scholarly journals Towards an Integrated Animal Health Surveillance System in Tanzania: Making Better use of Existing and Potential data Sources for Early Warning Surveillance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeth George ◽  
Barbara Häsler ◽  
Erick Komba ◽  
Calvin Sindato ◽  
Mark Rweyemamu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Traceability System ◽  
Spatial Coverage

Abstract Background: Effective animal health surveillance systems require reliable, quality, and timely data for decision-making. The animal health surveillance system in Tanzania has been relying on a few data sources, which suffer from delays in reporting, underreporting, and high cost of data collection and transmission. The integration of data from multiple sources can enhance early detection and response to animal diseases and consequently facilitate the early control of outbreaks. The study aimed to identify and assess the existing and potential data sources for animal health surveillance system in Tanzania and how they can better be used for early warning surveillance. The study used mixed-method design to identify and assess data sources. Data were collected through document reviews, internet search, cross-sectional survey, key informant interviews, site visits, and non-participant observation. The assessment was done using pre-defined criteria.Results: A total of 13 data sources were identified and assessed. Most surveillance data came from livestock farmers, slaughter facilities, and livestock markets, while animal dip sites were the least used sources. Commercial farms and veterinary shops, electronic surveillance tools like AfyaData and Event Mobile Application (EMA-i) and information systems such as Tanzania National Livestock Identification and Traceability System (TANLITS) and Agricultural Routine Data System (ARDS) show potential to generate relevant data for the national animal health surveillance system. The common variables found across most sources were: the name of the place (12/13), animal type/species (12/13), syndromes (10/13) and number of affected animals (8/13). The majority of the sources had good surveillance data contents and were accessible with medium to maximum spatial coverage. However, there was significant variation in terms of data frequency, accuracy and cost. There were limited integration and coordination of data flow from the identified sources with minimum to non-automated data entry and transmission. Conclusion: The study demonstrated how the available data sources have great potential for early warning surveillance in Tanzania. Both existing and potential data sources had complementary strengths and weaknesses; a multi-source surveillance system would be best placed to harness these different strengths.

scholarly journals Towards an integrated animal health surveillance system in Tanzania: making better use of existing and potential data sources for early warning surveillance

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeth George ◽  
Barbara Häsler ◽  
Erick Komba ◽  
Calvin Sindato ◽  
Mark Rweyemamu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Traceability System ◽  
Spatial Coverage

Abstract Background Effective animal health surveillance systems require reliable, high-quality, and timely data for decision making. In Tanzania, the animal health surveillance system has been relying on a few data sources, which suffer from delays in reporting, underreporting, and high cost of data collection and transmission. The integration of data from multiple sources can enhance early detection and response to animal diseases and facilitate the early control of outbreaks. This study aimed to identify and assess existing and potential data sources for the animal health surveillance system in Tanzania and how they can be better used for early warning surveillance. The study used a mixed-method design to identify and assess data sources. Data were collected through document reviews, internet search, cross-sectional survey, key informant interviews, site visits, and non-participant observation. The assessment was done using pre-defined criteria. Results A total of 13 data sources were identified and assessed. Most surveillance data came from livestock farmers, slaughter facilities, and livestock markets; while animal dip sites were the least used sources. Commercial farms and veterinary shops, electronic surveillance tools like AfyaData and Event Mobile Application (EMA-i) and information systems such as the Tanzania National Livestock Identification and Traceability System (TANLITS) and Agricultural Routine Data System (ARDS) show potential to generate relevant data for the national animal health surveillance system. The common variables found across most sources were: the name of the place (12/13), animal type/species (12/13), syndromes (10/13) and number of affected animals (8/13). The majority of the sources had good surveillance data contents and were accessible with medium to maximum spatial coverage. However, there was significant variation in terms of data frequency, accuracy and cost. There were limited integration and coordination of data flow from the identified sources with minimum to non-existing automated data entry and transmission. Conclusion The study demonstrated how the available data sources have great potential for early warning surveillance in Tanzania. Both existing and potential data sources had complementary strengths and weaknesses; a multi-source surveillance system would be best placed to harness these different strengths.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Measles Surveillance Systems in Ginnir District, Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia: A Concurrent Embedded Mixed Quantitative/Qualitative Study 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falaho Sani ◽  
Mohammed Hasen ◽  
Mohammed Seid ◽  
Nuriya Umer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Public Health Surveillance ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Southeast Ethiopia ◽  
Bale Zone

