Ecology

1. ANIMAL HEALTH INFORMATION
SYSTEM
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2. Animal Information System
An animal information system:-
Is a system for the collection, analysis and reporting
of information related to the health animals.
 Every organized society that keeps animals has some
form of animal health information system.
This may range from the system used in
A single village in a developing country in which:
information is gathered by owners
passed by word of mouth
stored in the memory
analyzed mentally, and
further reported by word of mouth`
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3. Cont…
The word system implies a collection of many different
components working together for a particular purpose.
The expression information system gets mixed up with
concepts of information technology, and is understood to
refer to a computer system.
Computer certainly play a role in most modern animal
health information systems, but they are merely one
component, a tool for handing the information.
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4. Cont…
 Instead, system here refers more to:
• A set of operational and administrative procedures for the
collection of data from a range of different sources,
• the processing of data to produce useful information a
• the application, of that information to improve the well-being of
animals and their owners.
The animals referred to may be any animals, although it is
much more usual for government run information system
to deal with animals of perceived economic or social
importance, primarily domestic animals.
• Information on farmed mammals, fish, crustaceans, and even
insects(for instance bees) may be handled by such an information
system, but the inclusion of data on wild animals is less common.
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5. Cont…
In general, the term health used in a very broad sense.
While information on the occurrence of animal diseases
forms a large part of most systems, animal productivity
information is often an important component.
On the population level, health and productivity are
very closely related and sometimes overlapping
concepts.
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6. Cont…
Uses of Animal Health Information Systems
Criteria which any information system should meet
it has been discussed issues in information systems for
human health and summarizes the dangers of
inappropriate data collection in a series of statements
known as "Finagle's Laws": -
the information you have is not what you want
the information you want is not what you need
the information you need is not what you can get
the information you can get costs more than you want
to pay
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7. Cont…
Objectives of animal health information systems
The objectives of an animal health information system vary
according to the users of the information and the environment
in which it is working.
The overall objective is usually to provide information which
enables decision makers to help improve or maintain the
health and productivity of animals, and through this the well-
being of their owners and the wider community.
This includes primarily information about the diseases
present and their spatial distribution.
A number of more specific objectives for an optimal system
have been published.
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8. Cont…
These can be grouped into four broad areas:
1. To collect basic animal health informations
2. To help assess priorities and develop policies
3. To support the implementation of disease control
programs
4. To meet international disease reporting obligations
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9. Cont…
1. To collect basic animal health informations
The first requirement of any animal health information
system is to identify the major animal health and
production problems and their spatial distribution.
what diseases are present?
What is level of the diseases?
the distribution of the diseases?
the impact of the diseases?
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10. Cont…
The next task is to obtain valid estimates of incidence and
prevalence of the major disease problems.
Quantitative estimates of disease occurrence are essential for
many of the other objectives.
This basic information allows
the costs of disease to be calculated
the relative importance of different diseases to be compared,
comparison of the occurrence of disease by region
changes in the occurrence over time to be observed.
These estimates must therefore be made on a regular basis
and be referable to spatially defined sub-populations.
To be useful, estimates should be unbiased and of known
precision
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11. Cont…
The third task is:
Epidemiological studies to identify the natural history of
the disease and quantify associations with risk factors are
needed in order to formulate disease control strategies.
Finally it is necessary to assess the relative economic
impact of the diseases present:
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12. Cont…
Information on losses caused by disease or
decreased production, combined with disease
prevalence estimates can be used to calculate the
economic impact of different diseases.
This information is important for priority setting,
and benefit-cost analysis of proposed disease
control programs.
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13. Cont…
Another objective of an animal health information system
is to gather basic ancillary (no-veterinary) information
which may be used to provide a better basis for decision
making
Livestock population figures are one of the most basic pieces
of information needed for the calculation of rates.
Other examples include data on livestock movement patterns
and veterinary in structure.
