Farm animals - Health and welfare of ruminants and pigs

Livestock animals are of high importance in biomedical or in agricultural and veterinary research. In contrast to small laboratory animals, they are usually obtained directly from farm production, resulting in lower homogeneity and variation animal health status. Further challenges are the generally high requirement of personnel expertise, the refinements of housing conditions, and biosecurity risk including zoonotic. The working group will develop new and practical recommendations for animal health and hygienic control with ruminants and pigs, focusing on relevant pathogens when importing and/or using livestock experimental animals.