Health Hazards in Moving Animals between Countries

Abstract

It is a well known fact that the safest way of assuring good health in domestic livestock is to keep the animals in the same flock and environment from the beginning to the end of their lifetime. It is realised that even small changes in the well-balanced and closed system may induce disease. In relation to infectious diseases, it is a special advantage to keep animals in closed units, as exposure to outside germs may result in disease because of failures in the immuno-protective pattern. Veterinary expertise, the skill of the agricultural adviser and the talent of the manager may be combined to design and master production systems, in which the influence of infectious agents is reduced to a minimum by keeping serious pathogens out, and by organising immunological balance between host and organism, either by using naturally acquired immunity or systematic vaccination.