Abstract:
There are almost 9,500 full-time employees in Australia\'s thoroughbred horse breeding industry. During foaling, they can be exposed to bodily fluids and mucous membranes which may present risks for zoonotic disease. These risks can be mitigated through personal biosecurity strategies. The aim of this study was to identify which personal biosecurity strategies were more or less likely to be adopted by workers. Seventeen participants representing 14 thoroughbred breeding farms and three equine veterinary practices in Australia\'s largest thoroughbred breeding region trialed up to 16 stakeholder-nominated personal biosecurity strategies over the 2021 foaling season. The strategies encompassed personal protective equipment (PPE), zoonotic disease awareness, policies and protocols, supportive environments, and leadership. Strategy adoption was monitored through three repeated self-audit surveys designed around the Transtheoretical Model of change (TTM) and findings were reviewed in exit interviews. For all survey waves in aggregate, 13 strategies were practiced by at least 50.0% of participants. Participants were most likely to use a ready-made foaling box (98.0%), communicate the message that PPE usage is a personal responsibility (94.1%) and use ready-made PPE kits (88.2%). However, 31.4% had no intention of doing practice sessions and/or dummy runs for PPE use and 27.5% had no intention of using a buddy system on farm/practice to check use of PPE. Whilst these rates indicate workers\' willingness to adopt and maintain personal biosecurity strategies, they also indicate capacity for more practices to be implemented more often. Overall, the findings highlight the need for personal biosecurity interventions to be sensitive to the demands of the annual thoroughbred breeding calendar, the size of the breeding operation and the availability of skilled staff.
摘要:
澳大利亚纯种马养殖业有近9,500名全职员工。在抚育过程中,它们可能暴露于体液和粘膜,这可能会带来人畜共患疾病的风险。这些风险可以通过个人生物安全战略来减轻。这项研究的目的是确定哪些个人生物安全策略或多或少可能被工人采用。代表澳大利亚最大的纯种育种区的14个纯种养殖场和3个马兽医实践的17名参与者在2021年的种马季节试验了多达16个利益相关者提名的个人生物安全战略。这些策略包括个人防护装备(PPE),人畜共患疾病的认识,政策和协议,支持性环境,和领导力。通过围绕跨理论变革模型(TTM)设计的三个重复的自我审计调查来监控战略采用情况,并在离职访谈中审查了调查结果。对于所有合计的测量波,至少50.0%的参与者实施了13种策略。参与者最有可能使用现成的护肤品箱(98.0%),传达PPE使用是个人责任的信息(94.1%),并使用现成的PPE套件(88.2%)。然而,31.4%的人无意为使用PPE进行练习和/或虚拟运行,而27.5%的人无意在农场/实践中使用伙伴系统来检查PPE的使用情况。虽然这些比率表明工人愿意采用和维持个人生物安全战略,它们还表明有能力更频繁地实施更多做法。总的来说,研究结果强调,个人生物安全干预措施需要对年度纯种繁殖日历的需求敏感,养殖作业的规模和熟练员工的可用性。