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Home / Equine Research Bank / Front Vet Sci / Evaluating 5.5 Years of Equinella: A Veterinary-Based Volunt...
Frontiers in veterinary science2020; 7; 327; doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00327

Evaluating 5.5 Years of Equinella: A Veterinary-Based Voluntary Infectious Disease Surveillance System of Equines in Switzerland.

Abstract: Equine health is important in regard to trade, economy, society, and the veterinary, as well as public health. To reduce the burden of equine infectious diseases internationally, it is important to collect, review, and distribute equine health surveillance data as accurate and timely as possible. Within this study, we aimed at providing a comprehensive descriptive analysis of data submitted to Equinella, a voluntary veterinary-based surveillance system of non-notifiable equine infectious diseases and clinical signs, in Switzerland. This was achieved by reviewing the reports submitted since its relaunch in November 2013 and until April 2019, as well as assessing the data validity, activeness of participating veterinarians, coverage of the equine population, geographical representativeness, and timeliness of the system. In total, 630 reports have been submitted. Data validity ranged between 88.2 and 100%. The coverage of Equinella was assessed to be 50.8% of the Swiss equine population. Over the 5.5 years, of all 102 registered veterinarians, 67 (65.7%) submitted at least one report. On average, these veterinarians submitted 1.7 reports per year (median = 4 reports). More recently, in 2018, approximately only one-third [29 (28.4%)] of all registered veterinarians submitted at least one report. However, 59 (57.8%) have responded to the monthly reminder emails to confirm that they have not observed any relevant clinical case to be reported at least once (median number of confirmation per veterinarian = 9 of 12 reminder emails). The incidence of reports varied between cantons (member states of the Swiss confederation). The median timeliness of report submission was found to be 7 days. Overall, Equinella has been receiving reports since its initiation and contributed continuously to the surveillance of infectious diseases in the Swiss equine population and provided an output for the international equine community. Challenges encountered in achieving a higher number of submitted reports and increasing the coverage of the equine population, as well as the overall activeness of veterinarians, require further work. With our study, we provide a comprehensive overview of a veterinary-based voluntary surveillance system for equine health, assessed challenges of such, and suggest concrete improvements with transdisciplinary approaches for similar veterinary-based surveillance systems.
Copyright © 2020 Özçelik, Graubner, Remy-Wohlfender, Dürr and Faverjon.
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Publication Date: 2020-06-30 PubMed ID: 32695799PubMed Central: PMC7339941DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00327Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

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The research evaluates Equinella, an infectious disease surveillance system for equines in Switzerland over a 5.5-year period – looking at the information collected and how effective its implementation has been in monitoring equine health.

Background

  • The study centers around Equinella, a voluntary veterinary-based surveillance system in Switzerland for monitoring non-notifiable equine infectious diseases and clinical signs.
  • For the importance of trade, economy, society, veterinary, and public health, a thorough horse health surveillance system is essential.
  • The study aimed at a comprehensive analysis of data collected by Equinella from its re-launch in November 2013 till April 2019.

Methodology and Findings

  • The researchers evaluated the data validity, the activeness of participating veterinarians, the coverage of the equine population under this surveillance, geographical representativeness, and the timeliness of the system.
  • Digging into the data gathered, a total of 630 reports had been submitted during the observational period, with a data validity ranging between 88.2 and 100%.
  • The coverage of the Equinella program was estimated to be 50.8% of the total Swiss equine population.
  • Among 102 registered veterinarians, 67 (65.7%) submitted at least one report, on average making 1.7 reports per year.
  • However, in 2018, only 29 (28.4%) of all registered veterinarians submitted at least one report. Despite this, a substantial number of veterinarians (n=59, 57.8%), have responded to the monthly reminder emails confirming absence of any relevant clinical case to be reported.
  • The incidence of reports differed across various cantons (member states of the Swiss confederation).
  • The median time taken to submit a report was found to be 7 days.

Conclusions

  • Since its inception, Equinella has been receiving and providing continuous output on the surveillance of infectious diseases in the Swiss equine population for the international equine community.
  • However, certain challenges were identified such as increasing the number of submitted reports, enhancing the coverage of the equine population, and improving the general activeness of veterinarians.
  • The study provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of a voluntary veterinary-based surveillance system for equine health and suggests potential improvements for similar veterinary-based surveillance systems using a transdisciplinary approach.

Cite This Article

APA
Özçelik R, Graubner C, Remy-Wohlfender F, Dürr S, Faverjon C. (2020). Evaluating 5.5 Years of Equinella: A Veterinary-Based Voluntary Infectious Disease Surveillance System of Equines in Switzerland. Front Vet Sci, 7, 327. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00327

Publication

Frontiers in veterinary science
ISSN: 2297-1769
NlmUniqueID: 101666658
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 7
Pages: 327
PII: 327

Researcher Affiliations

Özçelik, Ranya
  • Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Graubner, Claudia
  • ISME-Equine Clinic Bern, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Remy-Wohlfender, Franziska
  • ISME-Equine Clinic Bern, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Dürr, Salome
  • Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Faverjon, Céline
  • Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

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Citations

This article has been cited 2 times.
  1. Magouras I, Schoster A, Fouché N, Gerber V, Groschup MH, Ziegler U, Fricker R, Griot C, Vögtlin A. Neurological disease suspected to be caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in 6 horses in Switzerland.. J Vet Intern Med 2022 Nov;36(6):2254-2262.
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