Reteaua de Supraveghere Epidemiologica a Animalelor de Companie din Romania - PetEpiNetVet - Companion Animals Romanian Epidemiological Sureveillance Network

Poster - Reteaua de Supraveghere Epidemiologica a Animalelor de Companie din Romania - PetEpiNetVet - Companion Animals Romanian Epidemiological Sureveillance Network

COMPANION ANIMALS ROMANIAN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE NETWORK: PetEpiNetVet

 

REŢEAUA DE SUPRAVEGHERE EPIDEMIOLOGICǍ A ANIMALELOR DE COMPANIE DIN ROMÂNIA: PetEpiNetVet

 

Sînziana RǍDULESCU, F. GUSTERE, D. COBZARIU, S. BǍRǍITǍREANU,

*University of Agronomical Science and Veterinary Medicine
Splaiul Independenţei 105, Sector 5, Bucharest,

e-mail: sanzi_ana@yahoo.com

 

PetEpiNetVet, companion animals, veterinary epidemiology, epidemiological network, surveillance

 

SUMMARY

 

In clinical practice, there is a daily need for valid, up-to-date information about diagnosis, therapy and prevention. The epidemiological studies using large clinical and laboratory data allow veterinarians to determine the risk of infection for pets in their area and to perform individualized risk assessments for vaccination or therapy. The current epidemiological concepts explore and assimilate the new information technology services, and some of those resources have already been integrated in companion animal medicine. In this paper we propose a classical and simple network designed for companion animal veterinary practitioners with acronym PetEpiNetVet (Companion Animals Romanian Epidemiological Surveillance Network). The main objective of PetEpiNetVet is to collect and share in real-time the epidemiological data of infectious and parasitic diseases in companion animals: dogs, cats, horses, and exotic animals. The network is designed to provide information, support the utilization of national and regional resources, to improve communication between veterinarians, to contribute to the search for partners, support the exchange of experience and to improve the research in veterinary and biomedical disciplines. PetEpiNetVet is addressed to field veterinarians, university teachers, research institute staff members, laboratory diagnosticians and advanced students.

 

In clinical practice, there is a daily need for valid, up-to-date information about diagnosis, therapy and prevention. This situation is complicated by the inadequacy of traditional sources for this type of information, since they may be out-of-date (text books), they are frequently wrong (experts), ineffective, too overwhelming in volume, or too variable in validity.(5)

Epidemiologic large data bases can produce the evidence required to address important veterinary clinical and public health issues. The epidemiological studies using large clinical and laboratory data allow veterinarians to determine the risk of infection for pets in their area and to perform individualized risk assessments for vaccination or therapy.

The current epidemiological concepts explore and assimilate the new information technology services, and some of those resources have already been integrated in companion animal medicine. If we want a betterment and health of all species our actions need to be integrated into concept "one medicine-one health". This means more sharing of surveillance data and greater cooperation among organizations involved in surveillance. (4)

In this paper we propose a classical and simple network designed for companion animal veterinary practitioners with acronym PetEpiNetVet. The main objective of PetEpiNetVet is to collect and share in real-time the epidemiological data of infectious and parasitic diseases in companion animals: dogs, cats, horses, and exotic animals. Also, this network will be able to: provide information about syndrome and disease events in companion animals, conduct statistical analyses to identify space-time clusters of events and risk factors (host, environment) for diseases, alert to the occurrence of potential acts of bioterrorism and emerging zoonoses and characterize safety and efficacy of veterinary drugs and vaccines (pharmacoepidemiology).

The PetEpiNetVet goals are to help veterinary doctors to discover new introduced disease into the area, to prevent disease dissemination or to adopt the best therapeutical protocol.

The goal is to help veterinarians and pet owners develop practical preventive measures to reduce the incidence of these diseases.

In most countries, including Romania, the information on zoonoses and other diseases with national importance are managed by governmental agencies (e.g. Health Ministry, Romanian Veterinary and Food Safety Agency). Also, the funds are usually available for research on diseases of economically important livestock.

