Keeping your livestock safe from microbes, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, is the biosecurity goal that all farms should have. Wearing clean, sanitized footwear helps meet this goal as foot traffic moves microbes to and around the farm. Help visitors and those who work on the farm know the paths for limiting the spread of microbes between animal groups by posting signs to designate all entrances, parking, and travel routes. Limit animal contact by visitors; both visitors and personnel should wear clean clothing and boots in animal contact areas.
All footwear should be cleaned and disinfected before entering and after contacting animal areas. To make it easier to accomplish, maintain boot wash/disinfection stations by providing water, buckets, a brush, soap, and disinfectant at animal area entrances and exits. Begin by rinsing with water to remove all debris while paying special attention to remove everything packed into the sole’s tread. Next, scrub the cleaned footwear with soap and water while following the product’s label directions for dilution rate, water temperature, and water hardness.. The soap acts to remove remaining debris and microbes. The desired outcome is to disinfect a clean surface, not to disinfect dirt. Follow soap washing with clean water rinsing as disinfectants are inactivated by soap residue.
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Categories: Wisconsin, Livestock