Tailored Biosecurity Training for Veterinarians and Farmers: Bridging Knowledge and Practice Gaps

Blerta Mehmedi¹Jarkko Niemi²Claude Saegerman³Daniele De Meneghi⁴Anna Maria Iatrou⁵RAMAZAN YILDIZ⁶Ilias Chantziaras⁷Alberto Allepuz⁸Ina Toppari⁹Georgios Batikas¹⁰Arvo Viltrop¹¹Tarmo Niine^11*

• ¹Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Albania
• ²Bioeconomy and Environment unit, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Seinäjoki, Finland
• ³Universite de Liege Faculte de Medecine Veterinaire, Liège, Belgium
• ⁴Universita degli Studi di Torino Scuola di Agraria e Medicina Veterinaria, Grugliasco, Italy
• ⁵School of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Agriculture, University of Western Macedonia,, Terma Kontopoulou, Greece
• ⁶Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Türkiye
• ⁷Universiteit Gent Faculteit Diergeneeskunde, Merelbeke, Belgium
• ⁸Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Facultat de Veterinaria, Bellaterra, Spain
• ⁹Animal Health ETT, Seinäjoki, Finland
• ¹⁰Laboratory of Animal Production and Environmental Protection, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
• ¹¹Chair of Veterinary Biomedicine and Food Hygiene, Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

Biosecurity is fundamental to animal health, public health, and the economic resilience of livestock systems; however, farm-level adoption remains uneven across regions. Knowledge gaps, language and financial constraints, and limited communication competence among veterinary advisers impede implementation, especially on small-and medium-scale farms. Behavior change-oriented interventions, such as Motivational Interviewing (which deploys multiple specific behavior change techniques as defined in BCTTv1), offer promise but are seldom embedded in veterinary curricula. This study proposes a concept and key elements for biosecurity training. It highlights a modular, evidence-based training framework developed under the COST Action CA20103 "BETTER" (2021–2025), aimed at improving biosecurity understanding and implementation by veterinarians and farmers. The initiative convened European experts to co-design a flexible curriculum that addresses both technical and behavioral challenges using participatory methods and interdisciplinary expertise. The resulting framework consists of five progressive modules: (1) Introduction, (2) Behavior Change and Communication, (3) Disease Transmission & Risk Assessment, (4) Emergency Response & Clinical Biosecurity, and (5) On-Farm Practices. These modules are designed to be combined in a "pick-and-choose" format to match local needs, target audiences and resources. Delivery blends online micro-lessons, participatory workshops, peer networks, and low-cost on-farm demonstrations, while materials are culturally and linguistically adapted and framed in terms of clear economic benefits. Continuous feedback loops encourage iterative refinement and habit formation during the learning process. The proposed training framework seeks to transform biosecurity from a prescriptive doctrine into a farmer-owned daily routine by integrating technical content with behavioral science and context-specific delivery.