Real-time disease surveillance tools for the swine industry in Minnesota.

The ultimate challenge for integrating geographic information systems (GIS) into swine veterinary activities in the United States is to develop systems that deliver effective decision support to practising veterinarians seeking to control hyper-endemic viral diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). Through collaboration with specialist swine veterinarians and state agencies we have developed two tools designed to enable real-time surveillance for swine diseases, based on capture of veterinary clinical data via the internet. The first is an ArcIMS-based Web-mapping application that enables authorised veterinarians to explore high resolution maps of swine premises throughout the state of Minnesota.