The Biosecurity Guide.

Biosecurity is not a product — it is a system of decisions made every day at the entrance of the farm. The minimum effective protocol starts with one rule: nothing enters the facility unchecked.

Point 1 — Entrance gate: every vehicle is disinfected before passing. An automated gate ensures this happens every time, not only when someone is available. Point 2 — Changing zone: farm boots and clothing for every visitor. Point 3 — Quarantine for new animals: at least 21 days before joining the herd.

Point 4 — Fallen-stock management: isolated point, dedicated vehicle. Point 5 — Rodent and bird control. Point 6 — Entry-exit log with documentation. Point 7 — Training: every person working on the farm knows the why, not just the what.

None of this is expensive. The cost lies in not applying them — and Greece is measuring that cost today in hundreds of thousands of animals.

Regulation (EU) 2016/429, known as the Animal Health Law, is the framework governing prevention and control of transmissible animal diseases across the EU since April 2021.

In practice, for livestock farms this means three obligations: recording animal movements, applying biosecurity measures appropriate to the type of operation, and immediate reporting of suspected cases. For operations trading animals or products, biosecurity measures are subject to inspection — not suggestion.

Vehicle disinfection at points of entry is considered a core preventive measure in the guidelines for diseases such as sheep pox, African Swine Fever and foot-and-mouth disease. Facilities with automated, documented systems pass inspections with essentially zero compliance risk.

The trend is clear: the EU is moving from paper compliance to proven, recorded compliance. Those who invest in documentation now are ahead of the legislation — not chasing it.

Manual pressure-washer spraying: the most common and the least reliable. Coverage depends on the worker's willingness and time — and on night shifts it simply doesn't happen.

The disinfection trench — the pit of water and disinfectant — belongs to the past. Its dosage is impossible to calculate: rain dilutes the solution, heat evaporates the water, and one muddy truck ruins it completely. The result is always overdosing or underdosing, never the right dose. Worse, organic matter chemically deactivates the disinfectant, and because of the cost of replacing hundreds of litres, nobody ever empties it — so the same dead, dirty solution "works" for weeks.

Wheel baths and disinfection mats: they cover only the tyres, while the virus travels on the entire vehicle body. As a sole measure, they are a false sense of security. As a complement to a gate, useful.

Foam gates: excellent visible coverage and contact time, but higher consumption and maintenance — ideal for fixed facilities with staff, less so for remote sites.

Automated spray gates: identical 360° coverage on every passage, operation without staff, logging for every inspection, and the lowest cost per disinfected vehicle over five years. For points of entry with continuous flow, there is no real alternative.

If you run a small farm, biosecurity seems like 'a big players' affair'. The reality of the current crisis says the opposite: small farms were hit hardest, because they were the most exposed.

Move 1 — Define a single entrance. If vehicles enter from everywhere, there is no biosecurity. Move 2 — Vehicle disinfection at the entrance, ideally automated so it doesn't depend on you. Move 3 — Farm boots at the door, no exceptions for anyone.

Move 4 — A quarantine rule for every new animal, even from a 'trusted' seller. Move 5 — Talk to your vet about a written biosecurity plan — it also helps with subsidies.

Order matters: the entrance first, everything else after. 80% of the risk passes through the gate.