The objective of this review was to outline current implementation of biosecurity, the impact of biosecurity on the industry, and producers' and veterinarians' perceptions of biosecurity with a focus on the Canadian dairy industry. Biosecurity is an important aspect of farm safety by reducing the spread of pathogens and contaminants, improving animal health and production, and maintaining human safety. Implementation of biosecurity practices range between farms and countries. Since Canada's supply management system is different compared with other countries, different barriers and perceptions of biosecurity may exist. Producers have various perspectives on biosecurity, many of which are negative, such as being expensive or time consuming. Producers are motivated and deterred from biosecurity implementation for many reasons, including perceived value, disease risk, and financial incentives or deterrents. Additionally, with veterinarians being a trusted source of information, veterinarians' approach to discussions on biosecurity implementation are important to understand. Veterinarians and producers appear to have differing opinions on the importance of biosecurity and the approach to discussing biosecurity. Improving biosecurity implementation requires a multifactorial approach, such as individualized education and awareness for producers, further research into efficacy of and barriers to biosecurity, and development of effective communication strategies between veterinarians and producers.
Keywords: disease prevention; farmer perception; knowledge translation and transfer (KTT).
The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).