Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), 211-221

Animal disease outbreak control: the use of crisis management tools

K. Kroschewski (1), M. Kramer (1), A. Micklich (1), C. Staubach (1), R. Carmanns (2) & F.J. Conraths (1)

(1) Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology,Seestrasse 55, 16868 Wusterhausen/Dosse, Germany(2) State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludwigstrasse 2, 80539 Munich, Federal State Bavaria,Germany

SummaryIn this era of globalisation the effective control of animal disease outbreaksrequires powerful crisis management tools. In the 1990s software packages fordifferent sectors of the government and agricultural industry began to bedeveloped. In 2004, as a special application for tracking the movement of animalsand animal products, the European Union developed the Trade Control andExpert System (TRACES) on the basis of its predecessor, the ANImal MOvement(ANIMO) project. The nationwide use of the ANIMO system by the veterinaryauthorities in Germany marked the beginning of the development in 1993 of acomputerised national animal disease reporting system – the TierSeuchen-Nachrichten (TSN) – using the ANIMO hardware and software components. Inaddition to TRACES and TSN the third pillar for the management of animaldisease outbreaks and crises in Germany is the national cattle and swinedatabase – called Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere. Ahigh degree of standardisation is necessary when integrating the differentsolutions at all levels of government and with the private sector. In this paper, theauthors describe the use of these tools on the basis of their experience and inrelation to what we can do now and what we should opt for in the future.

KeywordsAnimal disease – Crisis management – Database – European Union – Germany –Outbreak control – Software tool.

IntroductionIn a global market that includes the international trade ofanimals and animal products, animal disease outbreakcontrol, response, and crisis management require powerfulsoftware tools. Multiple outbreaks of classical swine fever(CSF), foot and mouth disease (FMD) and highlypathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) highlight the necessityof the prompt availability of information on a number ofdifferent issues, such as:

a) contact between farms: this is of the utmost importancefrom an epidemiological point of view, as contact betweenanimals from different herds is the main route of infection.

Knowledge about national and international animal tradeand/or movement is essential if contact with contagiousherds is to be avoided

b) the ‘curriculum vitae’ of animals: for instance, in thecase of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE),knowledge about the origin of the animals is crucial inidentifying the specific cohort that must be consideredexposed to the BSE agent

c) data relating to farms in the affected regions, morespecifically:

– the number of farms in the region at the differentadministrative levels, including detailed information aboutthe registered farms at the national and regional levels

– the number of susceptible animals by species in the region

– farm locations: the classification at municipality level isusually not precise enough for regional crisis management;ideally, the geographic coordinates of each premise whereherds are kept should be registered so that they can beentered into a geographical information system (GIS)

– the number and composition of mixed farms for theanalysis of multiple species diseases

– the numbers and kinds of infected farms, and of thosefarms free of disease

– the number of animals that are kept on infected farmsand on disease-free farms

d) up-to-date epidemiological status reports: early warningsystems are needed and must be electronically supportedwith the latest information on the epidemiologicalsituation nationally and worldwide

e) agreed responses: availability of central databases (CDB)with an official handbook on disease control and crisismanagement.

Requirements for the national organisation of crisis managementIn Germany the organisation of crisis management isdivided between the National Animal Disease Crisis Centreand the Task Force of Animal Disease Eradication. Thetasks of both divisions are precisely defined. A couple ofthese tasks require the prompt availability of information,in the majority of cases in summarised form, e.g. diseasestatistics, validated epidemiological reports andinformation on animal movements and populations at risk.Of paramount importance is the maintenance andupdating of the animal disease handbooks in connectionwith the preparation for and enactment of disease outbreakexercises. The evaluation of these exercises hasdemonstrated the usefulness of powerful software tools.Software applications are more likely to be successful iftheir development, testing, implementation, support,training, and strategic development are organised and wellprepared in a continuous dialogue with the users. Theexperience of constructing a national agricultural databasein Germany has shown that the format for the farmregistration of livestock numbers should be standardisedso as to facilitate their analysis, the comparability of results,and the exchange of data. Collaboration betweencompetent ministry and federal (regional as well as local)authorities and institutions is vital in such an undertaking.

