| | Veterinary Practice Surveillance (VPS), a new data-sharing system of the Alberta Veterinary Surveillance Network (AVSN), provides Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development with timely access to the health data of Alberta’s cattle.
“Veterinary practitioners often visit farms and ranches,” says Dr. Jagdish Patel, veterinarian with Alberta Agriculture’s food safety division, Edmonton. “When they share the livestock health information that they collect with us, they help generate data that allows us to monitor livestock health in Alberta. Information that participating veterinarians share with Alberta Agriculture does not identify individual farms or ranches, but rather gives diagnostic data that scientists can use to watch for emerging disease trends.”
Food safety division veterinarians use the information to monitor the health of Alberta livestock, and investigate anything that could turn into a significant disease event. “By collecting this data we hope to show our trading partners that we have the veterinary infrastructure to provide proper animal health services to our producers,” says Patel.
“Currently, there are 24 to 26 private veterinary practices regularly participating in VPS. Combined, there are over 1.25 million cattle on the farms that these veterinarians visit,” says Patel. “This proves the strong veterinary infrastructure that exists in the province, which is important to market access. It means Alberta livestock health as it relates to cattle is monitored, and the province is in a position to respond promptly to emerging cattle health issues.
“The system is just beginning to generate reports. This is a new approach to collecting animal health data. We are still developing, testing and refining the fine points of the system.”
VPS was created with a vision: to promote the livestock industry. “Over the years Albertans have learned what it takes to compete in a global marketplace,” says Patel. “Innovative approaches to surveillance, such as VPS, tell the world that Alberta is committed to verifying the health of its livestock. VPS is both a detection and a warning system. Information about unusual disease problems reported by one or a few veterinarians can be used to manage and monitor the problem.”
To validate the health of Alberta’s livestock, summary reports created using surveillance information will be shared with other authorized organizations such as marketing agencies and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), for example.
VPS is one component of the AVSN, a comprehensive, integrated surveillance system of Alberta livestock for diseases of importance to market access, public health and food safety. AVSN is comprised of:
- Veterinary Practice Surveillance
- Livestock Pathology Consultation Program (LPCP) – a program that assists private veterinarians with pathology consultation on complex disease investigations
- Livestock Disease Investigation Network (LDIN) – a team of epidemiologists, veterinarians and pathologists that investigates significant disease problems
At this point, VPS is managing data only from cattle. A project to collect data from poultry is under development.
Contact:
Dr. Jagdish Patel (780) 644-5093 |
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