MSU Extension Fair and Exhibition Animal Health

Tips for helping keep people healthy

Good hygiene habits are important when working around or visiting livestock and poultry. Communicate the need to wash hands regularly: when entering and leaving barns, after touching animals and before eating and drinking. This is important for both exhibitors and fair visitors.

Public Act 466 requires that hand cleaning facilities or sanitizing methods are available near each building that houses animals. Consider also adding hand sanitizing stations to the scales, exhibition area, and wash areas as well.  

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers and wipe stations can also be used to disinfect hands after contact with animals.

Discourage eating and drinking when visiting animal exhibit areas.

Be aware of items that can transport diseases (examples are cell phones, shoes, clothing, toys, strollers, etc.).

Minimize general public and exhibitor time in the barn. Consider only allowing foot traffic through one area of the barn. Minimize the physical contact between animals and people. Diseases can spread from animals to people.

If clinically sick animals are present, restrict entry to the general public.

Seek medical care if exhibitors or visitors develop influenza-like or conjunctivitis symptoms.

Proper signage is a way to communicate proper hygiene habits to attendees. Signage should be clearly displayed at barn entrances and exits.  

According to the CDC, HPAI A(H5N1) viruses do not normally infect humans.

Transporting animals to the fair

If animals are displaying signs of illness, they should not be taken to a fair or exhibition.

When transporting animals, a clean, disinfected trailer or animal containment units (cages, crates) with fresh bedding should be used. Trailers or containment units should be cleaned and disinfected after transportation by completely removing organic matter, washing trailer/crate or cages, and applying disinfectant properly.

 Transportation is a stressful time for animals. Avoid moving animals during the heat of the day.

Provide access to water before transport and when arriving at the destination.

When transporting during hot weather, allow maximum air movement.

Keep vehicles in constant motion. Do not stop during the heat of the day. Avoid stops that other exhibitors may be using, such as gas stations or convenience stores.

Be mindful of the time animals spend in a stationary trailer. Scheduling exhibitors for check-in could reduce the number of animals waiting in line in a hot trailer, thereby reducing stress.

Ensure no animals are off-loaded prior to a health check by a qualified person. Anyone with working knowledge of the species being inspected can perform the check-in. Some examples are 4-H leaders, barn superintendents, fair personnel, a veterinary technician or
a veterinarian.

Tips for helping to keep animals healthy

Minimize the physical contact between animals and people. Diseases can spread from people to animals, and then to other animals on site.

Animal check-ins provide a key opportunity to identify sick or symptomatic animals prior to them entering the barn. Make sure to do a thorough examination with knowledgeable personnel at check-in. Anyone with working knowledge of the species being inspected can perform the check-in. Some examples are 4-H leaders, barn superintendents, fair personnel, a veterinary technician or
a veterinarian.

Continuously monitor animals for signs of sickness throughout their exhibition time and notify your specie superintendent if animals become symptomatic. Things to monitor include:

• Decrease in feed/water consumption
  • When animals are off feed or depressed, it may be a sign that they are becoming ill
• Abnormal body posture, indicating a sign of discomfort
• Nasal discharge
• Eye discharge
• High respiration or heart rate
• Sneezing
• Coughing or abnormal vocalizations
• Abnormal temperatures (species specific ranges)

If sick animals are identified at check-in, do not allow animals to exit the trailer or bring them near other animal exhibit areas.

Have an isolation area, removed from public fair traffic, available to house and monitor sick or symptomatic animals. Immediately isolate animals showing signs of illness from other animals on the fairgrounds.

• Observe animals in adjacent pens for signs of sickness.

Be aware and educated on common pathogenic diseases in livestock animals. Each species has its own list of reportable diseases according to MDARD.

Transport animals going to processing as soon as possible, if no signs of illness are present.

• Animals with fevers should not be sent to processing. If a medication is administered for symptoms, review the withdrawal period prior to processing.

Additional strategies to reduce the spread of viruses include:

• Shortening the amount of time that animals are at the fair (reducing the number of days animals are exhibited at the fair).
• Closing animal barn gates to the public after the animals have been on site for 72 hours.
• Limiting unneeded stress to the animals.
  • Explore alternative sale methods.
  • Move the sale or show time to a cooler part of the day.
  • Keeping animals cool and hydrated.
    • Methods include proper barn ventilation through fans and open-air access, water sprinklers, shaded areas, etc.
    • Always having water accessible for animals. At times of extreme heat and humidity, it may be beneficial to add electrolytes to encourage water consumption.
  • Maintaining stall or pen cleanliness.
  • Implementing practices to reduce dust in and around your facilities.
  • Practicing good manure management, having a designated location to store manure and used bedding, and keeping manure contained to designated bunks or piles away from the general public.