Epidemiological instrumentsrequired for animal diseasemonitoring and for outbreakinvestigationsIdeally, the following databases should be available to theVeterinary Services:

a) a complete inventory of all farms and other animalholdings

b) diagnostic results from all tested animals (infected anduninfected)

c) case/outbreak data.

In Germany, these databases exist but they cannot all beaccessed at all levels. Inventories of farms and animalholdings are maintained at the district or town level. Dueto data protection regulations, only the local veterinaryauthorities have full access to these data, which includeaddresses, telephone numbers, etc. Diagnostic datarecorded by the veterinary investigation centres (VIC) arealso maintained in electronic databases but access isrestricted to the VIC staff. An online database of animaldisease outbreaks with detailed information on the affectedanimals and the locations of the outbreaks is maintained atthe national level; access is restricted to the veterinaryauthorities at national, state and local level.

To analyse data as part of regular animal diseasemonitoring and surveillance activities and in the course ofoutbreak investigations, animal and disease data must beelectronically available at all times, preferably online and ina geo-referenced format. These data can then be used whenanalysing the temporal and spatial behaviour of disease, topredict its kinetics, and to study transmission pathways aspart of the required tracing-back and tracing-forward.

Incoming data and information on suspected outbreakscan also be used as an early-warning system.

On the basis of the outbreak data, and the numbers ofaffected animals, farms or holdings, and products (e.g.milk, eggs, slaughter pigs), the personnel and logisticalresources that are required to control the outbreak can beplanned.

Veterinary officers and veterinary epidemiologists must betrained so that they can enter data, preferably in the field,and utilise the available databases without delay to containany outbreak as quickly as possible. Appropriate softwaremust be provided that supports outbreak management.This can be better achieved by implementing a GIS that

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1)212

spatially locates diseased farms, can establish restrictionzones, can calculate the numbers of animals that will beaffected by the measures to be taken, and helps to notifyfarmers individually and regionally.

Geographical informationsystems – indispensable formodern crisis managementGeographical information systems are computer-basedtools that can store, analyse and display both spatial andnon-spatial data (3); GIS software can be split into threefunctional groups:

a) GIS, in a more narrow sense, with the ability togenerate, modify, transform and analyse geographicallyreferenced data

b) mapping software to visualise the spatial data withoutthe possibility of manipulating the geometric featuredatabase

c) database management systems (DBMS) as general-purpose software products which can store but alsoanalyse small to extremely large geographical datasetswithout visualisation.

The traditional distinctions between these are vanishingthrough the hardware and software revolutions of the pastdecade; desktop GIS software, geographically-enabledprogramming languages, embedding of GIS functionalityin application software, and mapping on the Internet haveallowed the application of a broad spectrum of analysesand visualisation techniques of spatial epidemiologicaldata. Nevertheless, it is necessary to define the purpose ofthe analysis to determine the appropriate GIS tool.

Geographical information systems and spatialepidemiology are playing an increasingly important role inanimal disease control. For some time, district veterinaryauthorities and laboratories in Germany and otherEuropean Union (EU) member states (e.g. the Netherlands,the United Kingdom, Denmark) have been using GIS inapplied disease control. This has been mainly in outbreaksof notifiable diseases by supporting district veterinaryofficers in the definition of restriction areas, and inplanning control measures and eradication strategies. Withthe help of GIS and new spatial statistical methods, thespatial and temporal spread of diseases can be analysedand the risks defined.

