Sally Curzon from RAU presents her outline PhD proposal on models of disease risk communication for disease control management on English dairy farms with particular focus on approaches to the management of bovine tuberculosis through biosecurity measures

1. Sally Curzon
PhD Year 1
Examining disease risk communication for disease
control management: the case of implementation of
biosecurity measures on English dairy farms

2. Context for PhD Research
•Literature concerned with biosecurity
implementation in agriculture, animal disease
control, bTB.
•Biosecurity knowledge / meaning generation /
tensions around understandings.
•Issues around stakeholder engagement /uptake
•New focus on communication models and
methods.
•Collaborative knowledge production /
communication.

3. PhD Objectives
• To examine models and methods of communication
for biosecurity implementation and risk in the dairy industry
• Particular emphasis on the control of bovine tuberculosis
through biosecurity measures
• Examination of how actors communicate around biosecurity
implementation; the nature and content of
communications; why communications occur in the ways
they do and what this means for effective
communication of disease management practise

4. Phases of Research

5. Research Methodologies
Ethnographic fieldwork techniques and on farm observations of farmer
practice, knowledge and network mapping.
Structured data gathering – interviews / surveys / focus groups /
collaborative knowledge building / workshops
Ethical issues – farmers as ethnographic subject - they provide material for
the data, however, need to produce a critique of the material arising from
them and at the same time also feed back and work with them to develop
new models.

6. Themes of Literature Review
• Biosecurity / agricultural biosecurity
• Communication models / risk communication
• Farmer behaviour and cultures of farming –
other stakeholder cultures
First Working Paper
This paper will form the first theme of literature
review …Biosecurity / agricultural biosecurity

7. Biosecurity risk
communication
methods
Literature Review – Themes
History of bTB disease
and its management in
UK farming
History of bTB disease
History of emergence
of policy concerning
bTB disease in UK
Basic aetiology
(causations) of bTB
disease
Current status of
scientific developments
such as vaccine for
cattle, testing efficacy
and methods
Farming context of
globalisation,
international trade and
standards, sustainable
intensification, agri-technology
Background to farming
/ livestock methods
relating to this study:
dairy, beef, intensive,
extensive, organic etc.
in relation to
development of public
health policy in UK
bTB management in
relation to the
development of trading
standards both
national and
international
Background to disease
risk management and
risk management in
general / defining risk
Other literature where
behaviour change of
communities has been
Meanings and
understandings relating
to biosecurity as a
method and practice of
disease management
Background to
development of
biosecurity concept
and implementation
Farmers, vets, policy
makers, scientists,
consumers, food
industry suppliers,
Disease risk
communication
models, national and
international
History of attempted
interventions and
attempts to influence
farmer behaviour
attempted
Collaborative methods
and work to change
attitudes and
behaviour
Communications /
marketing / influencing
/ new technologies and
multimedia
Epidemiology of bTB
disease and current
statistics concerning its
prevalence in particular
farming systems and
regional spread
Cultural values,
attitudes and
behaviour, behaviour
change theory

8. References
Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (2013). Protecting you herd against infection with TB in high incidence areas: reducing the risks to your herdAvailable from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-cattle-against-tb-infection-in-high-incidence-areas
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2002) Biosecurity Guidance to Prevent the Spread of Animal Diseases.
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (2004). Biosecurity Code for Northern Ireland Farms
Donaldson, A. (2008) Biosecurity after the event: risk politics and animal disease. Environment and Planning A. 40(7): 1552-1567
Ellis-Iversen, J., Cook, A., Watson, E., Nielen, M., Larkin, L., Wooldridge, M. and Hogeveen, H. (2010) Perceptions, circumstances and motivators that influence implementation
of zoonotic control programs on cattle farms. Prev Vet Med. 94(3-4): 318 - 318
Enticott, G. (2008) The spaces of biosecurity: prescribing and negotiating solutions to bovine tuberculosis. Environment and Planning A. 40(7): 1568-1582
Enticott, G. (2014) Biosecurity and the Bioeconomy: The case of disease regulation in the UK & New Zealand. In, Morley A and Marsden T. (ed.) Researching Sustainable Food:
Building The New Sustainability Paradigm. Earthscan London: 122-142
Fisher, R. (2013) ‘A gentleman's handshake’: The role of social capital and trust in transforming information into usable knowledge. Journal of Rural Studies. 31(0): 13-22
Hinchliffe, S. (2014) Biosecurity. [Unpublished University of Exeter]
Hinchliffe, S. and Ward, K. J. (2014) Geographies of folded life: How immunity reframes biosecurity. Geoforum. 53(0): 136-144
Ilbery, B. (2012) Interrogating food security and infectious animal and plant diseases: a critical introduction. The Geographical Journal. 178(4): 308-312
National Animal Disease Information Service (NADIS). (2014) Farm Biosecurity TB and BVD Risk Assessment. [online] Available from:
http://www.nadis.org.uk/riskassess.aspx?id=6068 [Date
Oreszczyn, S., Lane, A. and Carr, S. (2010) The role of networks of practice and webs of influencers on farmers' engagement with and learning about agricultural innovations.
Journal of Rural Studies. 26(4): 404-417
Scottish Government. (2014) Biosecurity Practices for Animal Health. [online] Available [Date accessed: October 2014]
Sligo, F. X. and Massey, C. (2007) Risk, trust and knowledge networks in farmers’ learning. Journal of Rural Studies. 23(2): 170-182
Welsh Government. (2013) Bovine TB Eradication Programme. [online] Welsh Government. Available from:
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/ahw/disease/bovinetuberculosis [Date