Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Research Unit in Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULg), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal Health (FARAH) Centre, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium.
Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Biosafety and Biosecurity Unit, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2018 Feb;65(1):e183-e193. doi: 10.1111/tbed.12719. Epub 2017 Sep 21.
The implementation of biosecurity measures in the animal health and production context is quite broad and aims at limiting the risk of introduction and spread of diseases. Veterinarians play a major role in biosecurity as key informants on the subject for cattle holders, key players in terms of disease prevention/control and eradication programs, as well as key risk factor in terms of disease dissemination. Many biosecurity studies have highlighted professional visitors such as veterinary practitioners as representing a high-risk factor in terms of disease introduction in animal facilities but, to date, very few studies have focused on the implementation level of biosecurity measures by veterinarians. An online survey was implemented in three European countries (Belgium, France and Spain) to assess the behaviour of rural veterinarians towards biosecurity, as well as their implementation level of the biosecurity measures. A descriptive analysis of data and a scoring system were applied to assess the implementation level of measures. The influence of different factors on the implementation level of biosecurity measures was investigated through a negative binomial regression model. The study identified different strengths, weaknesses, possible constraints and solutions in terms of veterinary perspectives. Veterinarians are considered as key informants by the farmers and could therefore play a more active role in terms of guidance and improvement of biosecurity at farm level. Based on the survey outcomes, two factors seemed to influence significantly the implementation level of measures: the country where he/she practices and the veterinarian's perception level of biosecurity. The biosecurity stages with the lowest application level, therefore representing the biggest threats, were bio-exclusion (increasing the risk of disease introduction) and biocontainment (increasing the risk of inter-herd transmission).
在动物健康和生产环境中实施生物安全措施非常广泛，旨在限制疾病的传入和传播风险。兽医在生物安全方面发挥着重要作用，因为他们是牛场主在该主题上的主要信息来源，是疾病预防/控制和根除计划的主要参与者，也是疾病传播的主要风险因素。许多生物安全研究强调了专业访客（如兽医从业者）作为动物设施中疾病传入的高风险因素，但迄今为止，很少有研究关注兽医实施生物安全措施的水平。在三个欧洲国家（比利时、法国和西班牙）进行了一项在线调查，以评估农村兽医的生物安全行为以及他们实施生物安全措施的水平。对数据进行了描述性分析和评分系统，以评估措施的实施水平。通过负二项回归模型研究了不同因素对生物安全措施实施水平的影响。该研究从兽医角度确定了不同的优势、劣势、可能的限制和解决方案。兽医被农民视为主要信息来源，因此可以在农场层面的指导和改善生物安全方面发挥更积极的作用。基于调查结果，有两个因素似乎对措施的实施水平有显著影响：他们执业的国家和兽医对生物安全的感知水平。生物安全阶段的应用水平最低，因此代表着最大的威胁，分别是生物排斥（增加疾病传入的风险）和生物遏制（增加群体间传播的风险）。
