DECIDE

The goal of the DECIDE project is 'Data-driven control and prioritisation of non-EU-regulated contagious animal diseases'.

This five-year Horizon 2020 project aims to develop decision support tools which identify early signs of disease and provide diagnostic confirmation for infectious diseases in calves, piglets, broilers and salmon. The options for controlling the disease will be assessed according to their implications in terms of disease spread, economic burden and animal welfare.

Including IfA, 19 partners from across 11 EU countries have come together to deliver the outcomes of the DECIDE project. IfA’s activities in the project will be focused on tools developed for calf diseases in beef and dairy systems, as well as ensuring interactive workshop activities allow for valuable farmer feedback to be taken into account during the development of tools.

Background

Farmers, veterinarians and other animal health managers in the livestock and aquaculture sectors are currently missing information on the prevalence and burden of contagious animal diseases that are not regulated by the European Union. The diseases are estimated to cause 10-15% reduction in performance efficiency of livestock farming, resulting in large financial losses and lower sustainability as well as affect animal welfare.

The DECIDE partnership draws expertise in veterinary epidemiology and diagnostics, data science, mechanistic and predictive modelling, economics, animal welfare and social sciences. The consortium can also count on ample access to data from national animal health agencies, providers of veterinary services or farm equipment suppliers.

For more information visit: https://decideproject.eu/