Abstract Background: Public health surveillance systems should be evaluated periodically to ensure that the problems of public health importance are being monitored efficiently and effectively. Despite the widespread measles outbreak in Ginnir district of Bale zone in 2019, evaluation of measles surveillance system has not been conducted. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of measles surveillance system and its key attributes in Ginnir district, Southeast Ethiopia.Methods: We conducted a concurrent embedded mixed quantitative/qualitative study in August 2019 among 15 health facilities/study units in Ginnir district. Health facilities are selected using lottery method. The qualitative study involved purposively selected 15 key informants. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems through face-to-face interview and record review. The quantitative findings were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and summarized by frequency and proportion. The qualitative findings were narrated and summarized based on thematic areas to supplement the quantitative findings.Results: The structure of surveillance data flow was from the community to the respective upper level. Emergency preparedness and response plan was available only at the district level. Completeness of weekly report was 95%, while timeliness was 87%. No regular analysis and interpretations of surveillance data, and the supportive supervision and feedback system was weak. The participation and willingness of surveillance stakeholders in implementation of the system was good. The surveillance system was found to be useful, easy to implement, representative and can accommodate and adapt to changing conditions. Report documentation and quality of data was poor at lower level health facilities. Stability of the system has been challenged by shortage of budget and logistics, staff turnover and lack of update trainings.Conclusions: The surveillance system was acceptable, useful, simple, flexible and representative. Data quality, timeliness and stability of the system were attributes that require improvement. The overall performance of measles surveillance system in the district was poor. Hence, regular analysis of data, preparation and dissemination of epidemiological bulletin, capacity building and regular supervision and feedback are recommended to enhance performance of the system.

Evaluation of animal and public health surveillance systems: a systematic review

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. DREWE ◽  
L. J. HOINVILLE ◽  
A. J. C. COOK ◽  
T. FLOYD ◽  
K. D. C. STÄRK
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Wide Range

SUMMARYDisease surveillance programmes ought to be evaluated regularly to ensure they provide valuable information in an efficient manner. Evaluation of human and animal health surveillance programmes around the world is currently not standardized and therefore inconsistent. The aim of this systematic review was to review surveillance system attributes and the methods used for their assessment, together with the strengths and weaknesses of existing frameworks for evaluating surveillance in animal health, public health and allied disciplines. Information from 99 articles describing the evaluation of 101 surveillance systems was examined. A wide range of approaches for assessing 23 different system attributes was identified although most evaluations addressed only one or two attributes and comprehensive evaluations were uncommon. Surveillance objectives were often not stated in the articles reviewed and so the reasons for choosing certain attributes for assessment were not always apparent. This has the potential to introduce misleading results in surveillance evaluation. Due to the wide range of system attributes that may be assessed, methods should be explored which collapse these down into a small number of grouped characteristics by focusing on the relationships between attributes and their links to the objectives of the surveillance system and the evaluation. A generic and comprehensive evaluation framework could then be developed consisting of a limited number of common attributes together with several sets of secondary attributes which could be selected depending on the disease or range of diseases under surveillance and the purpose of the surveillance. Economic evaluation should be an integral part of the surveillance evaluation process. This would provide a significant benefit to decision-makers who often need to make choices based on limited or diminishing resources.

scholarly journals Mechanisms and Contextual Factors Affecting the Implementation of Animal Health Surveillance in Tanzania: A Process Evaluation

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeth George ◽  
Barbara Häsler ◽  
Erick V. G. Komba ◽  
Mark Rweyemamu ◽  
Sharadhuli I. Kimera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Process Evaluation ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey

A strong animal health surveillance system is an essential determinant of the health of animal and human population. To ensure its functionality and performance, it needs to be evaluated regularly. Therefore, a process evaluation was conducted in this study to assess animal health surveillance processes, mechanisms and the contextual factors which facilitate or hinder uptake, implementation and sustainability of the system in Tanzania. A mixed-method study design was used to evaluate the national animal health surveillance system guided by a framework for process evaluation of complex interventions developed by Moore and others. The system was assessed against standard guidelines and procedures using the following attributes: fidelity, adherence, exposure, satisfaction, participation rate, recruitment and context. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a cross-sectional survey, key informant interviews, document review, site visits and non-participant observation. Data from questionnaires were downloaded, cleaned and analyzed in Microsoft™ Excel. Qualitative data were analyzed following deductive thematic and content analysis methods. Fidelity attribute showed that case identification is mainly based on clinical signs due to limited laboratory services for confirmation. Data collection was not well-coordinated and there were multiple disparate reporting channels. Adherence in terms of the proportion of reports submitted per month was only 61% of the target. District-level animal health officials spent an average of 60% of their weekly time on surveillance-related activities, but only 12% of them were satisfied with the surveillance system. Their dissatisfaction was caused by large area coverage with little to no facilitation, poor communication, and lack of a supporting system. The cost of surveillance data was found to be 1.4 times higher than the annual surveillance budget. The timeliness of the system ranged between 0 and 153 days from the observation date (median = 2 days, mean = 6 days). The study pointed out some deviations in animal health surveillance processes from the standard guidelines and their implication on the system's performance. The system could be improved by developing a user-friendly unified reporting system, the active involvement of subnational level animal health officials, optimization of data sources and an increase in the horizon of the financing mechanism.

