| Veterinary Practice Surveillance (VPS) is an innovative approach to surveillance that provides the framework for veterinarians to share information via the Internet. It is one of three components of the Alberta Veterinary Surveillance Network (AVSN).
Via a secure website, veterinary practitioners across the province report information about their veterinary visits. Data about both disease and non-disease related visits (e.g. pregnancy diagnosis, herd-health visits etc) are collected. Information from all visits provides valuable demographic information about Alberta’s livestock population. No production-related data are collected.
To protect privacy and preserve confidentiality between veterinarians and their clients, the producer’s identity and exact farm location are not available to Alberta Agriculture and Food.
Food Safety Division epidemiologists analyze the data. Important or unusual events detected by data analysis are investigated further to determine their cause, extent and significance. Often, these investigations occur through the Livestock Pathology Consultation Program and/or the Livestock Disease Investigation Network.
Information obtained through the data analysis is shared regularly with participating practices as well as authorized marketing and commodity agencies.
This approach provides broad surveillance coverage, because the veterinarians collecting the data are in close, regular contact with much of Alberta’s livestock population. As veterinarians are encouraged to report information about their visits as soon as possible, surveillance is continuous and the system allows for rapid detection of unusual disease events.
Enrollment in VPS was initiated in August 2005. As of June 1, 2006, approximately 25 veterinary practices were regularly entering data. For a detailed map showing practice locations that roughly match distribution of cattle, please contact Dr. Jagdish Patel at 780-644-5093.
Between August 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006 there were:
- 3753 operations and 1,545,609 cattle under surveillance
- 17,278 data entries to VPS
Brochures
Why Do Livestock Health Surveillance
Why Do Poultry Health Surveillance
Alberta Veterinary Surveillance Network (AVSN)
Links
Alberta Veterinary Surveillance Network (AVSN)
Food Safety Division
Agri-Food Systems Branch
Office of the Chief Provincial Veterinarian (OCPV)
Alberta Veterinary Medical Association
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) |