Poultry and pig units need to focus on comprehensive and effective disinfection to achieve high levels of biosecurity and minimise the consequences of pathogenic infections on performance.

“Monogastric units remain at risk of a broad spectrum of pathogens where infections can compromise performance,” comments Dan Clow, Sales Specialist (Pig & Poultry) with Neogen. “In poultry units we typically see reduced growth, rate of lay, egg quality, duration of lay or mortality. In pig units, growth and feed conversion will typically be reduced under pathogenic challenges.”

He says all too often poor performance, especially poor feed conversion ratio (FCR) is put down to feeding, but in many cases will be due to sub-clinical pathogenic infections.

“Cleaning and disinfection will always be a key pillar in monogastric farm biosecurity. However, over time, routines can tend to become increasingly standardised and the time available to remove litter and other organic material, to clean and then disinfect is becoming tighter.

“Time constraints may mean target application contact times are seldom achieved, or stages are simply cut out, reducing the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfecting.”

The pathogenic challenges being faced are also changing, meaning routines need to evolve to deliver optimum disinfection. Mr Clow points out that all pathogens, and in particular viruses, are constantly mutating, allowing them to adapt to pH sensitivity.

Mr Clow regularly reviews cleaning protocols and says that by identifying specific problems, it is possible to refine the existing programme to increase its effectiveness.  For example, he comments that on several farms recently, investing more time in removing biofilm from floors has led to better standards of disinfection.

“It’s about developing an effective routine that is practical within the time constraints and delivers a good return on investment. For example, it might involve changing dilution rates to reduce the amount of a disinfectant used. Alternatively, it might be more effective to use a combination of disinfectants, as opposed to a single product.

“By selecting the most appropriate and compatible cleaners and disinfectants to address the challenges on your unit, it will be possible to achieve more effective overall hygiene and help reduce the risk of pathogenic disease. This in turn will lead to improved performance and output,” Mr Clow concludes.

Dan Clow.Dan Clow. (Image: Neogen)