FAO: Biosecurity for HPAI

Biosecurity is the implementation of measures that reduce the risk of the introduction and spread of disease agents. Biosecurity requires the adoption of a set of attitudes and behaviours by people to reduce risk in all activities involving domestic, captive exotic and wild birds and their products.

This paper moves forward from the discussion presented in the FAO/OIE/World Bank position paper on The importance of biosecurity in reducing HPAI risk on farms and in markets, prepared for the Inter-Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, held in New Delhi in December 2007. It draws on what we already know about biosecurity, particularly for countries endemically infected with HPAI or at high risk of introduction, identifies problems, proposes solutions and outlines a future course of action. Among others, it looks at the basic principles of biosecurity within the overall framework of disease control, discusses species- and sector-specific issues, stresses the importance of situating biosecurity in appropriate economic and cultural settings, and makes the case for the role of communication.