Biosecurity : for the sheep shearer

Biosecurity is defined as preventative management practices that protect the health and wellbeing of both animals and humans from the entry or spread of disease agents. For on-farm biosecurity to be successful, everyone involved with sheep production and product harvest need to make biosecurity a priority to prevent disease spread between animals or to humans (zoonotic diseases are diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans). Biosecurity for a commercial sheep shearer (or shearing crew) that travel an area shearing flocks of sheep and other fiber animals cannot function like an integrated or closed farming operation. However, the same general considerations and actions can be observed to prevent the spread of diseases within a flock and when moving between flocks and farms. This factsheet has been developed to help individuals involved in the shearing process recognize sheep diseases with increased risk of spreading during shearing and biosecurity practices to implement to help reduce the risk of disease spread during the shearing process