Biosecurity Manager
Overview of a Biosecurity Manager’s Responsibilities (3 min)
The Biosecurity Manager and the SPS Plans
The Secure Food Supply (SFS) Plans for dairy, beef, sheep, swine, and poultry describe the Biosecurity Manager as the person responsible for developing and updating a site-specific enhanced biosecurity plan. The Biosecurity Manager can be an owner, manager, veterinarian, or employee on-site. If the Biosecurity Manager is not a veterinarian, they should work with their veterinarian and/or other SFS biosecurity experts when writing their site-specific enhanced biosecurity plan.
Biosecurity Manager Responsibilities
The five primary responsibilities of the Biosecurity Manager are:
1. Know the site layout, management, and biosecurity practices
The Biosecurity Manager must be familiar with the layout and management of the site, including where animals are housed and the movement of vehicles, equipment, animals, and products on, off, and within the operation.
Creating a premises map resource is valuable for this purpose. Find resources on the CFSPH and Secure Food Supply websites.
Biosecurity, defined in the SFS plans, refers to management practices implemented at different levels to keep diseases off the operation.
Knowing how diseases spread helps you prevent them. Diseases can be spread by direct contact, indirect contact, through the air, food, and vectors like flies and ticks, birds, rodents, and other animals, including pets and wildlife.
You can think of developing a biosecurity plan as a stair-step approach, where you start with small steps and progress over time. Everyday biosecurity (also known as daily biosecurity) is a set of management practices that protect animals and people from exposure to disease. Everyday biosecurity is meant to be used routinely to prevent common endemic diseases. It is the foundation of biosecurity. Enhanced biosecurity builds on that foundation.
This three-step process is a simple way to start with the key everyday topics of biosecurity described. Conduct a self-assessment to help identify risk areas:
More information on disease risk and prevention activities can be found on the Farm Biosecurity page.
2. Develop, update, or revise an enhanced biosecurity plan
Enhanced biosecurity refers to practices that align with the SFS plan specific to the species on that operation, and are meant to be used during an outbreak.
Developing or updating a written enhanced biosecurity plan before an FAD outbreak will help your operation stay in business and keep animals healthy during an outbreak.
Each SFS website has one or more enhanced biosecurity templates (see the Additional Resources section). These are good places to start when developing or updating your written plan.
Choose a staff member to oversee and coordinate the process.
Make sure staff cooperate with the team.
Ensure good working relationships.
If your operation has multiple species on the site, you may need various checklists and/or templates to write your enhanced biosecurity plan. Suppose an operation has multiple sites with animals. In that case, each location will need to have its own written enhanced biosecurity plan defining the scope of the operation, and copies of the plan should be readily available to people who enter the site frequently.
Biosecurity Managers should review the biosecurity plan at least annually and whenever the site goes through a change that affects biosecurity (expands, adds a new aspect of the business, and/or makes changes). Biosecurity Managers should also prepare to have their biosecurity plan reviewed by their site’s veterinarian and state animal health agency. Specific requirements vary by state. Find more information about your species and your state’s requirements on the SFS websites and from your state Department of Agriculture or Board of Animal Health .
The following topics expand on everyday biosecurity practices and are examples of concepts that must be addressed in the operation’s enhanced biosecurity plan. Visit the SFS website for specific requirements for the species on your operation. Your veterinarian, industry groups, and regulatory officials can be a good source of information besides the SFS Plan websites.
The enhanced biosecurity plan should:
Include a map of the site labeling important aspects of biosecurity, consisting of the site entry, Line of Separation (LOS), Perimeter Buffer Area (PBA) if applicable, access points through the LOS and/or PBA, Cleaning and Disinfection (C&D) station, designated parking, and carcass disposal/pickup locations, as well as routes for vehicle and carcass movements.
Describe how you protect animals on your operation through lines or layers of biosecurity. Mark the lines or layers on the map and within the operation. A LOS is required for all sites; this is a control boundary meant to prevent movement of an FAD into areas where susceptible animals could be exposed. For some operations (including poultry housed indoors), a PBA is also required; this is an outer control boundary (surrounding the LOS) meant to limit movement of an FAD near animal housing before additional biosecurity practices must be followed to cross the LOS. More resources are available on determining the best location for the LOS and PBA (see the Additional Resources section).
