Best practice truck wash biosecurity guidelines

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly infectious viral disease of pigs, and it is associated with high mortality and is spread by both direct contact (pig-to-pig), and indirect contact (contaminated vehicles, equipment, personnel and pork products). Although biosecurity in this country has advance over the last 40 years, the practices and attitudes towards adoption of biosecurity standards still have a considerable way to go. In the EU, truck washing/disinfection between farms and between farm and abattoir is routine, with some countries providing designated public facilities and oversight/certification to ensure compliance. Australia does not maintain a similar level of biosecurity vigilance in this regard.

This project aimed to:

• Conduct a national and international literature search for reports on best practice truck washing/disinfection
• Visit and review the truck washing facilities and procedures at export pig processing facilities
• Engage with all relevant Australian pig industry stakeholders
• Develop a best practice truck biosecurity and disinfection manual and detailed SOPs and training materials
• Investigate biosecurity issues related to water recycling/re-use, for truck washing

Value for producers:

• Producers /abattoirs can assess and improve their biosecurity gaps of their own farm/ facility

Key findings:

• An incursion of ASF is likely to go unnoticed for several weeks before the first herd is diagnosed with the disease. The implication of this is that infected pigs are likely to have been being processed at an abattoir or abattoirs in advance of an ASF diagnosis, and that on this basis the abattoir may be contaminated, with outward dissemination of the infection from this aggregation point via exiting vehicles.
• The apparent lack of capacity and capability to effectively wash and disinfect the country’s fleet of livestock transport vehicles, will exaggerate outward spread of disease in the period prior to detection, constrain EAD response activities, and increase the risk of further spread of an EAD to uninfected herds.
• The current processes for handling of wash water and other effluents from slaughterhouses, namely surface irrigation of untreated waste water onto land that can be freely accessed by feral pigs, may also pose a risk for spread of ASF into the feral pig population.
• In the event of an ASF outbreak, the current state of Australian truck washing infrastructure will make business continuity challenging for pork farmers because within a very short time-period, truck washing capacity and wash water disinfection/management constraints are likely to be a key rate-limiting step in the response effort. The current management of trucks may also contribute to the spread of endemic diseases between herds.