Companion animal disease surveillance: a new solution to an old problem?

Abstract

Infectious disease surveillance in companion animals has a long history. However, it has mostly taken the form of ad hoc surveys, or has focused on adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals. In 2006 a Blue Ribbon Panel was convened by the U.S. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to discuss the potential utility of a national companion animal health surveillance system. Such a system could provide fundamental information about disease occurrence, transmission and risk factors; and could facilitate industry-supported pharmaco-epidemiological studies and post-market surveillance. Disease WatchDog, a prospective national disease surveillance project, was officially launched in January 2010 to capture data on diseases in dogs and cats throughout Australia. Participation is encouraged by providing registrants real-time disease maps and material for improved communication between veterinarians and clients. From January to mid-November 2010, an estimated 31% of veterinary clinics Australia-wide joined the project. Over 1300 disease cases - including Canine Parvovirus (CPV), Canine Distemper, Canine Hepatitis, Feline Calicivirus, Feline Herpesvirus, and Tick Paralysis - were reported. In New South Wales alone, 552 CPV cases in dogs were reported from 89 postcode locations. New South Wales data was scanned using the space-time permutation test. Up to 24 clusters (P<0.01) were identified, occurring in all months except March. The greatest number of clusters (n=6) were identified in April. The most likely cluster was identified in western Sydney, where 36 cases of CPV were reported from a postcode in February. Although the project is still in its infancy, already new information on disease distribution has been produced. Disease information generated could facilitate targeted control and prevention programs.

Fig. 1

Disease report data collection module, Disease Watchdog website (www.diseasewatchdog.org).

Fig. 2

Examples of the reports that can be generated and viewed on the Disease Watchdog website (www.diseasewatchdog.org).

Fig. 3

An example of the spatial search capacity of Disease WatchDog, using canine parvovirus in New South Wales, Australia.

Fig. 4

Cases of canine parvovirus in postcodes in New South Wales, Australia reported within the Disease WatchDog surveillance system, January–September 2010. Symbols are proportional to the number of cases reported, ranging from 1 to 34 cases.

Fig. 5

The distribution of spatio–temporal clusters of cases of canine parvovirus reported in the Disease WatchDog surveillance system between January and September 2010 in New South Wales, Australia. Clusters were detected using the scan statistic permutation test, with spatial scanning windows up to 20 km radius and temporal scanning windows up to 28 days in length.