Existing tools for animaldisease outbreak control andcrisis management in Germany

TRACES: Trade Control and Expert SystemWith the introduction of the common market within theEU on the 1 January 1993, the border veterinaryinspection posts between member states were closed. Tokeep the transport of animals and products of animalorigin within the EU under control, the EuropeanCommission (EC) developed an automated networkbetween the various EU veterinary authorities calledANImal MOvement (ANIMO) on the basis of CouncilDirective 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 (11). With thissystem the responsibility for checking animals and animalproducts was shifted to the veterinary offices at the placefrom which the animals/products originated and at thefinal destination. To that end the responsible veterinaryoffice at the point of origin entered the health certificateinto the computer and transferred it to the central EUANIMO server in Dublin. The responsible veterinary officeat the destination could then download the healthcertificate from the server and then, if necessary, takesamples when the consignment arrived. The sameprocedure was applied to imports from, or exports to, thirdcountries: the responsible border inspection post fromwhere the consignment left the EU would create anANIMO message for the veterinary office at the destination(importing country) or, the border inspection post fromwhere the consignment entered the EU would receive anANIMO message from the veterinary office at the point oforigin (exporting country), respectively.

To make the communications with the EU ANIMO servermore effective, and to give the senior veterinary authoritiesthe opportunity to access their national animal data traffic,a national ANIMO server was installed at the Institute ofEpidemiology at the Federal Research Centre for VirusDiseases of Animals (now the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute).Instead of each directly communicating with the centralEU ANIMO Server, the German ANIMO units (veterinaryauthorities and the border inspection posts at the EUborder with third countries) communicated exclusivelyover this national ANIMO server with the EU ANIMOserver in Dublin. The ANIMO system was introduced inGermany on 1 September 1993. Regular operation (datacommunication with the EU ANIMO Server) started on 1June 1994. Despite the initial shortcomings of this system(see below) and the extra work the veterinary officials hadto do in ‘times of peace’ (i.e. in disease-free periods),ANIMO proved to be a success in Germany in thefollowing ‘times of crisis’:

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1) 213

– 1996: outbreaks of CSF in the Netherlands

– 2001: outbreaks of FMD in Great Britain, France and theNetherlands

– 2003: outbreaks of HPAI in the Netherlands.

During these outbreaks it was possible to locateconsignments of animals coming from these countries intoGermany and to initiate appropriate measures whichhelped to prevent these diseases from spreading into thecountry.

Although ANIMO represented progress regarding thedocumentation relating to the transport of animals andanimal products between member states of the EU, it stillhad several shortcomings:

– no data transfer in real time, so it could take several daysuntil the receiver got the ANIMO message

– no facility to respond to the sender if the consignmentdid not correspond to what was described in thedocumentation or if the competent authority of the placeof destination was legally required to inform the competentauthority of the place of origin that the consignment hadarrived (Council Decision 1774/2002 of 3 October 2002 [6])

– misdirected messages because of wrong addresses

– extra data-entry work for the sending veterinaryauthority

– no possibility of using this system for animal welfare.

At approximately the same time as the ANIMO systemcame on line, a similar system was beginning to bedeveloped for use at veterinary inspection posts (road,railway, airport, port) at EU borders with third countries.This System to assist with the Health controls of Imports ofitems of veterinary concern at Frontier inspection postsfrom Third countries (SHIFT system) was due to bedeveloped on the basis of the Council Decisions92/438/EEC of 13 July 1992 (12) and 92/563/EEC of 19November 1992 (13), but it did not get beyond thedevelopment of several prototypes. For this reason, the EClaunched the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES)(regulation 2003/24/EC of 30 December 2002 [7]). Thesystem has the following goals:

– integration of the existing ANIMO system withthe SHIFT system

– development of an integrated database

– improved control and tracing of consignments ofanimals and animal products

– decision support in regard to imports of animals andanimal products from third countries

– introduction of a central alert system

– risk assessment

– reduction in the administrative workload.

As a web-application (one central web server with a CDBand online access from clients with a browser), TRACESprovides fast and up-to-date information for theresponsible veterinary authorities and it enables electroniccertification (Fig. 1).