scholarly journals Potential for establishing an injury surveillance system in India: a review of data sources and reporting systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagnoor Jagnoor ◽  
Manickam Ponnaiah ◽  
Matthew Varghese ◽  
Rebecca Ivers ◽  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Unintentional Injury ◽  
Injury Surveillance ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Unintentional Injuries ◽  
Injury Surveillance System ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Morbidity Data

Abstract Background Unintentional injuries account for 10% of deaths worldwide; the majority due to road traffic injuries, falls, drowning, poisoning and burns. Effective surveillance systems provide evidence for informed injury prevention and treatment and improve recovery outcomes. Our objectives were to review existing sources of unintentional injury data, and quality of the data on the burden, distribution, risk factors and trends of unintentional injuries in India and to describe strengths and limitations of health facility-based data for potential use in injury surveillance systems. Methods We searched national and international organisations’ websites to identify unintentional injury-related mortality and morbidity data sources in India. We reviewed and evaluated data collection methods for surveillance attributes recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). We visited health facilities at all levels from public and private sectors, emergency transport centres, insurance offices and police stations in settings reporting significant number of injuries. In these sites, we interviewed key stakeholders using an explorative approach on current data collection processes and challenges to establishing an injury surveillance system based on WHO guidelines. Results Major gaps were highlighted in injury mortality and morbidity data in India, including ill-defined causes of injury deaths and lack of standardisation in classification and coding. Site visits revealed that reporting standards of injuries varied, with issues around clarity of definitions, accountability, time points and lack of reporter/coder training. Major challenges were lack of dedicated staff and training. Conclusions There is an important need to build human resource capacity, integrate data sources, standardise and streamline data collected, ensure accountability and capitalise on digital health information systems including insurance databases.

Feasibility Study of Surveying the Adverse Drug Reaction Surveillance Systems in a Large Community of Hospitals

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham G. Hartzema ◽  
Miquel S. Porta ◽  
Hugh H. Tilson ◽  
Carlos R. Herrera ◽  
Jeffrey T. Moss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Drug Reaction ◽  
Drug Reaction ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Harris County ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Uniform Definition ◽  
Definition Of

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility of accurately assessing the types of hospital adverse drug reaction (ADR) surveillance systems. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey by mailed, self-administered questionnaire followed by selected verification interviews. SETTING: Harris County, Texas. PARTICIPANTS: All hospitals in the county with different pharmacy directors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Self description of surveillance system and number of ADRs reported. RESULTS: Forty-nine of 61 hospitals (80 percent) responded to a questionnaire. Forty-seven (96 percent) of the responding hospitals collected information on ADRs with 11 (22 percent) describing their surveillance system as active. Those individuals most often cited as responsible for ADR surveillance included pharmacists, quality assurance personnel, and nurses. Data were verified by personal interviews for 10 hospitals. The number of ADRs reported during the interviews was significantly lower than that reported in the questionnaires. Overall, the reporting of fatal and severe ADRs were more reliable than the reporting of moderate ADRs. These differences were the result of inadequate documentation and the lack of a uniform definition of ADRs. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that a large-scale ongoing survey of surveillance systems and reported adverse event rates has limitations and the reliability of data derived from a questionnaire should be verified. To improve the accuracy of surveys used to monitor hospital ADR surveillance systems, it is essential to develop reliable definitions for classifying ADRs and surveillance methods, as well as accurate measures of ADR documentation procedures.

scholarly journals Achievements and Challenges of Classical Swine Fever Eradication in Brazil

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1327
Author(s):  
Luís Guilherme de Oliveira ◽  
Igor Renan Honorato Gatto ◽  
Marina Lopes Mechler-Dreibi ◽  
Henrique M. S. Almeida ◽  
Karina Sonálio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Production ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Classical Swine Fever ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Free Zone ◽  
The North ◽  
Passive Surveillance System ◽  
Recent Occurrence