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14. Cont…
2. To help assess priorities and develop policies
Once basic animal health information has been collected, it
must be used to set priorities for the use of resource for
research or disease control programs.
Priority setting is one of the major veterinary services
decision markers.
The information provided by the animal health
information system should be appropriate to enable
decision makers to decide, for instance, which diseases
or problems are significant enough to warrant the
implementation of control programs.
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15. Cont…
To assist with these decisions, the reports must present
the information in a readily understandable manner.
Clear priorities and sound information can aid more
rational and informed national policy formulation
and evaluations and international trade.
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16. Cont…
3. To support the implementation of disease control programs
To provide continues monitoring of carefully selected
diseases to assist in the development and evaluation of
control program
The system should be able to identify and respond to
emerging diseases.
Both exotic disease incursions and newly emerging
disease need to be identified quickly if effective action to
limit their effects is to be taken
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17. Cont…
4. To meet international disease reporting obligations
To provide information necessary to meet international
disease reporting requirements and to justify disease status
claims for the purposes of international trade.
The office internationalizes Epizooties (OIE) was set up
coordinate the international exchange of disease information.
OIE member countries have responsibility to provide reliable
information on the presences or absence of significant
livestock diseases.
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18. Cont…
Components of Health Information Systems
An optimal animal health information system should contain
the following components data of gathering:
Those suitable for an animal health information system
include:
routine diagnostic data
slaughterhouse records
herd monitoring systems
livestock population censuses
Disease control programe implementation and monitoring
records and special servers
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19. Cont…
Data Collation:
the collation of collected data involves a series of
administrative procedures to get the data from the
animal or livestock owner to the place where it will be
used.
Most systems are based on the use of forms to record
the data, and to transmit them to region or nation caters
for collation.
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20. Cont…
General requirements of epidemiological data
Methods of data collection
Data are collected in three main ways, by:
1. Observation (Primary)
E. g., clinical examination, diagnostic imaging
and post-mortem examination;
2. Completing questionnaires
Either directly or by interview;
3. Use of documentary sources (Secondary)
E. g., clinical records, and records of diagnostic
laboratory results with an increasing use of data
sets generated by other workers.
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21. Cont…
Sources of data
Data can be primary and secondary in sources.
1. Primary data:
If observations are recorded by the data analyst, then he or
she should ensure that they are carefully documented.
Observation is central to the practice of clinical vet.
Medicine
important in many epidemiological investigations
E.g., Outbreak Investigation:
If observations are recorded by another person, or
if the data are recorded on a self completed questionnaire or
by an interview,
then the criteria for assessing the success of a questionnaire,
above, provide the quality-control guidelines.
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22. Cont…
Secondary sources:
data may be harder to assess.
If documentation is recent, then the data may be crosschecked
by issuing a questionnaire, or by interview.
Sometimes details were inadequate, and it was also noted that
the data were recorded at a stressful time.
Therefore, a postal questionnaire was distributed to owners of
affected farms with deficient data, and remaining deficiencies
corrected by personal interview, followed up by telephone
interview, if necessary
Documentary sources dating back many years may be hard or
impossible to validate.
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23. Cont…
Use of documentary sources
(clinical records, diagnostic lab. results)
Additionally, surveillance, surveys and observational studies
may use secondary data.
However, there are occasions when the appropriate
information is not readily available, in which case it must
be collected using questionnaires.
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24. Cont…
Questionnaire:
It is a set of written questions.
A data collection tool that can
be used in a wide variety of
clinical and epidemiologic
research settings.
Either directly or by interview;
The person who answers the
questionnaire is termed the
respondent.
Can be two in types as:
Qualitative or
Quantitative
Survey:
is an observational study
designed to generate
descriptive information
about an animal
population.
often use questionnaires
as a data-gathering tool.
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Questionnaires

25. Cont…
Structure of a questionnaire
The questionnaire is designed to record information:
in a standard format;
with a means of checking and editing recorded data;
by a standardized method of questioning;
with a means of coding.