TRACES is multilingual, so all member states can use it intheir own languages and all of the current 32 differenthealth certificates can be displayed and printed out in all ofthe different languages. Commercial operators can now useTRACES by entering their consignment data themselves,with the result that the relevant veterinary office only needsto certify the consignment. This allows a reduction in theadministrative workload of the veterinary authorities. Theintegration of private veterinarians and/or veterinariansapproved by the veterinary authorities is also possible, butthis has not been implemented in Germany. It is envisagedthat veterinary authorities and organisations in thirdcountries will be able to connect to TRACES and thusreduce the administrative workload at the borderinspection posts, because these organisations will haveentered their consignment data in advance.

When a health certificate has been entered, the usersresponsible (e.g. the veterinary officers [or commercialoperators that use TRACES] in importing countries) arenotified by e-mail, indicating that there is a certificate to beprocessed. Then the responsible authority can initiatecontrols or other measures concerning the consignmentand enter the results into TRACES (Fig. 2).

The system was gradually introduced in 2004 and the useof TRACES has been obligatory for all EU member statessince 1 January 2005 (Decision 2004/292/EC of 30 March2004 [9] and regulation 599/2004 of 30 March 2004 [8]).Further information regarding TRACES can be found athttp://www.traces-cbt.net.

The national animal disease reporting system in GermanySince the introduction of ANIMO in 1993 every districtveterinary office in Germany has been equipped with apersonal computer, modem and communication softwareas a prerequisite for computer-aided communicationwithin the government Veterinary Services. Thisequipment was also needed for the development of thecomputer-supported national animal disease informationsystem – or TierSeuchen-Nachrichten (TSN) – at theInstitute of Epidemiology attached to the former FederalResearch Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals (now the

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1)214

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1) 215

Legislation Support

Reporting Tool

TRACESDatabase

• Legislation Directory• Full Text Search

Geographical Information System• Display of location on a map• Display of restricted area• Route calculation

System to System Exchanges• National systems• TARIC• RASFF

Certificate Management• Encoding• Validation• Consultation• Control: consignments rejection

User Management• Official Authorities UVU BIP etc.• Economic Operators EEA Economic Operators Third country establishments (LMS)• Commission Officials

Notification Management• New Certificates• Rejected Consignments

BIP: Border Inspection Post LVU: Local Veterinary UnitEEA: European Economic Area RASFF: Rapid Alert System for Food and FeedLMS: List Management System TARIC: Integrated Tariff of the European Community

Fig. 1Architecture of the European Union (EU) Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES)The database is designed to facilitate trade in animals and animal products and track consignmentsmoving within the EU and leaving/entering the EU for/from third countries (4)

Fig. 2Example query using the European Union Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES): queryof all incoming animal consignments from the Netherlands with departure dates between 1 September 2005 and 1 October 2005

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute forAnimal Health [15, 16]). The official nationwide start ofTSN was 1 January 1995, as stipulated by nationallegislation. The first Windows© version was implementedin December 2000. This also marked the beginning of itstransformation into a crisis management system.

The TSN system has two components. The clientcomponent in the local veterinary office is used for offlinedata acquisition. Disease outbreak information is thentransmitted to the centralised animal disease database(CADDB) on the server (second component) at theFriedrich-Loeffler-Institute in Wusterhausen. InWusterhausen, information is stored in a structured querylanguage database. Only authorised users have access. Thedata flow is shown in Figure 3 (14, 17).

The TSN can be used in local area and wide area networks.As many districts and towns as required, with separatelocal veterinary authorities, can be installed in one place.Therefore, data acquisition and query are possible fromdifferent computers and various localities. This isespecially necessary during epidemics that affect more thanone district or town.

During an epidemic extensive information needs to becollected for each outbreak. These data can then bemanaged and edited in the outbreak explorer or editor.Data acquisition is based on default values, which allowmaximum plausibility control. Entry fields are compulsoryor voluntary depending on the information value fordisease control. Changes in animal disease notificationand/or data record definitions can and should be takeninto account immediately via the automatedsynchronisation of master data by communication with theCADDB; the dynamic data are synchronised in the samemanner. Master data are available for different entry fields,e.g. for diseases, pathogens, species, diagnostic methods,and sources of infection. These master data are regularlyupdated in compliance with national and internationallaws and regulations (10, 19).

Crisis management demands complex farm and livestockmanagement in connection with geo-referenced positionsof the animal disease outbreaks and of all affected farmsand associated agricultural business, such as abattoirs,dairies, and rendering plants. The TSN system offersdiverse farm management and GIS functions concerninganimal disease outbreak control, response, and crisismanagement (17, 18). Animal disease cases and farms canbe localised precisely by using digital topographical mapsaccessible via mouse click (geo-referencing). The spatialdistribution of animal disease cases can be shown atdifferent resolutions and/or administrative levels. The geo-referencing of all farms will be completed in all districts

and federal states of Germany in the near future. Districtswith geo-referenced farm databases can manage andanalyse spatial data as follows:

– automated presentation of the spatial distribution offarms on digital topographical maps; e.g. for inspectionvisits by field task forces

– automated creation of farm lists and addresses

– livestock composition analysis

– transmission and exchange of data files, e.g. betweentask forces, by standardised visualisation of the zones viaTSN

– fast and precise creation of restriction and surveillancezones. These zones can be visualised in the form of radii orpolygons that can be defined without any restrictions. Aflexible presentation of the livestock of these areas can alsobe produced by the software, as illustrated in Figure 4. Forpublication purposes this display example is muchsimplified. The actual display can have a wealth of detail,including houses, woods, roads, streams and rivers.

An important point with both suspected and confirmedoutbreaks is to be up-to-date on diagnostic methods and tohave task force guidelines, such as for the duties of eachmember of the task force and for coordination in space andtime. An HTML-based collection of diagnostic methods isintegrated into TSN. The national reference laboratories fornotifiable diseases are responsible for updating thisinformation. A search function and a glossary are included.A standardised handbook for animal disease eradication iscurrently under development. The CADDB can also beused for communication between the involved authoritiesat the federal state level and the Federal Ministry ofConsumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.

Furthermore, when queried, CADDB can provideinformation in different formats, e.g. it can supply officialcertificates, tables and maps (Figure 5 – national situationof transmissible spongiform encephalopathy cases in2004) and provide access to official statistics and to anaddress list of veterinary authorities. Each veterinary officecan update its own address. The CADDB address link canbe used as an early warning system based on emailnotification. Responsible official veterinarians can activatethis optional function.

The TSN software will be upgraded in the near future. Aso-called crisis module will be implemented that allows themanagement of bigger restriction and surveillance zones,for example, several overlapping districts and/or federalstates. The improved system will be able to process dataabout epidemiological surveys, livestock estimates, clinicalexaminations and culling (14).

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1)216

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1) 217

Centralised animal disease database(data, analysis software, web server)

@

Client(district)

Client(district)

• Federal states authorities• National reference laboratories • Ministry of consumer protection, food and agriculture

• EC, OIE, official publications

Crisis management centres

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute Wusterhausen

(epidemiological research)

VaccinationPathogensMeasuresDiseasesOutbreaks

http://www…

Fig. 3The flow of data in the national animal disease reporting system in Germany

Fig. 4An example of the way in which restriction and surveillance zones can be depicted usingthe German animal disease reporting system: solid black squares (restricted farms), opencircles (farms under surveillance)

Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystemfür Tiere – the national cattle and swinedatabaseThe Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere(HI-Tier) is the computerised, Internet-based herd andanimal identification and registration (I&R) system thatwas established in Germany in 1999 on the basis ofRegulation (EU) No. 820/97 (5) and the correspondingnational regulation (www.hi-tier.de). According to theseregulations all holdings and holders of cattle, includingtraders and slaughterhouses, have to be registered andhave to report all changes in their stock (births, on and offmovements, imports, exports, deaths or slaughter) to anational CDB. The reporting can be done either viaInternet, phone code system or by postcards (1, 2).

