Assessing the use of animal health platforms: User’s needs, preferences and constraints

Bianchini, Juana; Simons, Xavier; Faes, Christel; Nicolas, G.; Vilain, Aline; Hendrickx, Guy; Saegerman, Claude

doi:10.1111/tbed.14008

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Our analysis identified limited knowledge of existing databases and a lack of human resources for extracting and processing data. We confirmed the importance of centralizing data access and descriptive epidemiology in the process of EI [ 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Strategies that would allow quicker assessment of risks of introduction include the centralized provision of predefined sets of determinants and health information by disease and location, as well as alerts when new validated datasets are available. These needs expressed by practitioners highlight concrete expectations in line with the general recommendations of connecting data from a wide range of sources [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It translates into a need for centralized access to validated data and already processed covariates, better data integration and interoperability between open and confidential databases. Previous assessments of user needs were based on quantitative surveys, and the needs were investigated in relation to the performances of specific tools [ 17 ] or to a preselected solution [ 33 ]. Our analysis identified limited knowledge of existing databases and a lack of human resources for extracting and processing data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Epidemic intelligence in Europe: a user needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Bouyer,

Thiongane,

Hobeika

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Background European epidemic intelligence (EI) systems receive vast amounts of information and data on disease outbreaks and potential health threats. The quantity and variety of available data sources for EI, as well as the available methods to manage and analyse these data sources, are constantly increasing. Our aim was to identify the difficulties encountered in this context and which innovations, according to EI practitioners, could improve the detection, monitoring and analysis of disease outbreaks and the emergence of new pathogens. Methods We conducted a qualitative study to identify the need for innovation expressed by 33 EI practitioners of national public health and animal health agencies in five European countries and at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). We adopted a stepwise approach to identify the EI stakeholders, to understand the problems they faced concerning their EI activities, and to validate and further define with practitioners the problems to address and the most adapted solutions to their work conditions. We characterized their EI activities, professional logics, and desired changes in their activities using NvivoⓇ software. Results Our analysis highlights that EI practitioners wished to collectively review their EI strategy to enhance their preparedness for emerging infectious diseases, adapt their routines to manage an increasing amount of data and have methodological support for cross-sectoral analysis. Practitioners were in demand of timely, validated and standardized data acquisition processes by text mining of various sources; better validated dataflows respecting the data protection rules; and more interoperable data with homogeneous quality levels and standardized covariate sets for epidemiological assessments of national EI. The set of solutions identified to facilitate risk detection and risk assessment included visualization, text mining, and predefined analytical tools combined with methodological guidance. Practitioners also highlighted their preference for partial rather than full automation of analyses to maintain control over the data and inputs and to adapt parameters to versatile objectives and characteristics. Conclusions The study showed that the set of solutions needed by practitioners had to be based on holistic and integrated approaches for monitoring zoonosis and antimicrobial resistance and on harmonization between agencies and sectors while maintaining flexibility in the choice of tools and methods. The technical requirements should be defined in detail by iterative exchanges with EI practitioners and decision-makers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Epidemic intelligence in Europe: a user needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Bouyer,

Thiongane,

Hobeika

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Strategies that would allow quicker assessment of risks of introduction include the centralized provision of prede ned sets of determinants and health information by disease and location, as well as alerts when new validated datasets are available. These needs expressed by practitioners highlight concrete expectations in line with the general recommendations of connecting data from a wide range of sources (23,24).…”

Section: Data Collection and Processingmentioning

confidence: 82%

Epidemic Intelligence in Europe: a users’ needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Bouyer,

