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Beef up your biosecurity

by Jim Bigmore, Hysolv UK Ltd - Kennel and Cattery Management Magazine - Jan/Feb 2011

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Kennel and Cattery Management

If the words “boarding kennel” and “cattery” are typed into an internet search engine, a common theme displayed on most websites is for pets to be correctly vaccinated before acceptance for boarding. The disease mentioned most often is “kennel cough”. There are numerous references to pets which have contracted illnesses while boarding.

This outlines the difficult situation in which the owners of kennels and catteries find themselves. There is a wide range of diseases which can be transmitted from animal to animal whenever they are grouped together. The owner of a kennel or cattery can insist on animals being vaccinated, but this only covers a relatively small, albeit important, number of diseases to which the boarding animal will be exposed. Even when the animals are vaccinated there is no guarantee that they will not catch a disease like kennel cough. In addition, other disease-causing organisms such as Toxocara canis, toxoplasmosis and giardia (protozoa), coccidiosis, round worms, tapeworms, etc, can also be brought into the kennel or cattery by pets or even by wild animals.

The only effective way to control disease transmission is by ensuring that, as far as possible, new boarders do not bring in diseases and by instituting an effective bio-security programme so that any diseases that are present are not spread from animal to animal.

Three-step approach to bio-security:

1. Hygiene audit

The first step is to take an analytical look at the bio-security systems, including protocols which are already in place. This is always difficult as it has to be objective and, in a lot of cases, bio-security practices have evolved over a number of years. This means objectivity is difficult! So the owner should assess how diseases can enter the kennel or cattery, and how diseases can spread from animal to animal. The usual routes of infection are via:

• People
• Animals
• Rodents
• Insects
• Utensils

2. Introduction of new working practices

Having made an audit of the buildings and working practices it is necessary to review the results and see how, or if, the current practices should be changed. The working practices, or SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) have to be identified, agreed and put into action. The normal sequence for implementing such an SOP is:

- Agree with members of staff how best to improve hygiene standards by adapting current practices or introducing new working methods to improve bio-security.

- One person within kennel/cattery should be appointed as responsible for overseeing, implementing and monitoring these SOP’s

- A brief SOP, which describes the amended working practice, should be written out and given to the appropriate members of staff. It is important to train all concerned and is also useful for new members joining the team.

- Usually all SOPs are kept in one file for easy reference.

- The owner or manager should make sure that all members of staff are aware of the date that the new SOP has been officially implemented!

- Hygiene standards should be regularly monitored as a future on-going assessment by checking the surfaces in the appropriate areas to ensure that the improved working practice is being adhered to and resulting in better hygiene.

SOPs can be applied to almost every function within the organisation, although it is best to avoid over-complication of duties. Pragmatism and common-sense should be applied when choosing the working practices to be standardised. Obvious areas to consider are:

• advice to owners about vaccinations and worming of animals before acceptance.
• disinfection of the pet’s favourite toys and any other pet accessories.
• disinfection of kennel areas.
• personnel hygiene – hand washing points, footwear disinfection, specific overalls for each area.
• disinfection of utensils and bowls.
• regular health checks to spot early signs of illness, quarantine areas to house animals with signs of illness

3. Ensuring the best use is made of hygiene products

There are three basic rules when considering disinfection and hygiene:

1. If the disinfectant isn’t used properly it might not work.
2. Not all disinfectants are good at everything.
3. Disinfection doesn’t replace good cleaning.

While these rules might be blatantly obvious, their non-compliance can be found at the root of most hygiene problems.

I. Using disinfectants correctly

Surveys have shown that hand hygiene is an area where correct procedures are known, but often ignored. For example, the correct use of some leading hand sanitisers requires people to wash their hands for at least two minutes, but how many times would this schedule actually be adhered to in practice?

There are, however, products available that have been tested and shown to clean (& disinfect) hands with single one-minute application. These are certainly more practical and therefore more likely to be used correctly. But would this product feature be an important buying criterion for the kennel or cattery owner? Probably not, so in this way buying decisions may unknowingly adversely affect hygiene.

Other factors which can influence the way disinfectants are used within the kennel concern such aspects as the product’s smell, ease of dilution (i.e.1 part in 100 - a 1% solution is easier than 1:130 [0.77%]). If theproduct smells unpleasant at higher concentrations or is complicated to dilute, there’s a good chance the product will not be used in according to the instructions on the label.

It’s also important to bear in mind that disinfectants should always be used at the correct dilution. Slightly over-diluting a product may require double the recommended exposure time for the product to work. In some cases, excessive dilution can render the product completely ineffective.