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) causes one of the most critical diseases in the porcine industry worldwide. In Brazil, the first description of the infection was reported in 1888, and the national recognition of the first free zone (FZ) occurred in 2001. Brazil has been recently recognized (2015–2016) by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) with an FZ involving 15 states and the Federal District, corresponding to 95% of the industrial production of pigs in the country, and a non-free zone (NFZ), comprised by the North and Northeast regions of the country, with approximately 18% of the national pig herd and 5% of industrial production. This review aims to describe the history, the control and eradication actions, the recent occurrence of outbreaks in the NFZ, and the results obtained by the surveillance systems’ action in the FZ for CSF in Brazil since its creation. In the passive surveillance system, the notification of the suspect cases of classical swine fever (CSF) is mandatory while in the active surveillance system adopted in the FZ consists of serological monitoring of certified swine breeding farms (CSBFs), intensive pig farming (IPF), non-technified pig herds (NTPig), surveillance in slaughterhouses and monitoring the populations of wild pigs. In this region, the last outbreaks of the disease occurred in 1998, while in the NFZ, 28 outbreaks were detected from 2005 to 2017, with an apparent lethality rate of 93.96% (840/894). However, in 2018 and 2019, 68 new outbreaks were registered with an apparent lethality rate of 75.05% (1095/1459). Therefore, in 2019, the Brazil CSF-Free Strategic Plan was created to eradicate the infection from the country’s NFZ, since outbreaks in this region present a risk of reintroducing the disease FZ. Finally, differences in characteristics between the regions show factors that still need to be considered for the construction of a robust surveillance system in the NFZ and some improvements in the FZ. Thus, the control of CSF throughout the Brazilian territory requires strict sanitary guidelines, promoting animal health and, consequently, the national production chain’s competitiveness.

scholarly journals A stastistical system for detecting Salmonella outbreaks in British livestock

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 952-960 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. KOSMIDER ◽  
L. KELLY ◽  
S. EVANS ◽  
G. GETTINBY
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Health Surveillance Data

Worldwide, early detection systems have been used in public health to aid the timely detection of increases in disease reporting that may be indicative of an outbreak. To date, their application to animal surveillance has been limited and statistical methods to analyse human health data have not been viewed as being applicable for animal health surveillance data. This issue was investigated by developing an early detection system for Salmonella disease in British livestock. We conclude that an early detection system, as for public health surveillance, can be an effective tool for enhanced surveillance. In order to implement this system in the future and extend it for other data types, we provide recommendations for improving the current data collection process. These recommendations will ensure that quality surveillance data are collected and used effectively to monitor disease in livestock populations.

scholarly journals Use of Severity Indicators in a Public Health Surveillance System

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda A. Lizewski ◽  
Howard Burkom ◽  
Joseph Lombardo ◽  
Christopher Cuellar ◽  
Yevgeniy Elbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Public Health Surveillance ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Outpatient Setting ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Fusion Model ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Public Health Surveillance System

While other surveillance systems may only use death and admissions as severity indicators, these serious events may overshadow the more subtle severity signals based on appointment type, disposition from an outpatient setting, and whether that patient had to return for care if they their condition has not improved.  This abstract discusses how these additional data fields were utilized in a fusion model to improve the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE).

scholarly journals Use of technology for public health surveillance reporting: opportunities, challenges and lessons learnt from Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Njeru ◽  
David Kareko ◽  
Ngina Kisangau ◽  
Daniel Langat ◽  
Nzisa Liku ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Public Health Surveillance ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Reporting Rates ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Infectious diseases remain one of the greatest threats to public health globally. Effective public health surveillance systems are therefore needed to provide timely and accurate information for early detection and response. In 2016, Kenya transitioned its surveillance system from a standalone web-based surveillance system to the more sustainable and integrated District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2). As part of Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) initiatives in Kenya, training on use of the new system was conducted among surveillance officers. We evaluated the surveillance indicators during the transition period in order to assess the impact of this training on surveillance metrics and identify challenges affecting reporting rates. Methods: From February to May 2017, we analysed surveillance data for 13 intervention and 13 comparison counties. An intervention county was defined as one that had received refresher training on DHIS2 while a comparison county was one that had not received training. We evaluated the impact of the training by analysing completeness and timeliness of reporting 15 weeks before and 12 weeks after the training. A chi-square test of independence was used to compare the reporting rates between the two groups. A structured questionnaire was administered to the training participants to assess the challenges affecting surveillance reporting. Results: The completeness of reporting increased significantly after the training by 17 percentage points (from 45% to 62%) for the intervention group compared to 3 percentage points (49% to 52%) for the comparison group. Timeliness of reporting increased significantly by 21 percentage points (from 30% to 51%) for the intervention group compared to 7 percentage points (from 31% to 38%) for the comparison group. Major challenges identified for the low reporting rates included lack of budget support from government, lack of airtime for reporting, health workers strike, health facilities not sending surveillance data, use of wrong denominator to calculate reporting rates and surveillance officers being given other competing tasks. Conclusions: Training plays an important role in improving public health surveillance reporting. However, to improve surveillance reporting rates to the desired national targets, other challenges affecting reporting must be identified and addressed accordingly.

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