Data bases in epidemiology.

The research article is exploring the role and benefits of databases in veterinary epidemiology, focusing on the measurement of disease morbidity and the identification of factors linked to disease occurrences, thus influencing the definition of research priorities.

The Role of Databases in Veterinary Medicine

• The first aim of the study is to measure disease morbidity, which aids in the identification of diseases causing significant economic loss and wastage. This helps in setting health research priorities.
• The second focus is identifying factors linked to disease occurrences, which can help identify groups of animals that are at higher risk and clarify disease cause-effect relationships.

Examples on Importance of Disease Morbidity Research

• A prior survey indicated that lameness was the main cause of training days lost in a sample of British racehorses, emphasizing the importance of this area of research.
• Research on disease trends (over 25 years) in Japan showed a decrease in equine infectious anaemia, equine paratyphoid and equine infectious encephalitis, indicating these diseases would probably not be significant problems in the future.

Identification of Disease Factors

• The research highlights how the identification of intrinsic (internal to the animal, e.g., age, gender, breed) and extrinsic (external to the animal, e.g., exposure to pathogens and environmental pollutants, diet, management, and location) factors can aid in predicting disease risks.
• The process of identifying these factors can be done either experimentally or by observing disease in the field and subsequently performing statistical analysis for disease-determinant associations.

The Use of Observational Studies in Veterinary Epidemiology

• The paper explains how observational studies are employed in identifying factors related to disease occurrences. The techniques employed include comparing disease frequency in groups of animals exposed or not exposed to certain risk factors.
• Three major observational study types are highlighted, namely, cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional. Each has different sampling techniques.
• A ‘relative risk’ measure is used in these studies to assess the likelihood of a disease given exposure to certain variables. A relative risk value significantly greater than 1 indicates a positive correlation between the risk factor and disease occurrence.

Specific Observations and Outcomes

• The study makes observations on various diseases in different animals, such as sweet itch in horses in Israel, establishing that male, young, or dark-coloured horses were particularly susceptible, with ponies being more susceptible than other types of horse.
• Case-control studies on salmonellosis in hospitalised horses identified colic, parenteral antibiotic treatment and intubation with nasogastric tubes as risk factors.