The number 1 goal of any pig household/producer/farm is eradication, although that is rarely achieved in the larger venues. In 1-2 pig households? That shouldn't be a significant problem, but depending on where you acquire your pig can be. There are breeders, there are pig brokers, there are pig flippers and there are regular, everyday homes with pigs in addition to the pig rescues/sanctuaries. Each one of these will do things differently. Some proactively treat for parasites, some have never been treated, some are tested and treated as needed, for example.
Disease transmission includes any mechanism by which an infectious agent is spread from an infected host or environmental reservoir to a susceptible host. In this transmission, a new host becomes infected. This is different than an exposure event whereby an infectious agent is presented to a potential host with transmission being a potential outcome.
An understanding of why disease occurs and how ir can be controlled requires some knowledge of contributions made by the environment in which the host and pathogen reside. This is a relatively complex interaction between the pathogen and host.
There are a few methods of transmission:
- Vector-borne pathogens- Two features of this criterion should be clarified, namely that the vector is animate and that the vector is required for transmission to occur. Inanimate actors (boots contaminated with pig feces containing salmonella) are essentially an extension of the infected pig itself and suggesting that there is any particular role that the boot is playing in the transmission is nonsensical or illogical. Also, for the sake of clarification, pathogens such as african swine fever or PRRVS that are known to utilize insect vectors in their transmission but are not limited only to arthropod-bourns spread will not be considered here.
- Short cycle pathogens- Include those agents whose greatest imperative is to quickly be transmitted to the next susceptible host as they generally have a very limited ability to exist outside of the host. Both bacterial and viral agents are represented in this category. Several enteric agents can also be considered shirt term pathogens like PEDV (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus).
- Long cycle pathogens- Those characterized by the ability to establish an infection in such a manner that the host remains contagious for an extended period of time. While these pathogens may share some attributes of a short cycle pathogen such as the rapid incubation phase, their hallmark feature is the ability to find an ecological niche in the host that will allow them to resist clearance by the normal immune mechanisms of the pig.
- Resistant pathogens- Some pathogens adopt a strategy that involves the creation of a stable form resistant to environmental degradation or inactivation. Whether this strategy is a result of evolutionary selective pressure or simply in response to the failed ability to transmit between hosts at short intervals is unknown, but regardless of the reason, it has developed into a highly successful strategy.
- Commensal pathogens- was originally cast to describe those infectious organisms habituating the alimentary tract but causing no apparent harm to their host. The term has come to more broadly indicate the coassociation of any two organisms that are neither dependent nor parasitic on each other.
- Causation- The early days of infectious disease research brought forth rapid and substantial leaps forward in our understanding of disease causation. However, is soon became clear that the ideal model os single agent diseases was inadequate to explain the range of maladies that presented on farms. Appropriate screening, testing and treatment have given insight on causes of different infectious diseases as well as methods of transmission.
Separate any new pigs from the others until you know without a doubt, that the pig is free from disease. Doing this may very well save your other pig(s) lives. Biosecurity plans at their most rudimentary level to manage the risk of introducing new pathogens to farms, livestock communities or industries and/or countries and to minimize the transmission of endemic diseases between farms between those levels. These goals are accomplished through segregation of uninfected from infected animals (or form the actual pathogen itself) thorough cleaning of the premises in which these pigs live as well as facilities they've lived in and appropriately manage the disinfection of the same. We are obligated as pig parents to develop a more holistic approach to biosecurity that appreciates the agriculture contribution to zoonotic disease transmission and our broader impact on the environment and biodiversity.
Biosecurity is fundamentally about managing two sources of special cause variation on farms/communites, pathogens and people. Biosecurity should be used as a discipline and reviews of updated literature should be done often to be sure there are no additional methods that can be implemented where you are to further protect your pig from transmitting a potential agent that could've been avoided. Biosecurity risk management has been suggested as a term for use in identifying infectious hazards to pigs, assess the risks presented by each hazard, then develop plans for managing each of the hazards.
Basic principles that should be followed:
- A distinct boundary MUST exist between "clean" and "dirty" areas of the farm.
- Cleaning must precede disinfection.
- Sterility is a myth: the objective of biosecurity is to reduce the pigs level of exposure to a pathogen.
- Unidirectional flow of both people and pigs is imperative. The flow should be away from the most disease susceptible population and the least likely to recover.
- Isolation and acclimatization procedures are mandatory prior to the introduction of new pigs.
- A "herd's" health status is only as good as the last time it was checked.
- Purchase of pigs never comes with a "guarantee" of their health status.
- Health status of ALL farms decline over time. Biosecurity should always be reevaluated as needed.
- Procedures established to protect your pigs should be practiced by ANYONE coming to your farm/home including veterinarians to reduce the potential exposure as much as possible.
Sources: Diseases of Swine, 10th edition Wiley-Blackwell
Another great tool that can be used is from the USDA website about biosecurity. A checklist to help you determine actions that you should take to reduce the risk of spreading disease for any pig with outdoor access. See the PDF file below that can be downloaded as well as a link to this page on their website.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/biosecurity-for-pigs-outdoor-access-checklist.pdf
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/biosecurity-for-pigs-outdoor-access-checklist.pdf
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