II. Which disinfectant to choose?

The UK allows any disinfectant to be marketed providing the active ingredient is approved under national/European law. The government’s Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) offers tests which allow an objective assessment by comparing the product’s dilution for those notifiable diseases covered by their test methods. Unfortunately, these do not, however, give an indication about the efficacy of disinfectants to cope with less exotic disease organisms such as distemper, leptospirosis, parvovirus, etc. The new European tests will give a good idea of a disinfectant’s performance, but again the range of viruses and bacterial diseases covered are limited.

- a. Non-encapsulated viruses belonging to the families: Parvo, Picorna, Papiloma, Adeno, Calici, Reo, Birna, Circo. These are some of the most difficult viruses to kill and include Parvovirus, Canine adenovirus (CAV-1), Feline calicivirus (FCV)

- b. Encapsulated viruses belonging to the families: Toga, Flavi, Orthomyxo, Paramyxo, Rhabdo, Retro, Corona, Arteri, Arena, Herpes, Pox, Asfar, Borna. These viruses are easier to disinfect against and include Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FVR), Feline Herpes Virus (FHV-1), Canine distemper.

- c. Tuberculosis, worms and worm eggs and coccidial oocysts.

The lists also give recommendations for disinfectant use against bacteria in empty and occupied housing and against fungi.

It can be very helpful for owners when choosing a disinfectant to ask their disinfectants supplier whether their product is tested by DEFRA, or has an European Norm (EN) test approval or, ideally, approval by the DVG. If the product has only passed in-house tests, the product might not be the best choice.

1. Never compare the price of the undiluted products. Always compare the diluted form and weigh up the benefits of the product’s other characteristics.
2. When buying hand sanitisers compare cost per wash, rather than the cost per litre.
3. Never buy an alcohol hand sanitiser that has less than 60% alcohol as it probably doesn’t work. Always use a hand sanitiser that will not remove the hand’s fat layer.
4. “99% effective” means that 1,000 times more micro-organisms are left living after disinfection than if the product was 99.999% effective. It should never be thought of as “just” 1% difference”.
5. The product’s label and literature can reveal some interesting data and should always be read carefully before use.
6. Always request proof (independent tests would be best) that the product has been tested against the potential disease risks which might occur in the kennel or cattery.
7. Always question whether a product is suitable for your needs and ask whether a specific efficacy test was done. The answer “it’s been proven in the field” as a justification for using a specific dilution may indicate the absence of rigorous standardised testing.
8. Never just buy on price, unless there are really compelling reasons why this makes sense.
9. Make sure the disinfectant can be safely used on equipment, furniture and floor coverings.
10. Make sure that the disinfection needs are identified before choosing the disinfectants. i.e. hands, floors, equipment, cages, sanitary sector, shoes/boots etc. (see table below):

Note: this table is a generalised overview of the different disinfectant types and may not represent all qualities of all products. Cats should not come into direct contact with phenolic disinfectants! If the cattery needs to disinfect against Toxocara catis, tapeworm eggs, toxoplasma, or other problems for which phenolics are recommended, veterinary advice should be sought before application.

Interkokask concentrate from Hysolv UK has been approved under DEFRA, European and DVG test methods and is effective against all important viruses, bacteria, fungi, as well as being able to disinfect against all worms and their eggs, coccidia, protozoa and mites and mite eggs. This means that for the first time a kennel owner is able to completely disinfect kennels against all important disease threats. This is a significant step forward in the preventing the spread of diseases in the kennel. For more information please see www.interkokask.com.

III. Disinfection doesn’t replace cleaning

It should always be remembered that no disinfectant can kill a micro-organism if it can’t reach it! Soiled surfaces, in particular those coated with organic matter, represent a challenge to effective disinfection. If the cleaning process before disinfection is not thorough, it increases the risk that the disinfectant not going to work correctly. This applies in particular to, for example, oxidising disinfectants which are more sensitive to the presence of organic matter. This emphasises the role of thorough cleaning which should therefore also be part of SOP referred to at the beginning of this article.

The implementation of good bio-security is a multi-faceted process and may look a little daunting at first but every part of the process is logical. Sometimes quite small changes in the way things are done, can result in large improvements in limiting the spread of disease, and improve the protection of the animals in the kennel or cattery. It needn’t cost a fortune and shouldn’t take too much work to put in place.

The benefit from introducing this type of regime is that customers become more confident. They are less likely to have vet bills to pay for treating diseases picked up while their pets were boarding. And there’s likely to be peace of mind for customers of breeding establishments!

The use of good bio-security is just as important in breeding kennels, the recent Kennel Club’s statement that almost 100% of puppies are infected with Toxocara canis should be something relegated to the history books, if good worming programmes and bio-security are put in place.

Jim Bigmore is managing director of Hysolv a company that specialises in bio-security products. He has been involved with disease control within the animal health industry since 1978 providing both products and consultancy services.