The goal of this project is to develop an evaluation tool for biosecurity that allows small-scale pig farms to adjust and improve their biosecurity without having to invest in measures that may be expensive and unnecessary. To this end, the Biocheck.ugent biosecurity scoring system used for commercial farms will be adapted, taking into account the most probable risks of introducing and spreading infectious diseases in small-scale pig production. Substantial preparatory work has already been carried out through various final year veterinary student theses.

In this project, the preparatory work will be further elaborated in collaboration with Biocheck.Gent BV and our partners from the Scientific Veterinary Institute ‘Novi Sad’ in Serbia, with whom a strong collaboration has already been established. The aim is to create an operational and validated scoring system for biosecurity in "backyard" pig farms. Initially, a biosecurity tool developed by UGent and BiocheckGent will be adapted for "backyard" pig production to assess biosecurity measures that are important and feasible in small-scale production systems. Subsequently, the scoring system will be tested in a pilot field trial, visiting various farms to evaluate the applicability of the adapted tool.