Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the National Animal Disease Information Service (NADIS) (W8(a))
NADIS is a network of sentinel practices, set
up to monitor diseases in cattle, sheep and pigs in the UK. It
was formed in 1995 and now consists of 40 sentinel practices and
the farm animal teaching units of all six UK Veterinary Colleges.
The reporting vets record all the diseases they encounter on a
daily basis (see some examples in attachment (not printed)). The
information is loaded onto a central disease database every 2
weeks. Each disease is coded, with further subdivisions for species
(cattle, sheep and pigs), type eg for cattle (dairy or beef) and
age (adult, youngstock or calf). Data can be presented on either
a national or regional basis for any period up to July 1995.
Veterinary surgeons recording for NADIS are
either certificate or diploma holders or recognised authorities
in their fields. Diagnosis is based on field diagnosis, or laboratory
analysis if undertaken.
Monthly reports are published to the profession
in UK Vet Livestock, and its associated website, and to the farming
industry on the main farmer websites www.fwi.co.uk, www.farmline.com),
in the national farming press (Beef Farmer, Sheep Farmer, Dairy
Farmer, Farmers Guardian and Pig World) and the regional farming
press (Scottish Farmer, Welsh Farmer, S W Farmer and Farm Week
Northern Ireland). Bulletins are sent to a growing number of local
newspapers with a strong farm readership.
Professor Roger Morris, chief advisor to DEFRA
for FMD and BSE, has described NADIS as the best sentinel practice
network in the world. NADIS carries out scanning surveillance,
continuously scanning the whole range of livestock diseases in
the UK. This information is immediately fed back to the veterinary
and farming industries, to increase awareness of the prevalent
diseases and to highlight the measures that should be put in place
to control them. NADIS has operated on a limited budget, which
has prevented it from further development. The Meah Report "Veterinary
Surveillance in England and Wales", for MAFF and commissioned
by the then minister for agriculture Nick Brown recommended government
funding to develop the system.
1. Record all data on a denominator basis
2. Improve case definition. NADIS will be trialling
VETPAD this summer. VETPAD is a palm held computerised system
used for recording disease surveillance data in New Zealand
3. Appropriate quality assurance controls
4. Increase the number of sentinel practices
to increase the sensitivity of the data. NADIS has already contacted
a further key 60 livestock practices, reflecting livestock density
across the country, bringing the total to over 100 practices.
The practices have agreed to join NADIS provided government funding
is available.
Professor Roger Morris believes that provided the
distribution of the practices reflects livestock density this
would be the correct number of practices for livestock disease
surveillance purposes in the UK. NADIS believes that by working
with the VLS/SAC the range and quality of the samples they base
their laboratory analysis on will be improved thereby improving
the validity of the very valuable work they carry out.
To detect a new emerging disease such as was the
case for BSE in the late 70's all livestock diseases must be continually
monitored on a denominator basis, so that early deviation from
the normal disease pattern can be quickly detected, and targeted
surveillance instituted by the VLA/SAC. If NADIS had been established
in the late 70's its veterinary surgeons would have been recording
an increase in "unidentified neurological condition in adult
dairy cattle". Targeted surveillance would have been activated
with the VLA/SAC. NADIS believes that working closely with the
VLA/SAC will provide the cornerstone for effective scanning surveillance
and proved a very cost effective option for government in this
vital area.
NADIS has an eight-year track record and enjoys
the support of practitioners across the UK. If you require any
further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Mike Howe BVetMed MRCVS
National Animal Disease Information Service
June 2003
| 
