Biosecurity Beefs with Dr. Trent Wennekamp: Animal Health Insights, Ep. 4, Apr. 6, 2021

A veterinarian reveals newly identified biosecurity-related risk factors for introduction of respiratory disease, Johne's disease, and calf diarrhea into beef cow-calf herds in Western Canada.

Biosecurity is one tool that veterinarians and producers use to minimize the chance of any disease exposure to animals on farm, but it is a broad group of principles that can seem difficult to implement correctly in all farming situations. While some disease risks are shared across species, different animals and management systems also have some unique biosecurity factors. Dr. Trent Wennekamp, a veterinarian from Lloydminster, Alberta, and a graduate student in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, researched biosecurity practices on cow-calf farms in Western Canada. Dr. Wennekamp uncovered some key biosecurity-related disease risk factors for cow-calf herds, and his work emphasizes just how important biosecurity principles can be to the health of calves and cattle.

Links of Interest:

• Biosecurity and bovine respiratory disease on beef operations in western Canada, Dr. Trent R. Wennekamp
• Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network (a national expansion of the Western Cow-Calf Surveillance Network 
• The Canadian Beef Cattle On-Farm Biosecurity Standard