The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance
Abstract Background Animal health data recorded in free text, such as in necropsy reports, can have valuable information for national surveillance systems. However, these data are rarely utilized because the text format requires labor-intensive classification of records before they can be analyzed w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2018-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Veterinary Research |
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| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12917-018-1505-1 |
| _version_ | 1811231794731679744 |
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| author | Susanne Küker Celine Faverjon Lenz Furrer John Berezowski Horst Posthaus Fabio Rinaldi Flavie Vial |
| author_facet | Susanne Küker Celine Faverjon Lenz Furrer John Berezowski Horst Posthaus Fabio Rinaldi Flavie Vial |
| author_sort | Susanne Küker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Animal health data recorded in free text, such as in necropsy reports, can have valuable information for national surveillance systems. However, these data are rarely utilized because the text format requires labor-intensive classification of records before they can be analyzed with using statistical or other software. In a previous study, we designed a text-mining tool to extract data from text in necropsy reports. In the current study, we used the tool to extract data from the reports from pig and cattle necropsies performed between 2000 and 2011 at the Institute of Animal Pathology (ITPA), University of Bern, Switzerland. We evaluated data quality in terms of credibility, completeness and representativeness of the Swiss pig and cattle populations. Results Data was easily extracted from necropsy reports. Data quality in terms of completeness and validity varied a lot depending on the type of data reported. Diseases of the gastrointestinal system were reported most frequently (54.6% of pig submissions and 40.8% of cattle submissions). Diseases affecting serous membranes were reported in 16.0% of necropsied pigs and 27.6% of cattle. Respiratory diseases were reported in 18.3% of pigs and 21.6% of cattle submissions. Conclusions This study suggests that extracting data from necropsy reports can provide information of value for animal health surveillance. This data has potential value for monitoring endemic disease syndromes in different age and production groups, or for early detection of emerging or re-emerging diseases. The study identified data entry and other errors that could be corrected to improve the quality and validity of the data. Submissions to veterinary diagnostic laboratories have selection biases and these should be considered when designing surveillance systems that include necropsy reports. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:51:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81540448ba234b1283428a3796946430 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1746-6148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:51:08Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Veterinary Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-81540448ba234b1283428a37969464302022-12-22T03:36:14ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482018-06-0114111210.1186/s12917-018-1505-1The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillanceSusanne Küker0Celine Faverjon1Lenz Furrer2John Berezowski3Horst Posthaus4Fabio Rinaldi5Flavie Vial6Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of BernVeterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of BernInstitute of Computational Linguistics, University of ZürichVeterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of BernInstitute of Animal Pathology, University of BernInstitute of Computational Linguistics, University of ZürichVeterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of BernAbstract Background Animal health data recorded in free text, such as in necropsy reports, can have valuable information for national surveillance systems. However, these data are rarely utilized because the text format requires labor-intensive classification of records before they can be analyzed with using statistical or other software. In a previous study, we designed a text-mining tool to extract data from text in necropsy reports. In the current study, we used the tool to extract data from the reports from pig and cattle necropsies performed between 2000 and 2011 at the Institute of Animal Pathology (ITPA), University of Bern, Switzerland. We evaluated data quality in terms of credibility, completeness and representativeness of the Swiss pig and cattle populations. Results Data was easily extracted from necropsy reports. Data quality in terms of completeness and validity varied a lot depending on the type of data reported. Diseases of the gastrointestinal system were reported most frequently (54.6% of pig submissions and 40.8% of cattle submissions). Diseases affecting serous membranes were reported in 16.0% of necropsied pigs and 27.6% of cattle. Respiratory diseases were reported in 18.3% of pigs and 21.6% of cattle submissions. Conclusions This study suggests that extracting data from necropsy reports can provide information of value for animal health surveillance. This data has potential value for monitoring endemic disease syndromes in different age and production groups, or for early detection of emerging or re-emerging diseases. The study identified data entry and other errors that could be corrected to improve the quality and validity of the data. Submissions to veterinary diagnostic laboratories have selection biases and these should be considered when designing surveillance systems that include necropsy reports.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12917-018-1505-1Electronic necropsy recordsVeterinaryInformaticsSurveillanceText-mining |
| spellingShingle | Susanne Küker Celine Faverjon Lenz Furrer John Berezowski Horst Posthaus Fabio Rinaldi Flavie Vial The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance BMC Veterinary Research Electronic necropsy records Veterinary Informatics Surveillance Text-mining |
| title | The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| title_full | The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| title_fullStr | The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| title_full_unstemmed | The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| title_short | The value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| title_sort | value of necropsy reports for animal health surveillance |
| topic | Electronic necropsy records Veterinary Informatics Surveillance Text-mining |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12917-018-1505-1 |
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