Farmscape for November 28, 2025

Research conducted by the University of Missouri is shedding light on the biosecurity of various swine barn entrance systems in reducing the potential for bacterial and viral contamination.
The final report has been issued on a study funded by the Swine Health Information Center Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program, in partnership with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, which assessed the development of effective and practical biosecurity swine barn entrance systems.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton explains researchers with the University of Missouri assessed Danish entry and modified Danish entry and compared the effectiveness of various biosecurity interventions to the gold standard for biosecurity, a full body shower.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
This study was pretty extensive as it involved comparing different methodologies such as an air shower, disinfectant spray, disinfectant fog versus a full body shower and they looked at different surfaces to mimic a person going in and out, such as cloth, hair and skin.
What they identified is that the full body shower still remains the most effective system.
However, using a combination of things such as the air shower with a disinfectant spray and a hair net did perform similarly.
What they evaluated were two different bacteria including Staph aureus and E. coli and two different viruses, canine distemper and feline calicivirus.
They basically applied these bacteria and viruses to t-shirts, to leather or pigskin to mimic human skin and then a faux fur to mimic human hair.
What was determined is that the use of a Danish entry system plus a hand sanitizer and hairnets did offer very comparable results to a full body shower in both reducing viruses and bacteria that could potentially enter into a farm.

Dr. Becton says not all facilities have a shower system, so identifying a cost effective and practical system that doesn’t involve a full body shower gives producers another opportunity to heighten biosecurity.
The final report can be accessed through SHIC's November eNewsletter at swinehealth.org.
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Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers