October's EpiSurveyor case study comes to us from Ontario, Canada: The Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) have two pilot projects using EpiSurveyor to collect agricultural data in rural areas.

Below I've listed the descriptions of the work provided by the developers of the system, and the photos show Paisley Canning of the University of Guelph and hog farmer Jodi Kerrigan (in t-shirt) using EpiSurveyor to record information on-site.

At DataDyne, we're incredibly happy that the folks in these two projects have been able to use EpiSurveyor, and without any help from us (well, we did exchange a couple tech support emails!): they just went to www.episurveyor.org and started using the system. No consultants, no contracts, no MOU. Just great tech tools, in no time.

Which really illustrates the power of simple, powerful, and free web applications for health, development . . . and now agriculture.

[Thanks to Kathy Zurbrigg, Tim Blackwell, and Paisley Canning for forwarding this information -- and for pioneering this great new use for EpiSurveyor, and thanks to Jodi Kerrigan for allowing us to use his photo]

Mortality Surveillance Study

The Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) are establishing a pilot system to record mortality and morbidity rates on high-risk hog farming operations.   Amish and Mennonite producers make up a large portion of this population. These producers traditionally employ few biosecurity measures and do not rely heavily on veterinary and diagnostic laboratory services. These producers are also limited in their access to modern means of communication as many are without a telephone.    Consequently, it is difficult to assess changes in morbidity and mortality and to promptly identify disease outbreaks when they occur. This surveillance study is designed to access regular health information on these herds that previously existed in relative isolation from veterinary care and diagnostic services.

Farms enrolled in the surveillance study submit weekly mortality and morbidity data from all areas of their production system (including the breeding/gestation, farrowing, nursery, and grow/finish sections).  Producers have the option of mailing in hard copies of the surveillance form or using a Nokia 6086 phone with Episurveyor to electronically send in the weekly data. The data from all farms is compiled in a central database and analyzed weekly for increases in morbidity and mortality.  If a problem is identified, the farm’s local veterinarian is informed. The veterinarian is compensated for their professional services and laboratory diagnostics associated with the surveillance study.  Producers access veterinary services at a reduced cost, thus significantly increasing contact between the herd, veterinarians and producers.

The study began in June of 2009 and new producers are still enrolled. The goal is to collect data on each farm for 12 months and have several meetings with the producers to present findings and discuss common health problems during the data collection period.  The Episurveyor program has been functioning cell on farm and data downloading has been problem-free.  Episurveyor is now being considered for future swine-related surveillance projects.

Sow Lameness Surveillance Study

Sow lameness is considered both a welfare and economic concern in hog productions. Lame sows must be treated or culled. Correcting a herd lameness issue may require expensive modification of housing areas.  If lameness is not adequately addressed, it becomes a welfare issue.  Lame sows may produce lower quality litters, experience reduced pregnancy rates and need to be replaced from the herd at younger ages - all of which represent added cost to the producer. The prevalence and severity of the sow lameness has not been well documented.  The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has undertaken a surveillance project to determine the prevalence and severity of sow lameness on Ontario hog farms.  A survey form has been created for use with Episurveyor on a Nokia 8086 cellular phone that asks producers to evaluate the soundness of sows as they move into and out of farrowing rooms each week.  Producers can score their sows a 0 (no lameness), 1 (mildly lame) and 2 (clearly lame) and are asked to record the ID tag number of sows ranked mildly lame (1) and clearly lame (2).   A sow lameness scoring video has been created that provides a tutorial on using this 0, 1, 2 lameness scoring system to standardize how producers score lameness on their farms.  Data is currently being sent in from farms using Episurveyor and the study will run on each farm for at least six months.  At the end of the study period, descriptive statistics will be used to identify the severity of lameness on a convenience sample of Ontario hog farms.