A growing emphasis on the prevention of animal diseases

The past 20 years have seen considerable advances in preventive care for farm animals, according to Ynte Schukken, director at Royal GD and Henk Hogeveen, personal chair professor of Economics and Animal Health Management at Wageningen University & Research. The use of antibiotics has declined sharply, several communicable diseases have been fully or virtually eradicated, and outbreaks of major animal diseases, such as avian flu, are being closely monitored and rapidly contained. "It's almost impossible to prevent every outbreak, because ecosystems also evolve. Still, there is room for improvement, and that also applies to livestock farms. Awareness is a big part of that process."

The adage 'prevention is better than cure' certainly applies in the livestock industry these days. Royal GD director Ynte Schukken, who followed in his father's footsteps and spent years working as a veterinarian, offers a good example. "We compared our schedule books once. My father used to visit 30 farms a day and treat every sick cow, while I did three farm visits a day. I’d spend two hours with each farmer, drawing up a farm health plan together."

Veterinarians used to mainly provide care for sick animals; there wasn't that much focus on prevention. That's pretty much been reversed now, Schukken argues. Henk Hogeveen does add one caveat. "Preventive care definitely plays a bigger role than it used to, but it's still something you can put off, which doesn't apply to treating sick animals. That's why things still tend to change more slowly than I might have expected."

Putting out that first spark

Schukken believes there have been major advances, especially in terms of detecting, controlling and eradicating diseases. "We now have an effective monitoring system for animal diseases and can respond quickly if a disease flares up. That means we can put out that first spark, rather than waiting for a fire to break out. The current outbreaks of bird flu (avian influenza) are still annoying, but the disease is hardly being transmitted from one farm to another which is preventing more serious outbreaks. That's definitely not the case in some other countries."

Schukken believes there's no way to completely prevent outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu. "Ecosystems evolve, and you're also dealing with wild animals that transmit diseases. We need to keep being vigilant about that, which is why monitoring is so important."

Ecosystems evolve, you also have to deal with wild animals transmitting diseases.

However, the livestock sector has managed to curtail a considerable number of infectious diseases. "They hardly ever occur in the Netherlands anymore these days. A good example would be herpes viruses like salmonella and ?pseudo-typed? avian flu." Some diseases can be transmitted to humans, so public health will benefit if they're less prevalent.

We've also made great strides in terms of antibiotics. "We've managed to reduce antibiotics use in all farm animals by 70 percent, in line with the target. Most broilers no longer get any antibiotics and antibiotic use on dairy farms is even lower than it is in humans."

Preventing the introduction of diseases

There's a growing awareness of the need to prevent diseases, both industry-wide and at the level of individual farms. Hogeveen: "The major outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, swine fever and avian flu at the turn of the century played an important role in that process. The livestock industry really started addressing a lot of issues after that, working in conjunction with the authorities in some cases." We've abolished livestock markets with lots of animals in one location and the introduction of diseases is being prevented as much as possible. Schukken: "These days, you can hardly get into a pig or poultry farm without showering first."

Livestock farmers prefer to avoid having any sick animals in their herds, Hogeveen notes. "Not just from an animal welfare standpoint – sick animals also disrupt operations and cost money. Animal diseases are responsible for production losses of around 10 to 15 percent," the agricultural economist calculates. As he points out, preventive care at livestock farms is now more costly than the treatment of sick animals. The return on preventive care is hard to quantify in financial terms, but farmers aren't just interested in business results anymore these days. "We're seeing a growing focus on things like animal welfare, environmental impact, resource use and nitrogen and methane reduction."

These days, you can hardly get into a pig or poultry farm without showering first.

Walking a tightrope

These days, the industry has to meet all sorts of different requirements anyway, and that includes expectations from broader society. "In many cases, those requirements are diametrically opposed," Schukken points out. "We want chickens to be able to range outdoors, but that means more exposure to wild animals and a bigger risk of contracting diseases. Reducing the use of antibiotics can actually have a negative impact on animal welfare. That goes for older cows, for example, which are more susceptible to disease. Hogeveen: "Livestock farmers are increasingly having to walk a tightrope. That's why we need to take action as soon any potential problems come up. That goes for every farmer, but it also applies to the overall industry's approach to animal disease outbreaks."

"We can help livestock farms manage farm-related diseases like udder infections or respiratory infections, but farmers will ultimately have to take the lead," Schukken points out. Hogeveen adds: "Many livestock farmers are already on the right track, but there's always room for improvement. Thankfully, that's something they are increasingly aware of. You might get annoyed by a radio commercial about crippled cows, but you could also be focusing on your own cows' claws instead. What might have been considered normal 10 years ago isn't necessarily acceptable today. External incentives can be very effective."
"For example, we still saw too many young animals dying a few years back. The industry addressed the issue and mortality rates are down by as much as 30 percent now. That's definitely a great result," Schukken concludes.

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