A Survey of Biosecurity Measures on Large Commercial Hungarian Pig Farms

Biosecurity is a key determinant of herd health, production efficiency, and disease prevention in modern pig farming under the continuing pressure of endemic and transboundary pathogens. The aim of this study was to assess external and internal biosecurity measures, together with selected disinfection-related practices, on 19 large commercial Hungarian pig farms representing farrowing, weaner, and fattening units. A convenience-sample, questionnaire-based survey was conducted between November 2020 and March 2021 among farm veterinarians, and the data were evaluated descriptively. Several external biosecurity elements were common, including perimeter fencing, careful animal sourcing, extended quarantine periods, and restrictive entry hygiene. However, weaknesses remained, particularly in feed-vehicle entry across the fence line, disinfection infrastructure, and feed storage protection. Internal biosecurity was more consistently implemented in farrowing, nursery, and fattening units than in sow units, while limitations in all-in/all-out management, airspace separation, inter-unit movement, hygiene barriers, and shared equipment management may increase within-farm pathogen transmission. These findings suggest that important biosecurity measures were widely applied, but their consistency and practical quality varied across key risk points. Owing to the small convenience sample, the results should be interpreted as descriptive findings for the surveyed farms.