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26. Cont…
Designing the Question
Questions may be either open-ended or closed.
1. Open-ended questions
Allow the respondent freedom to answer in his or her
own words
The chief advantage:
is the freedom of expression that it permits: the
respondent is allowed to comment, pass opinions
and discuss other events that are related to the
question's topic.
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27. Cont…
The disadvantages:
Can increase the length of time taken to complete a
questionnaire and
The answers cannot be coded when the questionnaire is
designed, because the full range of answers is not known.
A range of answers may be difficult to categorize and
code.
Continuous variables can be grouped into intervals (e.g.,
0.0-1.9 kg, 2.0-2.9 kg) for coding.
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28. Cont…
2. Closed Questions
Have a fixed number of options of answers.
The questions may be dichotomous; that is, with two
possible answers, such as ‘
Example: Do you use intramammary tube X for dry
cow therapy?
Answer: Yes or No
Alternatively, the questions may be multiple choice
Example: When did your dog last have a litter?
Answer: Within the last 3 months, 4-6 months, 7-11
months, 1-5 years?
Are useful for ascertaining categorical, discrete data,
such as breed and sex.
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29. Cont…
The advantages:
Ease of analysis and coding because of the limited, fixed
response that is allowed.
Codes can be allocated
Also quick to answer.
A major disadvantage:
Because the options of answers are fixed, the answers
may not reveal related events that may be significant.
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30. Cont…
Criteria for success of questionnaires
The two main criteria are reliability and validity
Reliability:
A questionnaire is reliable if it produces consistent results
Can be assessed by issuing the same questions to the same
respondents more than once and
Assessing the agreement between the responses.
The method of assessment depends on the scale of
measurement
Reviews measures of reliability for questionnaires.
Validity:
a measure of the degree to which answers, on average,
reflect the truth
achieved by comparing the results of the questionnaire with
an independent reliable criterion.
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31. Cont…
Data Storage and Manipulation:
Effective national animal health information systems
must be able to handle a large amount of information
efficiently.
Paper- based systems exist, but are
Methology are severely limited in the volume of
information they can handle and the uses to which the
information can be put.
Computerized systems:
In order to store and manipulate spatially referenced data,
geographical information systems, are required.
Involves: Coding, Data entry and Data storage
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32. Cont…
Coding
It is now unthinkable not to store the results of a
questionnaire in a computerized database
Questionnaires are frequently coded to facilitate
transcription to such databases.
Each question and each possible answer is coded
Example: What is the sex of your animal?
Enter 1 if male and 2 if female,
Data entry
Two people should be involved in data entry, to reduce the
likelihood of transcription errors.
Data storage
After data have been collected, they should be saved in a
database
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33. Cont…
Data Analysis
Appropriate analysis is required to convert data to
information which can be used to assist animal health
decision making.
It is usually performed by computer, and can range
from the simple calculation of totals and rates, to the
determination of complicated tactical associations and
the use of epidemiological models to predict the
outcome of interventions.
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34. Cont…
Reporting:
once the results have been analyzed they must be made
available to those who need it.
The information has value at many different levels
Potential users include:
livestock owners,
owner groups,
cooperatives, or enterprise industry bodies,
private veterinary services,
agricultural product manufactures,
Local provincial and national government vet. authorities,
legislators, university and research organizations,
trading partners, and international organizations.
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35. Cont…
A range of reporting approaches are usually required to
pass on information to the many different users. For
instance,
government extension services may be used to
communicate at the livestock owner level
annual reports and seminars at the government level
standardized periodic report forms for international
organizations.
Animal health information systems for developing
countries
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36. Cont…
Distinguishing Features
The animal health information systems of
developing countries serve a slightly different role
and face vastly different challenges to those of
developed countries.
Despite these differences, the principles and
philosophical approach remain the same.
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37. Cont…
Disease Situation:
the main disease problems faced by developed countries
are increasingly either chronic disease or production
diseases.
