Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
The state of veterinary epidemiology and economics.
- Journal:
- Preventive veterinary medicine
- Year:
- 2005
- Authors:
- James, Andrew
- Affiliation:
- The University of Reading · United Kingdom
Plain-English summary
Recent advancements in veterinary epidemiology (the study of how diseases spread among animals) and economics are being reviewed. The main challenge is that there isn't enough good data available to fully use the new techniques for studying animal health at a larger scale. While more farms are starting to use computerized systems that help track information, there are still issues with how consistently data is recorded. New national databases for livestock could help improve safety and traceability of animal products, but for these to be effective, data from various sources needs to be combined securely. Overall, the potential for these integrated databases to help veterinarians and farmers is significant, but careful management of data access is essential.
Abstract
Recent developments in the fields of veterinary epidemiology and economics are critically reviewed and assessed. The impacts of recent technological developments in diagnosis, genetic characterisation, data processing and statistical analysis are evaluated. It is concluded that the acquisition and availability of data remains the principal constraint to the application of available techniques in veterinary epidemiology and economics, especially at population level. As more commercial producers use computerised management systems, the availability of data for analysis within herds is improving. However, consistency of recording and diagnosis remains problematic. Recent trends to the development of national livestock databases intended to provide reassurance to consumers of the safety and traceability of livestock products are potentially valuable sources of data that could lead to much more effective application of veterinary epidemiology and economics. These opportunities will be greatly enhanced if data from different sources, such as movement recording, official animal health programmes, quality assurance schemes, production recording and breed societies can be integrated. However, in order to realise such integrated databases, it will be necessary to provide absolute control of user access to guarantee data security and confidentiality. The potential applications of integrated livestock databases in analysis, modelling, decision-support, and providing management information for veterinary services and livestock producers are discussed.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15737423/