In addition to the veterinary regulations, EU-premiumpayments for cattle in Germany are allocated on the basisof the information in the CDB. This puts enormouspressure on all sectors of the livestock industry, includingfarmers, traders, exporters and slaughterhouses, to reportall changes correctly and promptly to the CDB.

To ensure the best possible data quality in the HI-Tier, astrict two-step quality assurance programme wasestablished. In the first step each report is checked beforestorage for completeness and correctness. Only correct and

complete reports are stored. In a second step after storageall reports on individual animals (identified by ear tagnumber) are checked against all other reports about thissame animal. In the event of discrepancies orcontradictions the report holders are informed via Internetor letter and asked to confirm or correct their report.

The HI-Tier CDB receives about 40 million reports fromcattle holders every year; the average per day is about110,000, and more than 85% of all reports arrive via theInternet.

Since 2002, in addition to the I&R functions of the system,the veterinary laboratories and the Veterinary Services storecertain individual disease data in the CDB, e.g. test resultsfor BSE, bovine herpesvirus type 1, and bovine viraldiarrhoea. Furthermore, information about the vaccinationof individual animals can also be stored and retrieved.Contrary to most other veterinary databases for cattle, HI-Tier is based on detailed information about individualanimals (obtained through ear tag numbers) and not onsummarised information about herds.

This specific information in the CDB from various sourcesallows the Veterinary Services in combination with webaccess via Internet to make a wide range of epidemiologicalenquiries at any time and in any place.

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1)218

Fig. 5Example of data presentation using the German animal disease reporting system:geographical distribution of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy cases in 2004 withdifferentiation between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (black squares) and scrapie(open circles)

To trace an individual animal, the specific ear tag numbermerely has to be entered into the query‘Einzeltierverfolgung’. This will provide all reports on oneanimal including the date of birth, movements, slaughter(including the holding where this took place), as well asthe test results for specific diseases. In a second step, allpossible contacts of an animal can immediately beretrieved by using the hyperlink on the herd registrationnumber (‘Betrieb’). For female animals, all calves of thedam can be retrieved via the link ‘Kalbungen’.

Under the query ‘Bestandsregister’ (farm registry) the herdregistration number allows an investigator to retrieve thefarm registry, identifying all animals individually, for any specific herd in Germany for a defined day or periodsince 1999.

Information about the number of herds in a specific area aswell as the number of cattle within these herds, includinginformation on their specific disease status can be retrievedwith a query called ‘Allgemeine Betriebs-Tier-Übersicht’.This query offers more than 20 different selection criteriaaccording to the different categories of information in theCDB. For example, it is possible to analyse how manycattle in a specific county were born after a certain date andare female.

In case of animal disease outbreaks in cattle and pigholdings, connections with the animal disease reportingsystem or EU expert systems can be established,epidemiological tracing investigations can be carried outimmediately, and the necessary staff and equipment for

disease control measures in restriction or vaccination zonescan be planned precisely.

ConclusionsSince the 1990s European countries have been confrontedwith several epidemics of diseases such as BSE, CSF, FMDand HPAI. Because of the high densities of livestock andfarms in certain areas in Europe, including some Germanregions, controlling these epidemics has required superiorcrisis management. Superior crisis management compriseswell coordinated use of the available, but maybe limited,material capacities and a number of specialists in taskforces in combination with support services. Other vitalcomponents of effective crisis management are theaggregated mapping of livestock in affected regions and therapid identification, by ear-tag number, of individualanimals on named and geo-referenced recorded farms andof contacts between animals and specified farms.

Considering the enormous volumes of data in multiplefields, powerful software packages are required. InGermany such packages are available and utilised. Thenationwide use of the EU project TRACES and the Germanprojects TSN and HI-Tier allow the country to take propermeasures for animal disease outbreak control, responseand crisis management according to modern standards.

