New measures aim to boost ‘biosecurity’

Prompted by the severity of the foot and mouth disease epidemic in Europe, the university has upgraded its biosecurity policies to protect dairy and livestock herds.

Mark Cook, professor of animal science and chairman of the campus animal care committee, says the new rules were put in place this week to guard against carrying or spreading disease to animals.

Most notably, the policy restricts visitors from countries where foot and mouth is a problem, as well as UW–Madison faculty, staff and students who visit those countries, from any contact with livestock or wildlife until five days after arriving in the United States.

Cook says foot and mouth is a serious issue for UW–Madison and other universities with major agricultural programs. International travel is commonplace among faculty, staff and students, and foot and mouth is an extremely volatile virus that spreads quickly and easily through herds.

Most of the biosecurity guidelines pertain to the use of protective clothing when entering animal facilities, and proper cleaning of clothing. All visitors, for example, will be required to wear protective plastic boots in the livestock areas and use added cautions when traveling between UW–Madison and off-campus animal herds.

UW–Madison has eight facilities on campus, another seven farms at the Arlington Research Station, and six farms throughout Wisconsin that include livestock. Roughly 100 faculty and 1,500 staff and students use these facilities regularly.

Cook says the guidelines, while prompted by foot and mouth, represent a larger improvement in campus biosecurity and will stay in place after the epidemic in the United Kingdom and France has been contained. The rules apply to work with all species of animals in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

For more information, contact Cook, (608) 262-7747, mcook@facstaff.wisc.edu.