Alistair Antonopoulos, a scientific project manager, is at the forefront of advancing biosecurity practices in livestock production. At Kreavet, he plays a pivotal role in Horizon EU funded projects such as BIOSECURE, focusing on improving biosecurity implementation within Europe for sustainable livestock production. With his new book on (Biosecurity for Livestock in Europe) alongside co-authors Johannes Charlier, Evelien Biebaut, Jeroen Dewulf, he went deeper on biosecurity practices, essential for preventing the introduction and spread of diseases, promoting better animal health and welfare.
The new book provides valuable background information to better understand the interplay between disease transmission routes, risk factors for the spread of disease, and the role of transmission modelling within the wider context of improving biosecurity for European livestock production. The book stems from a joint initiative between the BIOSECURE project, which brings together 17 partners across 12 European countries, and DISCONTOOLS, an EU-stakeholder led initiative maintaining a research gap database in animal health.
The book is divided into two principal sections covering livestock diseases endemic to European countries, and epidemic transboundary diseases with the potential for, or currently ongoing, large-scale outbreaks in Europe such as African Swine Fever and Avian Influenza. Specifically, through a series of disease entries, the book:
- Introduces the diseases most relevant to the European context.
- Reviews our current understanding of biosecurity throughout the livestock production chain and across the principal terrestrial animal species farmed within Europe: poultry, swine, cattle, and small ruminants.
- Covers the prevalence, risk factors, transmission routes, current control and biosecurity measures, and summarises currently available modelling data for each disease.
This book serves as a useful resource for researchers, professionals and students in veterinary sciences, animal disease prevention and as a starting point for identifying information gaps and requirements for future research. This book further serves as a companion piece to the recently developed PARAMETRA transmission modelling database .
Together, we can build a resilient future for our agricultural communities by safeguarding the health and welfare of our livestock, ensuring food security and enhancing economic sustainability of livestock production across Europe.
The book is now available for purchase from CABI Digital Library, Amazon and eBooks.com in both eBook and hardback formats.
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