Animal diseases have far-reaching consequences: from an animal welfare perspective to production losses and costs of culling and replacement. We have experienced this with the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African Swine Fever (ASF). The outbreaks have (and are) causing an economic nightmare for farmers around the globe.
In the Netherlands alone, the 2003 outbreak of HPAI led to the destruction of around 30 million birds and direct economic costs estimated at more than €150 million. Following the 2003-2004 outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu, the total losses in GDP because of damage to the poultry sector in Asia amounted to almost €8 billion (1). The year 2021 was marked one of the worst “bird flu years” ever, and over 47.7 million animals have been culled on European farms (2). In swine, the ASF outbreaks in 2018 and 2019 generated a substantial economic loss. In China, home to half of the world’s pig population, the outbreaks lead to the death and culling of 40% of its pig population and a loss of around €108.6 billion, amounting to 0.78% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 (3,4).
Disinfection: cornerstone of biosecurity package
Poultry and pig farms can’t always recover financially from major viral disease outbreaks such as bird flu, as there are no effective vaccines yet on the market. But pig and poultry farmers are also dealing with a range of bacterial diseases, caused by Salmonella, E. coli, Enterobacteria, Lawsonia intracellularis or Campylobacter. In addition, disease may not always be apparent especially in the early stages and there are many ways disease can be introduced and spread. That makes it especially important to focus on prevention strategies to keep viruses and bacteria out through proper biosecurity measures that are applied at all times.
Biosecurity measures include: having a proper animal health plan in place, all-in all-out systems, routine vaccination and veterinary checks, keeping farm access routes, parking areas, yards, feeding and storage areas clean and tidy and controlling pests on the farm among others. The use of a farm disinfectant is part of the set of biosecurity measures and is common practice in agriculture. It helps to bring the total bacterial and viral load in the pig and poultry house down to a safe level by killing or deactivating of the pathogens, on the farm itself, the facilities, or the clothing items worn by workers.
Powerful and easy: The Halamid® way
There are different approaches to cleaning and disinfection. It is in the farmer’s interest that this process is as safe, quick, simple, and effective as possible. Farmers don’t want several containers of different products (dangerous chemicals) on the shelf that should be used for different risk areas on the farm. Halamid® takes a different approach and has been specifically developed to be powerful and mild at the same time. It eradicates all major pathogens in one application round, while being safe for animals, humans, and the environment. It has been registered and approved worldwide.
For poultry:
Halamid® eradicates all major poultry pathogens such as Salmonella, Avian Influenza, Campylobacter, Newcastle Disease or Gumboro at 0.5% (1:200). Its unique formula allows for a great variety of applications such as terminal disinfection by wet spraying, misting or (thermo) fogging, aerial disinfection, water system sanitation, wheel and foot dip, vehicle, or egg disinfection. Read more in the technical bulletin here.
For pigs:
Halamid® eradicates major pig pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Enterobacteria, Lawsonia intracellularis, Porcine parvovirus, Reovirus, South African pest virus, Swine fever virus, Teschen virus or Vesicular swine disease virus. Its unique formula allows for a great variety of applications such as disinfection by wet spraying, misting or (thermo) fogging, aerial disinfection, water system sanitation, wheel and foot dip, vehicle disinfection. Read more in the technical bulletin here.
Every decision a farmer makes has an impact
The pig and poultry sector are competitive sectors, dealing with a lot of challenges regarding production costs and disease outbreaks. So, every decision a farmer makes has to be an effective one. This is especially true for the biosecurity measures taken, including cleaning and disinfection protocols. When done properly and the application of Halamid®, pathogens level can be kept below safe limits, helping farmers control diseases, keep antibiotic use (and AMR spread) down, keep the quality and performance of the animals at the desired levels and reduce production costs. In addition, because Halamid® covers all major pathogens and only one application round is needed, the product is more efficient from a time and dosage perspective.
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