Evaluation of attitudes of participating groups in the Colorado Beef National Animal Health Monitoring System pilot program

Abstract

The National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) was established due to the need for information concerning the incidence of animal disease and the associated costs of disease. Three basic components were proposed in the pilot phase of NAHMS. They were the epidemiologic component, the economic component, and the evaluation component. The epidemiologic component was concerned with collection of data about disease incidence, including information related to identification of risk factors for disease. The economic component attached monetary significance to health occurrences. It also associated cost/benefit ratios with various management decisions and characteristics of individual operations. Food animal veterinary practitioners increasingly deal with animals on a population basis and can use this information in their animal health programming efforts. The third major component of the NAHMS pilot program in Colorado was the evaluation. Evaluation of the pilot project was essential to improve the program, to provide public accountability, to increase knowledge about it, and to provide assessment criteria for future development. There were two primary areas of focus in the evaluation process. They were the methodology of the study, which included the data collection methods and the procedures used to validate and analyze the data, and NAHMS itself, including input from participants.