IIAD, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Center of Excellence, has been invited to demonstrate the utility of the AgConnect suite of tools to 65-70 swine industry veterinarians at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) meeting during the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.

AgConnect is a suite of customisable data integration and analysis products designed to enhance real-time animal health situational awareness, enable permissioned data sharing, and support decision-making in the event of an emerging, zoonotic and/or high consequence disease event.

Development of the AgConnect technology is a collaboration between IIAD, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), DHS, industry and state animal health partners. The technology allows data collection, linking, integration, and fusion from authoritative sources, and formats them into a single, easy-to-use, common integrated display that empowers end-users by providing them with the capability to perform real-time data analysis.

The applications in the AgConnect suite of tools support biosurveillance, business continuity, and emergency response for the agricultural sector.

Incorporated into the AgConnect system are also tools and incentives that are designed to support and enhance industry production practices and daily herd health management. IIAD is working closely with veterinarians, industry partners, and state and federal animal health officials to develop and pilot this technology based on the expressed needs of these stakeholders.

Dr. Tammy Beckham, director of IIAD, said: "The beauty of technologies like AgConnect is their ability to play a critical role in support of the agricultural industries not only during animal disease outbreaks like PEDv, but also in their day-to-day herd health management.

"The AgConnect technology directly addresses these needs by providing veterinarians, producers, and animal health officials access to cutting edge technology that enhances their situational awareness."

Scientists at IIAD are working closely with epidemiologists at USDA and State Animal Health Offices in addition to the agricultural industries, to ensure the data are in a standardized format that will promote situational awareness and allow for more informed decisions.

IIAD is currently exploring opportunities for long-term sustainability of the system. Ultimately, the goal is to transfer a low-cost, low-maintenance solution for protecting the agricultural industries to a suitable third-party partner.

To learn more about IIAD, visit http://iiad.tamu.edu.