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1) 219

Le contrôle des foyers de maladies animales : utilisation des outils de gestion de crise

K. Kroschewski, M. Kramer, A. Micklich, C. Staubach, R. Carmanns & F.J. Conraths

RésuméÀ notre époque de mondialisation, le contrôle efficace des foyers de maladiesanimales nécessite des outils puissants de gestion des crises. Pendant lesannées 90 des progiciels pour divers secteurs de l’administration et del’agriculture ont commencé à être mis a point. En 2004 l’Union européenne a misen œuvre une application spéciale pour suivre les déplacements des animaux etdes produits d’origine animale, le Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES :Système de contrôle du commerce et d’expertise), sur la base de sonprédécesseur, le projet ANImal MOvement (ANIMO). L’utilisation dans toutel’Allemagne du système ANIMO par les autorités vétérinaires de ce pays

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1)220

Utilización de herramientas de gestión de crisis para lucharcontra brotes zoosanitarios

K. Kroschewski, M. Kramer, A. Micklich, C. Staubach, R. Carmanns & F.J. Conraths

ResumenPara combatir eficazmente un brote zoosanitario en la actual era de lamundialización se necesitan potentes herramientas de gestión de crisis. En losaños noventa se empezaron a crear módulos informáticos para distintossectores de los poderes públicos y la industria agropecuaria. En 2004 la UniónEuropea elaboró una aplicación especial para seguir los movimientos deanimales y productos de origen animal, el sistema TRACES (sistema experto decontrol del comercio), basándose para ello en un proyecto anterior querespondía al nombre de ANIMO (ANImal MOvement). La aplicación del sistemaANIMO en todo el territorio alemán por parte de las autoridades veterinarias delpaís marcó el inicio de la elaboración, en 1993, de un sistema nacionalinformatizado de notificación de enfermedades animales, el TierSeuchen-Nachrichten (TSN), que utilizaba componentes de hardware y software delANIMO. Junto con el TRACES y el TSN, el tercer pilar de la gestión de crisis ybrotes zoosanitarios en Alemania es la base de datos nacional de bovinos yporcinos, denominada Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere.Para integrar las distintas soluciones en todos los niveles de gobierno,concertadamente con el sector privado, se requiere un alto grado deestandarización. Los autores describen el uso de estas herramientas basándoseen su experiencia y pensando en lo que es factible hoy en día y conveniente decara al futuro.

Palabras claveAlemania – Base de datos – Control de brotes – Enfermedad animal – Gestión de crisis– Herramienta informática – Unión Europea.

a marqué le début de la mise en œuvre en 1993 d’un système informatisé nationalde notification des maladies animales – le TierSeuchen-Nachrichten (TSN) – quiutilise les composantes et les logiciels d’ANIMO. En plus du TRACES et du TSN,le troisième pilier de la gestion des foyers et des crises de maladies animales enAllemagne est la base de données nationales sur les bovins et les porcins –appelée Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere. Un niveauélevé de standardisation est nécessaire pour intégrer les diverses solutions àtous les niveaux du gouvernement et avec le concours du secteur privé. Dans cedocument, les auteurs décrivent l’utilisation de ces outils à partir de leurexpérience et dans la perspective des mesures que nous pouvons prendreaujourd’hui et des solutions que nous devrions choisir dans l’avenir.

Mots-clésAllemagne – Base de données – Contrôle des foyers – Gestion de crise – Maladieanimale – Outil logiciel – Union européenne.

References1. Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (2005). –

Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere,Allgemeiner Teil. Available at: http://www.hi-tier.de/Dateien/info_allgemein.pdf (accessed on 28 September 2005).

2. Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (2005). –Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere,Spezieller Teil für die Veterinärverwaltung. Available at:http://www.hi-tier.de/Dateien/info_vet.pdf (accessed on 28 September 2005).

3. Burrough P.A. & McDonnell R.A. (1998). – Principles ofgeographical information systems. Oxford University Press,Oxford.

4. European Commission Health and Consumer ProtectionDirectorate-General (2003). – TRACES-prestudy.Presentation at the working group meeting on 27 June 2003.Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General,Brussels.

