B -SAFE - Biosecurity for Sustainable Animal Farming in Europe (EUP AH&W)

B-SAFE is a multidisciplinary EU-project that aims to enhance external and internal biosecurity in terrestrial and aquatic livestock systems, improving animal health, welfare, and sustainability while limiting antimicrobial use.

The project will map and categorize the diverse farming systems by developing a robust classification system built upon previous efforts. The system will be validated in the field and will provide insight into how different farming systems influence disease risks and the effectiveness of biosecurity measures. 

Existing protocols for assessing and improving farm biosecurity will be collected from various sources, evaluated, and either refined or supplemented with new ones as needed. In parallel, current farm risk assessment tools will be adapted and improved for more livestock species and systems. Interoperability between risk assessment tools and other quantification systems will be explored to enhance analytical capacity. Field studies will test usability and effectiveness and raise awareness of the protocols and tools.

The impact of improved biosecurity on animal health, welfare, and antimicrobial use will be evaluated through case studies. Stakeholder engagement will explore perceptions of integrated farm management systems, offering insights into the opportunities and challenges of advancing biosecurity for sustainable disease control. The knowledge generated by this will be translated into the field, demonstrating how biosecurity can be improved and fits into the integrated farm management systems. 

A strong focus is placed on capacity building, with tailored training and educational resources for animal health professionals, students, and advisors. These efforts include an ‘Academic Training Package’ and hands-on training sessions as well as ‘MOOCs’ to support knowledge transfer into practice.

Project managers at The Norwegian Veterinary Institute:

Maria Fernanda Serrano De La Cruz

Cooperating partners: 

The veterinary epidemiology unit of Ghent University (UGENT)
AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety)
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
The Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the Estonian University of Life Sciences (EULS)
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e Dell'Emilia Romagna (IZSLER)
The Animal and Plant Health (APHA)
The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
University of Copenhagen (UCPH)
The University of Torino (UNITO)
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH)
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)