Advancements in Veterinary Biosecurity: Safeguarding Animal Health

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 772

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Interests: molecular microbiology; food-borne zoonoses; antimicrobial use; antimicrobial resistance; microbiome; resistome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Interests: molecular microbiology; food-borne zoonoses; antimicrobial resistance; microbiome; resistome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences, University of Ngaoundere, Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
Interests: biosecurity; antimicrobial usage; antimicrobial resistance; poultry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Livestock production is a crucial sector for ensuring food security and nutrition in many countries worldwide. However, infectious diseases—including emerging and re-emerging ones (e.g., avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, and African swine fever)—have a serious impact on this sector, causing livestock morbidity and mortality, as well as significant economic losses.

Biosecurity remains the most effective strategy to reduce the risk of the introduction, establishment, and spread of animal diseases in livestock. It is also a key component of the One Health approach.

In recent years, biosecurity has gained increasing attention due to its role in improving animal welfare and productivity, which leads to better financial returns for livestock stakeholders. Moreover, enhanced biosecurity contributes to reducing the use of antimicrobials and, consequently, the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a major public health threat.

Therefore, identifying and understanding the factors that hinder the effective implementation of biosecurity is essential—not only to improve animal health and production but also to curb the spread of AMR along the food production chain and in the environment.

We are pleased to invite you to submit research articles, short communications, and review papers to this Special Issue, focusing on advancements in strategies with which to improve biosecurity compliance in terrestrial and aquatic animals. Research topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) Biosecurity implementation in terrestrial and aquatic farming systems;

(ii) Assessment or analysis of the challenges to biosecurity compliance;

(iii) Strategies for improving biosecurity compliance.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Alessandra Piccirillo
Dr. Andrea Laconi
Dr. Ronald R. B. Vougat Ngom
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biosecurity
  • livestock
  • poultry
  • pig
  • cattle
  • small ruminants
  • aquaculture
  • fish
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • infectious disease

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 1068 KiB  
Article
Impact of Biosecurity on Production Performance and Antimicrobial Usage in Broiler Farms in Cameroon
by Stephane D. Ziebe, Ronald Vougat Ngom, Adonis M. M. Akoussa, Henry P. Bogning and Henriette A. Zangue
Animals 2025, 15(12), 1771; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15121771 - 16 Jun 2025
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Abstract
The broiler industry is the most developed livestock sector in Cameroon. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between biosecurity implementation with production performance and antibiotic usage in broiler farms in Cameroon. Data concerning biosecurity, production performance (average daily gain or ADG, mortality [...] Read more.
The broiler industry is the most developed livestock sector in Cameroon. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between biosecurity implementation with production performance and antibiotic usage in broiler farms in Cameroon. Data concerning biosecurity, production performance (average daily gain or ADG, mortality rate, feed conversion ratio or FCR, and performance index or PI), and antimicrobial usage (AMU) were collected in 57 farms in the Adamawa and North regions. The average total biosecurity score of broiler farms was 52/100. ADG (46.54 ± 5.18 g versus 43.80 ± 4.16 g), FCR (1.59 ± 0.61 versus 1.75 ± 0.58), mortality rate (2.47% versus 6.65%), and PI (339.21 ± 105.79 versus 268.22 ± 101.09) were statistically better in farms with good biosecurity. The majority of antibiotics used (55.2%) were classified as critically important for human medicine, with 83.9% of antibiotics underdosed/overdosed. No correlation was found between biosecurity and AMU, although there was a trend towards reduced use in farms with good biosecurity. The misuse of antibiotics will result in an increased development of antimicrobial resistance, which can be transmitted to humans. This study highlights the importance of biosecurity in improving poultry performance and reducing AMU. Continuous training and awareness-raising efforts among farmers on the importance of biosecurity are needed to reduce AMU and improve farmers’ profitability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Veterinary Biosecurity: Safeguarding Animal Health)
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