Fact Sheet Written by:
John G. Kirkpatrick, DVM, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Glenn Selk, PhD, Beef Cattle Extension Specialist
And Provided by
Oklahoma State University
Biosecurity is used to describe programs for preventing the introduction of pathogens considered potentially harmful to the health and well-being of the herd. A pathogen is defined
as any infectious agent that causes disease. Examples of various pathogens are viruses (foot and mouth disease; bovine viral diarrhea virus - BVDV), bacteria (Brucella abortus – brucellosis; Mycobacterium paratuberculosis - Johne’s Disease),
and prions (bovine spongiform encephalopathy - BSE; scrapie in sheep). Biosecurity on a national level consists of foreign animal disease surveillance performed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Laboratory (APHIS) at Plum Island, New York and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Harry S. Truman Animal Import Center, Fleming Key, Florida. APHIS veterinarians and support personnel
across the nation provide constant vigilance to keep our livestock free of foreign animal diseases that could cost the industry and consumers billions of dollars. Biosecurity at the herd level is up to the individual producer and their veterinarian to design strategies to prevent costly diseases from entering the individual cattle herd(s).
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