Biosecurity practices at fair or exhibitions

Have an exhibitor meeting(s) at the start of your event. Communicate the need to use proper hygiene and practice good biosecurity, how to contact animal superintendents, and how to identify a sick animal.

Signs of illness include:

• Decrease in feed/water consumption
  • When animals are off feed or depressed, it may be a sign that they are becoming ill
• Abnormal body posture, indicating a sign of discomfort
• Nasal discharge
• Eye discharge
• High respiration or heart rate
• Sneezing
• Coughing or abnormal vocalizations
• Abnormal temperatures (species specific ranges)

If space allows, avoid nose-to-nose contact between animals from different families using an open space or solid penning.

It is important that fairs have a plan to clean and disinfect areas and equipment where animals are comingled.

• On arrival and to reduce the spread of disease among other exhibition animals at check-in, spray front plate of scales with accelerated hydrogen peroxide (disinfectant with short contact time requirements) between groups of animals that are not housed together.
• Wash areas should be disinfected and allowed to dry at least once per day. To make sure there is time to thoroughly dry after being disinfected, this should take place at night, when all animal movement is complete.
• Handling equipment used during shows, weigh-ins or auctions should be routinely cleaned and disinfected.
• High animal traffic areas, such as alleyways should be cleaned and disinfected daily
• Livestock trailers and animal pens should also be cleaned and disinfected.

Detergents and soaps are an important first step to destroying pathogens. Disinfectants can be applied using a hand sprayer, which has been properly labeled. Disinfection and contact time are important. Contact time is the time required for the disinfectant to kill the virus. Suggested disinfectants include:

• Accelerated hydrogen peroxide (AHP), commonly known as Accel or Rescue, which can be sourced online and used at a rate of one cup product to one gallon of water. Contact time = 30 seconds to one minute. Common household bleach can also be used at a rate of one-half cup of bleach to one gallon water. Contact time = 10 – 60 minutes.
• Detergents can be used to help break down organic matter and biofilm that may harbor disease. These can be used prior to applying disinfectant or added to the disinfectant/water mixture. Do not add ammonia or ammonia containing products to bleach mixtures.
• Remember that bleach and other disinfectants should always be used under the direction of an adult.

Additional information is available in the resource, Cleaning and disinfecting for HPAI.

Remember, humans can hasten the spread of disease. Allowing the public to touch animals (head area) and move from animal to animal can spread disease quickly throughout the barn. Consider ways you can limit access to these areas.

Biosecurity for animals returning home after exhibition

When bringing animals home after exhibition, it is important to follow biosecurity practices that minimize the risk of spreading disease to the animals in your herd or flock.

Keep animals left home separate from animals that traveled for at least 14 days (about two weeks). If possible, do not allow nose-to-nose contact. Provide as much distance between animals as possible.

Disinfect all buckets, feeders, tools and footwear that were used at the fair.

Throw away any feed or hay that was at the fair.

Always wear clean clothes and footwear. Boot coverings may be helpful when caring for isolated animals.

Take care of animals that stayed home from the show first, then animals that were at the show. Do not go back and forth between animals, as this increases the risk of cross-contamination.

Do not eat or drink in the barn.

Observe animals daily for signs and symptoms of illness, such as:

• Obvious pain or discomfort
• Decrease in appetite and/or water intake
• Fever
• Lethargy
• Diarrhea or changes in consistency of manure
• Discharge from nasal cavity or eyes
• Overall weakness

If you notice any of the above symptoms, please call your veterinarian immediately.

Food safety

Meat is safe to eat when proper cooking procedures are followed, and meat reaches the appropriate internal cooking temperature. USDA recommends cooking meat to a safe minimum internal temperature.

The CDC asserts that “the proper handling and cooking of poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 [degrees Fahrenheit] kills bacteria and viruses, including HPAI A(H5) viruses.”

Properly prepared and cooked poultry products remain safe to consume. The chance of infected poultry or egg products entering the food chain is extremely low due to the rapid onset of symptoms of HPAI and the USDA flock monitoring and inspection safeguards that are in place.

The commercial milk supply remains safe due to federal animal health requirement and pasteurization.

You cannot get influenza from eating pork or handling pork products.