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
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