Veterinaria Italiana

Summary
A model developed as a complementary tool in the surveillance of foot and mouth disease (FMD) was based on two main components: data and basic cartography. The data was obtained from the veterinary services of Argentina. It included different animal species, movement records and data on vaccination campaigns. The basic cartography was produced from cadastral maps of four departments of Buenos Aires province that were scanned, incorporated to a geographic information system and then overlapped to satellite images to adjust the borders of farms to the correct coordinates. Digital maps of the four departments were obtained, with all premises represented as polygons. Then, each premise was identified with its unique code, provided by the veterinary services. The data was processed and then linked to the maps. The output of the model are maps of different types, in which it is possible to characterise animal population at farm level, to analyse the evolution of the systematic vaccination campaigns against FMD, to determine patterns of animal movements and others.

Keywords
Argentina, Epidemiology, Foot and mouth disease, Geographic information system, Surveillance