However, investigation of companion animals’ diseases, especially if they are not demonstrably of public health significance, relies on the limited financial support available from welfare societies and charities. Lack of funds therefore can restrict companion animals data collection. (1)

In spite of the lack of financial support, there are a few networks that refer to companion animal infectious diseases. For example, a National Companion Animal Surveillance Program (NCASP) was established at Purdue University to monitor clinical syndromes and diseases using the electronic medical records of >80,000 companion animals visiting >500 Banfield hospitals weekly in 44 states. NCASP recieved funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was initially developed for syndromic surveillance of Category A agents of bioterrorism. Surveillance was expanded through inclusion of electronic reports from Antech Diagnostics, a nationwide network of integrated veterinary diagnostic laboratories serving >18,000 private veterinary practices. NCASP characterizes and displays temporal and spatial patterns of diseases in dogs, cats, and other companion animals. It detects unusual clusters of potential emerging/zoonotic infections and monitors flea and tick activity. Data is processed and analyzed using SAS and ESRI software products. The NCASP can be used by veterinarians to enhance their practice of evidence-based medicine by providing information needed to individualize vaccine protocols for animals in specific geographic areas. (2)

For example, NCASP carried a study to evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for canine tick infestation. Knowledge of the geographic range and seasonal activity of vector ticks is important for determining which people or animals are at risk of acquiring tick-borne infections. Several methods require large-scale organization and are used to map geographic and seasonal variations in tick distribution. Prevalence of canine tick infestation in 40 states was estimated by analyzing electronic medical records of more than 8 million dog visits to Banfield veterinary hospitals in 2002-2004. In multiple logistic regressions, younger dogs, male dogs, and sexually intact dogs, were at increased risk of tick infestation. Toy breeds were least likely to be infested, but no linear pattern of risk was evident with body weight. Identified risk factors should enable veterinarians to prevent tick infestation in pet dogs. (3)

Similarly, Companion Animals Romanian Epidemiological Surveillance Network is designed to provide information, support the utilization of national and regional resources, to improve communication between veterinarians, to contribute to the search for partners, support the exchange of experience and to improve the research in veterinary and biomedical disciplines. PetEpiNetVet is addressed to field veterinarians, university teachers, research institute staff members, laboratory diagnosticians and advanced students.

At this moment PetEpiNetVet uses the web resources of our partner www.magazinveterinar.ro. The network website uses the Romanian language and to facilitate the registration the veterinary doctors will complete a simple form with contact information: name, city, office address, telephone number and e-mail address. The main tools used in order to improve communication and collect valuable information are the PetEpiNetVet section of www.magazinveterinar.ro webpage, instantly distributed e-mail messages, e-bulletins distributed to the registered members and e-workshops. The webpage is designed to help pet owners as well as veterinarians using the „search for a veterinarian“ tool which helps users find all registered veterinarians in a specific area (fig. 1).

All registered veterinary doctors will report to PetEpiNetVet any companion animal disease, regardless of the case status: suspect (clinical signs or laboratory results pending) or laboratory confirmed. The information collected (veterinary identity, location, reported disease) will be inserted into a database and then statistically processed (maps and charts). Also, veterinary doctors will be able to access all information posted (epidemiology, clinical signs, diagnosis, standardized confirmation methods, profilaxy) (fig. 2).

 

Fig. 1 The „search for a veterinarian� tool on www.magazinveterinar.ro website

 

Fig.2 PetEpiNetVet data flow scheme

 

REFERENCES

 

1.        Michael Thrusfield, Veterinary Epidemiology third edition, Blackwell Publishing 2005

2.        Glickman LT, Moore GE, Glickman NW, Caldanaro RJ, Aucoin D, Lewis HB, Purdue University-Banfield National Companion Animal Surveillance Program for emerging and zoonotic diseases, 2006

3.        Raghavan M, Glickman N, Moore G, Caldanaro R, Lewis H, Glickman L, Prevalence of and risk factors for canine tick infestation in the United States, 2002-2004

4.        Moore GE, Lund E, Disease reporting and surveillance: where do companion animal diseases fit in? 2009

5.        Dirk U. Pfeiffer, Veterinary Epidemiology - An Introduction, Royal Veterinary College, UK, 2002