Ana Pedro

Feedinov

Portugal

Working Groups: WG1, WG2, WG3

Scientific Expertise: Agriculture related to animal husbandry, dairying, livestock raising, animal welfare

Contribution: Our group is composed of seven researchers, five of which hold an Animal Science PhD and two are Animal Science PhD candidates. Six researchers have zootechnical agronomy studies and one is a veterinarian. All the members of our group have different expertise fields, but all related with livestock nutrition, farming and management. We believe we can thus contribute to the evaluation of biosecurity strategies implemented in different livestock farms in Portugal, ideally in collaboration with other working groups, already in the COST Action network, to increase and sustain networking and improve knowledge in this field. We believe we can also contribute to the development of methodologies to measure biosecurity and to improve animal management, health, and welfare, promoting the reduction of animal disease incidence and use of antimicrobials in livestock. This will ultimately improve competitiveness, public health and confidence of stakeholders.

Motivation: We intend to map which biosecurity measures are being implemented in Portugal and to evaluate how they are being implemented in several livestock species, namely poultry, swine, and bovine farms. Although much has been done recently regarding animal health and biosecurity, which impacts animal welfare, zootechnical performances, use of antibiotics, and public health, we believe there is still room for improvements. More importantly, we believe stakeholders would benefit from standardization and implementation of biosecurity procedures, namely through information dissemination, workshops, and training programs.

Scientific Background: The applicant is a veterinarian and a junior investigator, who is part of a multidisciplinary team of animal science specialists (animal nutrition and feeding, microbiology, food technology and safety). The applicant has a practical background in large animal clinics and as a bovine nutrition and management consultant. Her scientific background, acquired during her PhD and Masterâ€™s thesis, focuses on management strategies to reduce the incidence of disease in the bovine species. Nevertheless, the team has specialists focusing on poultry and swine farming and management strategies to reduce the incidence of disease in these species.

Ana Pedro

COST

Action CA20103

Action Details