In developing countries, the main disease problems are
often epidemic diseases that cause high morbidity and /or
high mortality.
While developed countries may never have experienced
such diseases, or have eradicated them, many
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38. Cont…
Information Focus:
the focus of animal health information systems in
developing countries differs from that in developed
countries, due to differences between the
environments.
In developed countries, the disease of interest is
mainly production diseases,
Eradication programs are targeted at chronic diseases
and diseases of public health significance.
In developing countries the focus of the system is more
on gathering information on what diseases are present,
and the control or eradication major epidemic diseases.
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39. Cont…
Integration of Technology:
As a result of limited financial and personnel resources,
many developing countries have been unable to keep with
changes in information technology.
While complex computer-based information systems,
including geographical information systems are commonplace
in the developed world
many developing countries continue to use paper-based
information systems.
New technologies require new skills, and pose new problems,
such as the need for different types of data.
Examples of animal health information systems in developing
countries.
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40. Cont…
readily available published information on the structure and
function of animal health information systems in
developing countries is rather scare, partly due to the lack
of resources for development and research in this area.
Another difficult is that an animal health information
system is hard to grasp and define, as it comprises a wide
range of different components such as staff, forms,
administrative procedures, information flows, hardware,
software, analytical procedures, reports and publications.
Developing countries suffer high losses from epidemic
disease, and due to poor quarantine and uncontrolled
livestock movement.
New disease continue to spread.
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41. Cont…
Dependence on Agriculture:
the economy of developing countries is often much
more dependent on the agricultural sector and
livestock usually make an important contribution to
this the greater dependence on livestock means that
livestock diseases of any sort have a much greater
depends on the country as a whole.
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42. Cont…
Veterinary Infrastructure:
the veterinary infrastructure in many developing countries is
often scant.
The governments do not have the financial resporces to hogh
level.
As a result most trained veterinarians working in government
veterinary services work at policy or administrative levels.
Field services are provided by Para-veterinary staff with
limited technical training or village volunteers with virtually
no training.
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43. Cont…
Physical infrastructure:
Communication and transport are difficult in many
developing countries, particularly rural areas, where
most animals are kept, and in remote areas where
diseases problems are often greater
If livestock owners are unable to contact veterinary
staff, and staffs are unable to access the livestock, it is
difficult to provide services or gather information.
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44. Cont…
Financial Resources:
Government funds for animal health are often severely
limited in developing countries.
All governments face problems of inadequate funds to
support programs, but in developing countries these
shortages are often extreme.
Animal health funding naturally has a lower priority than
human health or education schemes.
When allocating what resources are available, the
collection of animal health information is often seen as
less important than the actual provision of health services,
for example through vaccination campaigns.
Development in many developing countries is heavily
dependent on funds from foreign aid donors.
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45. Cont…
Personnel Resources:
Due to less developed educational systems, there are fewer
people available with the necessary expertise.
There is not only a shortage of veterinarians, but also
of other skilled staff such as computer systems experts,
programmers, and statisticians.
Due to a lack of training and infrastructure, veterinary
staff may lack even the most basic skills due to lack of
experience.
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46. Cont…
It is suggested that any information-gathering activity should be
assessed in advance to decide whether it meets the following
criteria:
There should be a clearly defined purpose for gathering the
data.
This purpose must be agreed upon by all participants before
data collection starts.
The system for analysis and interpretation of the data should
be worked out before data collection begins.
Analysis of the data should be carried out promptly after it is
received.
There should be effective quality control procedures built into
the undertaking to provide adequate assurance of the validity
of the findings.
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47. Cont…
There should be prompt feedback of some sort to the
various suppliers of the data so that they know they are
making a useful contribution.
If possible, suppliers should also receive some tangible
or intangible benefit from their involvement.
Each individual data-gathering exercise should either
have a defined endpoint or be subject to periodic critical
review.
If all these criteria can be met, the prospects of a
rewarding system are good.
