Introduction of infectious agents (e.g. African swine fever) in a farm could have severe implications beyond the farm level. Among the solutions required to minimize the risk of disease introduction and spread, the strengthening of biosecurity is a priority. Yet, although the pig fattening (finishing) herds comprise 41.2% of the pig herds on a European level, the so far published studies on assessing biosecurity levels have focused on farrow-to-finish (closed) pig herds. In response, the aim of this study was to quantify the level of biosecurity of pig fattening farms in four European countries (Belgium, Poland, UK and Finland) and to study associations with management characteristics of the participating farms. The well-established Biocheck.UGent™ biosecurity scoring system was used and adapted to fattening pig farms. Biocheck.UGent™ provides risk-based scores to assess on-farm (external and internal) biosecurity ranging from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

Due to anonymity requirements, countries were coded in A, B, C and D; country codes do not correspond with the order of the countries above. Biosecurity and production data from 108 pig farms (country A: 9, country B: 38, country C: 51 and country D: 10) were collected during 2016. All differences between countries were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis H tests. External biosecurity had an overall median score of 66 (95% CI: 65–68) with differences (p ≤ 0.050) among countries (country A: 58.5, country B: 67.8, country C: 65.5 and country D: 75.3). Internal biosecurity had an overall median score of 71.6 (95% CI: 57.7–75.8) also with differences (p ≤ 0.050) among countries (country A: 51.4, country B: 45.5, country C: 84.1 and country D: 71.2).

Using Spearman's correlation rank (r_s) tests, non-significant correlation was seen between external and internal biosecurity (r_s = 0.09, P = 0.340). Low to moderate negative correlations were seen between the internal biosecurity scores and either the farmer experience in keeping pigs (r_s = −0.25, P = 0.008) or the farm size (r_s = −0.31, P = 0.001). In conclusion, the present study informed of the biosecurity levels in these four countries and revealed links between biosecurity and farm-related parameters. Farm-specific investments and advice are jointly needed to further improve biosecurity in fattening farms.

传染源的引入（例如猪场中的非洲猪瘟可能会给农场带来严重影响。在使疾病引入和传播的风险最小化所需的解决方案中，加强生物安全性是当务之急。然而，尽管在欧洲范围内，育肥（育肥）猪群占猪群的41.2％，但迄今为止发表的评估生物安全水平的研究都集中在从产仔到育成（封闭）猪群。因此，本研究的目的是量化四个欧洲国家（比利时，波兰，英国和芬兰）养猪场的生猪饲养场的生物安全水平，并研究与参与场的管理特点相关的协会。使用了完善的Biocheck.UGent™生物安全评分系统，该系统适用于养猪场。生物检查。

由于匿名要求，国家/地区分别以A，B，C和D编码；国家/地区代码与以上国家/地区的顺序不符。2016年收集了108个养猪场（国家A：9，国家B：38，国家C：51和国家D：10）的生物安全性和生产数据。使用Kruskal-Wallis H检验评估了国家之间的所有差异。外部生物安全性的总体中位数得分为66（95％CI：65–68），各国之间的差异（p≤0.050）（A国：58.5，B国：67.8，C国：65.5，D国：75.3）。内部生物安全性的总体中位数得分为71.6（95％CI：57.7-75.8），各国之间的差异也不同（p≤0.050）（A国：51.4，B国：45.5，C：84.1，D：71.2）。

使用Spearman的相关性等级（r _s）检验，外部和内部生物安全性之间没有显着相关性（r _s  = 0.09，P = 0.340）。内部生物安全评分与农场主饲养猪的经验（r _s  = -0.25，P = 0.008）或农场规模（r _s  = -0.31，P = 0.001）之间存在低至中度的负相关。总之，本研究报告了这四个国家的生物安全水平，并揭示了生物安全与农场相关参数之间的联系。共同需要针对农场的投资和建议，以进一步改善育肥场的生物安全性。