Development of an animal health monitoring system based on abattoir condemnation data.

Animal disease surveillance is typically limited to specific diseases whereby the identification of the etiological agent relies on laboratory test results. When efforts are focused on the eradication of known endemic diseases, traditional sampling and testing regimes have proven largely successful. In contrast, such surveillance systems do not work well when confronted with emerging disease events. When novel disease agents emerge in animal populations, it often takes time to identify and control them. By the time a novel disease is recognized, disease transfer outside of the index area may be well underway. In order to achieve early warning of possible disease emergence, analysis based on methodical observation of disease syndromes at specific control points may be beneficial. While not designed to identify a particular disease agent, such monitoring systems provide signals of animal health anomalies, thus allowing earlier investigation and intervention by animal health professionals.