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48. Cont…
Generally,
As the problems to be solved and questions to be
answered become more complex, decision-making on
animal health matters becomes more dependent on
specific information
Information is becoming the cornerstone of progress;
Information systems are the essential tools for
constructive action.
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49. Cont…
Monitoring and Surveillance
Monitoring
Describes the ongoing efforts directed at assessing the
health and disease status of a given population
The making of routine observations on health, productivity,
and environmental factors and the recording and
transmission of these observations
The routine collection of information on disease,
productivity, and other characteristics possibly related to
them in a population
refers to a continuous, dynamic process of collecting data
about health and disease and their determinants in a given
population over a defined time period.
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50. Cont…
Surveillance
used to describe a more active system and implies that
some form of directed action will be taken if the data
indicate a disease level above a certain threshold
is a more intensive form of data recording than
monitoring
An intensive form of han monitoring.
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51. Cont…
action can be taken to improve the health status of a
population
used in disease control campaigns
Refers to a specific extension of monitoring where
obtained information is used and measures are taken if
certain threshold values related to disease status have
been passed
It is part of disease control programs
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52. Cont…
Goals of surveillance
Follow the goals of veterinary medicine in general:
maintenance of high standards of animal health
and welfare, and
the protection of public health (by the control of
zoonoses and food borne infections)
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53. Cont…
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54. Cont…
Several specific objectives can be identified:
Rapid detection of disease outbreaks;
Early identification of disease problems (endemic and
non-endemic);
Assessment of the health status of a defined population;
Definition of priorities for disease control and
prevention;
Identification of new and emerging diseases;
Evaluation of disease control programmes;
Provision of information to plan and conduct research;
Confirmation of absence of a specific disease.
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55. Cont…
Types of surveillance:
Disease surveillance:
addresses aspects of the occurrence and spread of disease
that are pertinent to disease control.
Epidemiological surveillance:
is the ongoing systematic collection, recording, analysis,
interpretation, and dissemination of data reflecting the
current health status
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56. Cont…
Sentinel surveillance:
include the entire national herd (e.g. testing for bovine
tuberculosis).
A few farms, abattoirs, veterinary practices or
laboratories may be selected; these are then referred to as
'sentinel‘units.
‘Sentinel' can refer to either a specific unit of
observation or a species of animal.
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57. Cont…
Serological surveillance (sero-surveillance):
using serological tests.
Passive surveillance:
the examination of only clinically affected cases of
specified diseases
Active surveillance:
oinvolves the sampling (including post-mortem examination)
of clinically normal animals in the population.
oIt involves the committed effort of veterinary authorities to
collect information, commonly by undertaking surveys of
specific diseases
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58. Cont…
Surveillance for the Agent or Disease
Active surveillance
Sampling plan(s) with type/frequency of sampling
Baseline random sampling
Targeted risk-based sampling
Wildlife surveillance
Surveillance results (3 years)
Screening and confirmatory testing results
»Serological (+), epidemiological
investigations, ruleouts
Passive surveillance
On-farm morbidity and mortality
Veterinary inspection
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59. Cont…
Targeted surveillance:
collects specific information about a defined disease so that
its level in a defined population can be measured and its
absence monitored.
Scanning (global) surveillance:
maintains a continuous watch over endemic disease.