Thiongane,

Hobeika

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background European Epidemic Intelligence (EI) systems receive vast amounts of information and data on disease outbreaks and potential health threats. The quantity and variety of available data sources for EI, as well as the available methods to manage and analyze these data sources are constantly increasing. Our aim was which innovations, according to EI practitioners, could improve the detection, monitoring and analysis of disease outbreaks and emergence of new pathogens. Methods We conducted a qualitative study to identify the needs for innovation expressed by 33 EI practitioners of national public health and animal health agencies in five European countries and at the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC). We adopted a step-wise approach to identify the EI stakeholders, to understand the problems they faced concerning their EI activities, to validate and further define practitioners’ problems to offer solutions. We characterized their EI activities, their professional logics, and the desired changes in their activities. Results Our analysis highlights that EI practitioners wished to collectively review their EI strategy in order to enhance their preparedness for emerging infectious diseases, adapt their routine to manage an increasing amount of data and to have methodological support for cross-sectoral analysis. Practitioners were in demand of timely, validated and standardized data acquisition processes by text mining of various sources; better validated dataflows respecting the data protection rules; and more interoperable data with homogeneous quality levels and standardized covariates sets for epidemiological assessments of national EI. The set of solutions, identified to facilitate risk detection and risk assessment, included visualization, text-mining, predefined analytical tools combined with methodological guidance. Practitioners also highlighted their preference for a partial rather than a full automation of analyses in order to keep control over the data, inputs and adapt parameters to versatile objectives and characteristics. Conclusions Overall, the set of solutions had to be based on holistic and integrated approaches for monitoring zoonosis and antimicrobial resistance and on a harmonization between agencies and sectors, while keeping flexibility in the choice of tools and methods. The technical requirements should be defined in detail by iterative exchanges with EI practitioners and decision-makers.

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“…A shared challenge for these generic risk assessment tools is to keep them up and running and to have added value to policy makers in setting priorities for preventive measures and surveillance. Bianchini et al ( 81 ) did a survey on the use of animal health information systems and risk analysis tools among professionals in animal and public health around the world. They concluded that the main areas of interest from these systems and tools are information on where diseases are present, pathways of introduction, and spread assessment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid risk assessment tool (RRAT) to prioritize emerging and re-emerging livestock diseases for risk management

et al. 2022

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Increasing globalization and international trade contribute to rapid expansion of animal and human diseases. Hence, preparedness is warranted to prevent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases or detect outbreaks in an early stage. We developed a rapid risk assessment tool (RRAT) to inform risk managers on the incursion risk of multiple livestock diseases, about the main sources for incursion and the change of risk over time. RRAT was built as a relational database to link data on disease outbreaks worldwide, on introduction routes and on disease-specific parameters. The tool was parameterized to assess the incursion risk of 10 livestock diseases for the Netherlands by three introduction routes: legal trade in live animals, legal trade of animal products, and animal products illegally carried by air travelers. RRAT calculates a semi-quantitative risk score for the incursion risk of each disease, the results of which allow for prioritization. Results based on the years 2016-2018 indicated that the legal introduction routes had the highest incursion risk for bovine tuberculosis, whereas the illegal route posed the highest risk for classical swine fever. The overall incursion risk via the illegal route was lower than via the legal routes. The incursion risk of African swine fever increased over the period considered, whereas the risk of equine infectious anemia decreased. The variation in the incursion risk over time illustrates the need to update the risk estimates on a regular basis. RRAT has been designed such that the risk assessment can be automatically updated when new data becomes available. For diseases with high-risk scores, model results can be analyzed in more detail to see which countries and trade flows contribute most to the risk, the results of which can be used to design risk-based surveillance. RRAT thus provides a multitude of information to evaluate the incursion risk of livestock diseases at different levels of detail. To give risk managers access to all results of RRAT, an online visualization tool was built.

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Assessing the use of animal health platforms: User’s needs, preferences and constraints

Cited by 4 publications

References 11 publications

Epidemic intelligence in Europe: a user needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Epidemic intelligence in Europe: a user needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Epidemic Intelligence in Europe: a users’ needs perspective to foster innovation in digital health surveillance

Rapid risk assessment tool (RRAT) to prioritize emerging and re-emerging livestock diseases for risk management

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