Biosecurity Concept: Origins, Evolution and Perspectives

Abstract

Originally used in reference to the management of biological weapons and bio-terrorism, the term biosecurity was first used in the agricultural sector in the 1980s as “the sum of risk management practices in the defence against biological threats”. This term was then taken up in different strategic documents of different organisations, so multiple definitions and understandings co-exist. This short communication reviews the origins and evolution of the biosecurity concept and discusses the future perspectives of biosecurity in regard to the One Health Approach and the changing environment.

What is a biosecurity measure? A definition proposal for animal production and linked processing operations

“…The awareness of biosecurity and its underlying measures is growing, as is their great relevance for livestock production, shown by the sharp increase in publications mentioning the term BSM in the pig sector by almost a factor of five between 2011 and 2021 [ 4 ] ( Fig. 2 ).…”

“…We used the definition of biosecurity as defined by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and EU AHL as underlying principle to define BSM, which substitutes reducing the risk of pathogen introduction into, from, or within an animal population for internal or external biosecurity, and additionally considers pathogen spread to the surrounding environment [ 12 , 14 ]. In a bigger One Health context, Renault et al (2021) state that biosecurity should include the reduction of the probability of spread of pathogens to and between animals, plants, humans, and the environment as the biosecurity definition of the OIE may not be explicit enough in mentioning the links with public and environmental health [ 4 ]. Given our primary objective of proposing a standard definition of BSM that encompasses the underlying processes for achieving biosecurity, we aimed to keep the proposed definition as parsimonious as possible to i) provide greater clarity regarding the term and ii) to tie in with existing definitions of biosecurity itself without complicating their communication.…”

“…The high density of animal production sites and their related contact structures are drivers for infectious animal diseases responsible for morbidity, mortality, and economic losses worldwide [ [1] , [2] , [3] ]. Biosecurity is one of the essential components of the One Health concept [ 4 , 5 ]. It is considered critical in this context, as it aims to prevent infections and their spread to farmed animals, humans, and the environment (including wildlife and plant species) and, by safeguarding health and well-being, to curtail the impact of infectious diseases on the environment, the economy, and society in general.…”

Re-Imagining Public Health Education: Students’ Perspectives and Considerations

“…Biosecurity was originally framed around issues of national security of terrorism (Renault et al, 2021). However, recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that these pathogens are not bound by international borders and are not immune to exacerbating historical developments in structural racism.…”

Conceitos de biossegurança e suas possíveis contribuições para a promoção da saúde

“…Não se trata apenas do foco à gênese dos riscos, no controle e erradicação de agentes patógenos e riscos biológicos (REZENDE et al, 2016;SOUSA et al, 2016;RENAULT;HUMBLET;SAEGERMAN, 2021). Essas ações são apenas uma parte do processo de cuidado e promoção de saúde.…”