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60. Cont…
In conclusion
Animal health Regulation builds upon the good experiences
of the existing legislation
Provides:
Solid ground for healthier animals and humans
Clearer and better understood framework for operators,
citizens and countries
Provides new elements for more:
Competitive and sustainable livestock sectors
Confident consumers
On movements:
Provides flexibility, where possible to release unnecessary
administrative burdens and costs
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61. Participatory Epidemiology
• The use of participatory rural appraisal
techniques to collect epidemiological
knowledge and intelligence
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62. • Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
• Qualitative data gathering process
• Key informants
• Problem solving with community
– Multiple methods
– Multiple perspectives
– Triangulation
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63. Quantitative versus Qualitative Epidemiology
• Quantitative
• Objective
• Numerical estimates
• Data intensive
• Expensive
• Logistically complex
• Long-time frames
• Difficult to sustain
• Information gaps
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• Subjective
•Flexible
•Rapid
•Discovery
• Simple
• Sensitive
•Skilled field personnel
•Analytical challenges

64. Qualitative data checking
• Probing
– Internal consistency
• Triangulation
– Multiple methods and sources
– Patterns and coherence
– Understanding bias
• Understanding conflict of interest
• On the spot analysis
– Evolving hypotheses and data collection
– Weighing of evidence
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65. Scoring of evidence
• First hand reports
– Directly observed
– Own family
• First hand reports
– Directly observed
– Community
• Reports obtained from inquiry
• Second hand reports
– Hearsay
– Intelligence but not evidence
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66. Existing Medical & Veterinary Knowledge
• Communities know a lot!
– Traditional terms and case definitions
– Clinical presentation
– Pathology
– Vectors
– Reservoirs
– Epidemiologic features
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67. Participatory Epi. applications
• Can be used for variety purposes:
– Needs Assessments
– Research
– Disease Reporting
– Disease Surveillance
– Impact Assessment
– It can inform Strategy and Policy Reform
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68. PE tools
• Secondary sources
• Direct observations
• Semi-structured interviews
• Participatory mapping
• Ranking & Scoring techniques
• Diagnostics
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69. Added value of PE
• Better understanding of local terminologies,
perceptions, local treatment and health seeking
behavior
• Better understanding of the true epidemiological
situation in certain areas since many diseases remain
unreported.
• Better understanding of an outbreak situation
thanks to the use of PE tools (mapping, timeline…)
• Quick way of understanding of important health
issues within the community and coming up
community sustainable solutions.
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Example 3: HPAI
outbreak in
Indonesian village

74. PE, animal & human health
• Joint Animal and Human Health Services for Remote
Rural/Pastoral Communities
• Combine programs, combine means, common strategy for
mobile populations.
– Example: childhood vaccination was linked to Rinderpest vaccination
in Sudan
• Currently with resurgence of polio in some areas
– combine polio vaccination & PPR or FMD vaccination
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75. PE and One health…
• Ongoing study in Western Kenya with the
following objectives:
• Determine the perceived causes of childhood
diarrhea and the perceived relative contribution of
enteric zoonoses in childhood morbidity and
mortality using participatory epidemiology
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76. Participatory Epidemiology Network for Animal
and Public Health (PENAPH)
• 9 core partner institutions:
– AFENET: African Field Epidemiology Network
– AU-IBAR: African Union – Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources
– FAO: UN Food and Agriculture Organization,
– ILRI: International Livestock Research Institute
– OIE: World Organization for Animal Health
– Royal Veterinary College / United Kingdom
– US-CDC: United States Centres for Disease Prevention & Control
– 2 VSF (Belgium & Canada)
– In addition: Universities & individual members
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77. Participatory Epidemiology Network for Animal
and Public Health (PENAPH)
• The PENAPH was set up to facilitate capacity building, research
and information sharing among professionals interested in
participatory approaches to epidemiology.
• Aims to promote minimum training guidelines, good practice
and continued advancement of methods.
• Advocates for inclusion of PE modules into medical &
veterinary schools
– Already included in Chiang Mai University (Thailand) Veterinary Public
Health MSc
– In progress: inclusion in AFENET’s FELTP program
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78. Conclusion
• PE is an approach to epidemiology that is sensitive to and
benefits local communities
– Conducted by professionals
– Incorporates diagnostic testing
• It’s flexible, semi-structured and adaptable to changing
situations. Data from multiple sources is rapidly analysed for
quick feedback and response.
– Research and active surveillance applications
• PENAPH is a growing network designed to build
communication between those working on PE across the
world in all health related fields.
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