Under the framework of the Innotub project, it is developing a web application to calculate the biosecurity level of each farm, specifically the risk of entry of different pathogens such as bovine tuberculosis, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), and bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), as well as provide possible solutions.
The web application considers a series of parameters that allow simulating which improvement options would make the farm safer, an aspect considered very useful for veterinarians and farm managers.
Using this new tool is very simple: users need only enter the current biosecurity measures of each farm and other data such as animal movements, visits by people, contact points with wildlife, and hygiene measures. Based on this information, an algorithm calculates the risk of pathogen introduction and, more specifically, identifies the most likely entry routes.
Once the risk results are obtained, the tool offers improvement proposals by modifying some of the biosecurity measures, so that the risk changes depending on the parameter that is modified. In other words, farmers can easily and practically see how they could reduce risks if they changed any of the key aspects of biosecurity management.
A tool in the final stage of development
FarmR!SK is currently being tested by farmers. The current objective is to evaluate the graphical and visual aspects, that is, to determine the most effective way to present the data so that it is easy for end users to interpret.
“FarmR!SK was created from the need of farmers and veterinarians to discover the level of biosecurity of their farms and how they can improve it with concrete measures”, says UAB lecturer Alberto Allepuz. This tool represents another step in the work carried out by the Research Group on Transmissible Diseases in Animal Health at the Department of Animal Health and Anatomy of the UAB, involving researchers Natalia Ciria, Giovanna Ciaravino and Teresa Imperial.
“The Innotub II project aims to create a scientific network of excellence to improve the control and surveillance of tuberculosis in livestock and wildlife in the trans-Pyrenean region. In this regard, the tool fits perfectly with the mission of Innotub II and is expected to be available in the coming months.