Describe how you will protect animal movements that need to occur on the farm. Determine how people, vehicles, equipment, and supplies may safely cross one or more lines or layers of biosecurity. This includes animals, feed, manure, carcasses, animal transport vehicles, and animal products such as milk, semen, embryos, and wool. These movements should occur at a designated access (entry) point for that type of entry. Depending on what is crossing, wearing personal protective equipment such as clean boots and clothing, cleaning, and disinfecting items or vehicles, and/or one-way traffic flow may also be required. Additional resources include Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for key movements:
- SOPs for Personnel Entry/Exit
- SOP for Establishing Line of Separation and Access Point
Cleaning and disinfection (C&D) is a process that removes and kills disease-causing agents on equipment and surfaces. Additional resources include an SOP for establishing and operating the cleaning and disinfection station.
Describe how to control rodents, vectors (like flies or ticks), birds, wildlife, and other animals , preventing them from having contact with the animals and bringing disease onto the operation.
Describe how you will provide the necessary training on all practices included in the enhanced biosecurity plan to those working on or visiting your operation.
3. Communicate biosecurity practices to everyone who enters the operation
Regular communication and training keep personnel and visitors updated on basic disease prevention and biosecurity practices that need to be followed anytime they enter the operation, and what additional or different biosecurity practices will need to be followed when the enhanced biosecurity plan is in place during an FAD outbreak.
The Biosecurity Manager’s job is to ensure that all who enter or work on the operation know the rules that apply to them.
Site-dedicated personnel
- Train all employees when first hired on all basic and enhanced biosecurity practices within the operation’s biosecurity plan. Encourage them to ask questions.
- Repeat training at least yearly or more often if changes to the biosecurity plan, operation management, or facility layout make it necessary to update sooner.
- Ensure the training is done in language(s) that everyone understands and that biosecurity practices are followed especially when entering and leaving the operation.
- Focus training on specific job areas and duties.
- Explain the consequences of not following biosecurity practices.
- Include contact information for the Biosecurity Manager and a secondary point of contact in case the Biosecurity Manager is unavailable.
Non-farm personnel and visitors
- Inform veterinarians, animal health workers like nutritionists and reproductive technicians, transporters, delivery drivers, family members, and other visitors who may come on-site about basic and enhanced biosecurity practices before or upon arrival.
- Limit entry of non-farm personnel during an outbreak to only those needed
4. Train staff on enhanced biosecurity practices in the event of a FAD outbreak
Training staff to implement enhanced biosecurity is essential in keeping FADs and emerging diseases off operations, preventing further spread on affected operations during an outbreak, and helping businesses to run smoothly.
When an operation is notified that they are in an animal disease Control Area, regulatory officials may require that all items in the operation’s written enhanced biosecurity plan, and possibly others, be carried out before animal or product movement may be allowed. See the Control Areas and Continuity of Business video under the additional resources section.
Training and resources including videos are available from various organizations and industry groups, or the Biosecurity Manager may create their own based on the site-specific biosecurity plan.
Document all training
Tips for Communication and Training (3 min)
The Biosecurity Manager should know where to go or who to contact at the state about FAD outbreaks and how they will get the information they need to apply the correct level of biosecurity. Your veterinarian, industry groups, and regulatory officials can be good sources of information; another good multi-species resource is the FAD Field Guide available under additional resources.
5. Take corrective actions when biosecurity practices are not followed
It’s vital that everyone on the operation, including both site-dedicated and non-farm personnel, follow the biosecurity plan at the level required at all times.
Ensuring that biosecurity practices are followed requires:
- Daily monitoring and/or oversight of the operation’s biosecurity practices by the Biosecurity Manager.
- Identifying trained point(s) of contact who can act on behalf of the Biosecurity Manager when they are not available.
- Regularly reviewing feedback on biosecurity practices and making changes when needed.
- Taking corrective actions when expectations are not met.
Biosecurity Managers should describe these practices during training and provide corrective actions consistent with other personnel management strategies. The Biosecurity Manager may require personnel not complying with the biosecurity plan to repeat training. They may also need coaching or remedial activities to show an understanding of how and why biosecurity practices are completed.
Biosecurity Managers should develop a work culture that rewards personnel for correctly and consistently following biosecurity practices.
Biosecurity Manager Worksheet and Checklist
Resources
Related resources from other websites for selected Biosecurity Manager Responsibilities.
Know the site layout and biosecurity practices: resources
Daily biosecurity
Develop or revise an enhanced biosecurity plan: resources
Enhanced biosecurity
Train staff on enhanced biosecurity practices: resources
FAD Readiness for Farms Videos
Healthy Farms, Healthy Agriculture (HFHA) is a great website with excellent biosecurity resources and FAD readiness videos like these:
Control Areas and Continuity of Business
Can Farm Operators Assess Risk and Manage It?
Consider Everyday and Enhanced Farm Biosecurity
Protect Your Farm with an Enhanced Biosecurity Plan
Strategies to Stop or Slow a Disease Spread
Species-specific