5. European Community (1997). – Council Regulation (EC)No. 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for theidentification and registration of bovine animals andregarding the labelling of beef and beef products. Off. J. Eur.Communities, L 117, 07/05/1997, 1-8.

6. European Community (2002). – Regulation (EC) No.1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of3 October 2002 laying down health rules concerning animalby-products not intended for human consumption. Off. J. Eur.Communities, L 273, 10/10/2002, 1-95.

7. European Community (2003). – Commission Decision of 30 December 2002 concerning the development of anintegrated computerised veterinary system (notified underdocument number C (2002) 5496). 2003/24/EC. Off. J. Eur.Communities, L 008, 14/01/2003, 44-45.

8. European Community (2004). – Commission Regulation(EC) No. 599/2004 of 30 March 2004 concerning theadoption of a harmonised model certificate and inspectionreport linked to intra-community trade in animals andproducts of animal origin (text with EEA relevance). Off. J.Eur. Communities, L 094, 31/03/2004, 44-56.

9. European Community (2004). – Commission Decision of 30 March 2004 on the introduction of the TRACES systemand amending Decision 92/486/EEC (text with EEArelevance) (notified under document number C (2004)1282). 2004/292/EC. Off. J. Eur. Communities, L 094, 31/03/2004, 63-64.

10. European Economic Community (1982). – Council Directive82/894/EEC of 21 December 1982 on the notification ofanimal diseases within the Community. Off. J. Eur.Communities, L 378, 31/12/1982, 58-62.

11. European Economic Community (1990). – Council Directive90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary andzootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade incertain live animals and products with a view to thecompletion of the internal market. Off. J. Eur. Communities, L 224, 18/08/1990, 29-41.

12. European Economic Community (1992). – 92/438/EEC:Council Decision of 13 July 1992 on computerization ofveterinary import procedures (SHIFT project), amendingDirectives 90/675/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 91/628/EEC andDecision 90/424/EEC, and repealing Decision 88/192/EEC.Off. J. Eur. Communities, L 243, 25/08/1992, 27-31.

13. European Economic Community (1992). – 92/563/EEC:Commission Decision of 19 November 1992 on the databasecovering the community’s import requirements, envisaged bythe Shift project. Off. J. Eur. Communities, L 361, 10/12/1992,45.

14. Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute,Institute of Epidemiology (2005). – TSN: Das zentraleWerkzeug zum Krisenmanagement von Tierseuchen.Available at: http://www.fli.bund.de/TSN.185.0.html(accessed on 7 October 2005).

15. Micklich A. & Kroschewski K. (1994). – Umstellung desTierseuchennachrichtensystems auf EDV. Dtsch. Tierärztebl.,42 (1), 7-8.

16. Micklich A., Kroschewski K., Schröder R. & Klöß D. (1994).– Das neue computergestützte TierSeuchenNachrichten-System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Tierärztl. Umsch.,49 (9), 589-593.

17. Schröder R. & Klöß D. (2004). – Einsatz von GIS-Technologien im Tierseuchennachrichtensystem. In Proc. 25. GIL-Jahrestagung (Gesellschaft für Informatik in derLand-, Forst- und Ernahrungswirtschaft e. V.) [25th AnnualMeeting of the Society for Informatics in Agriculture, Forestryand Nutrition] (G. Schiefer, P. Wagner, M. Morgenstern & U. Rickert, eds), 8-10 September, Bonn. GIL, Bonn, 331-334.

18. Schröder R., Klöß D., Staubach C., Kroschewski K. &Micklich M. (2001). – TSN: bundeseinheitliche GIS-Anwendung zum Krisenmanagement von Tierseuchen. InProc. 8 Deutschsprachige Anwenderkonferenz – ESRI 2001 (M. Sittard, G. Haude & J. Schaller, eds), 15-17 May,Munich. Points Verlag, Halmstad, 111-122.

19. World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) (2005). –Diseases notifiable to the OIE. Available at:http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/en_classification.htm(accessed on 7 October 2005).

Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 25 (1) 221