A scoping review of knowledge, attitudes, and practices in swine farm biosecurity in North America

Abstract

Pork is one of the most popular consumer meat choices globally, second to poultry. In the past two decades, the rising demand in pork, has seen pig farming move toward intensive farming methods, characterized by high pig densities which is a risk for swift spread of disease necessitating proper and strict biosecurity adherence to facilitate disease-free conditions and business continuity. North America is the second largest pig producer globally. We conducted a review of available peer-reviewed original publications to scope for available data on the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and practices concerning biosecurity among swine producers in North America from the year 2011 to 2022 using the PRISMA-SCr guidelines. Out of the 323 papers that fit our search criteria, we present insights from the 18 papers that were relevant to our study. We summarize key findings on biosecurity practices and propose critical practices for biosecurity adherence. We also present our findings on the complexities that influence producers' adoption of biosecurity plans and note variations in biosecurity strictness between states and how these are influenced by farm size and perceived disease risk. In conclusion, this review highlights the need for updated assessments of biosecurity practices, leveraging technology particularly machine learning, for risk assessment, and acknowledges the role that demographics and risk perception play in biosecurity adoption. Ultimately, effective biosecurity measures are imperative for safeguarding North American swine production systems against disease threats especially foreign animal diseases like the African swine fever (ASF), foot and mouth disease (FMD) and classical swine fever.

Keywords: North American pig farming; biosecurity adoption; critical biosecurity practices; foreign animal disease (FAD); knowledge – attitude – practice; risk assessment; swine biosecurity.

Figure 1

PRISMA flow chart of the paper selection process showing the number of papers in each step and the representation of reasons why excluded papers were left out leading to the final 18 selected.

Figure 2

A map highlighting the North American states covered in the research studies included in this scoping review on swine biosecurity conducted between 2011 and 2022. Blue represents states and provinces not represented in the research while purple are the states covered by the research. The deeper the shade of purple, the higher the number of papers that conducted research in that state/province.

Figure 3

Summary of the types of research published on swine farm biosecurity in North America between 2011 and 2022.

Figure 4

Pictorial of the recommended biosecurity-related checkpoints on a farm, the risks routes of pathogen introduction, and associated critical biosecurity practices (CBPs). PBA is ideally between the perimeter fence on the outer and fencing for the clean zone. Asterisks reflect the ranking of risks based on their frequency of mention in a qualitative scoping review, with *** indicating the highest frequency, ** the second highest, and * moderate frequency.