AHIS (UK & Ireland) Conference 2002

Animal Health In A Crisis: Information For Professionals, Decision-Makers And The Public

London Zoo, Regent's Park, Thursday April 25th 2002

The theme of this conference relates to providing information on the epidemiology of disease outbreaks, and to food and food production, with references to the recent crises in the UK and elsewhere. Topics covered will include the challenges in finding and disseminating these data in an accurate and timely fashion from both the medical and veterinary standpoints, and the parts played by web-sites and the internet

Programme

10.00	Coffee and registration
10.30	Communicable disease surveillance and dissemination. Download presentation (pdf). Dr Mike Catchpole, PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre How the PHLS collects, analyses and disseminates communicable disease data; developments as new tools and techniques are used to identify disease outbreaks and exceptional events and to provide "evidence for action".
11.15	The Food Standards Agency: a new player. Download presentation (pdf). Dr Judith Hilton, Head of Microbiology and Food-borne Diseases Unit, Food Standards Agency The FSA was established in April 2000 to give independent and balanced advice in order to ensure food safety. The problems in providing this information to a wide public, including the media, will be discussed.
12 noon	Use of the internet for tracking and archiving disease information. Presentation online at http://www.pighealth.com/AHIS.htm Dr Mike Meredith, Pig Disease Information Centre, University of Cambridge. pighealth.com has been used since 1997 for tracking and archiving animal diseases. It was in use during 2001 to provide up-to-date information about Foot and Mouth Disease, Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome and anthrax.
12.45	AHIS (UK & Ireland) AGM.
13.00	Lunch
14.15	The farm animal health and disease situation. Download presentation (pdf) Professor Dirk Pfeiffer, Royal Veterinary College, London An overview of the problems faced during the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) crisis and the problems in ensuring that current information is available.
15.00	“Crisis” information: the role of the media. Download presentation (pdf) David Watson Editor, Veterinary Times, Veterinary Business Development Ltd A look at the way the media and the internet are used to disseminate information speedily, often in advance of reports from other sources.
15.45	Discussion with speakers, followed by tea and biscuits

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