In EMPRES Bulletin No. 11, readers were introduced to the new TADinfo software of EMPRES. As was mentioned in that issue, TADinfo has to be specifically customized for a country wishing to use it, as it is GIS-based and uses an underlying geographic database specific to the user country. FAO will be able to provide a customized and ready-to-use version of TADinfo on official request from the national Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO). However, before installing TADinfo, there are some issues of which Veterinary Services should take note.
TADinfo is used to record individual disease events, meaning that an event-based or observation-based reporting system must be in use in the country. The reporting system must be structured, and each event must be reported separately, giving details of the date of observation, species affected, tentative diagnosis and geographical location. TADinfo cannot be used for recording monthly summaries of information given per district, for example, nor can it be used to record narrative reports of disease problems.
TADinfo is currently a Windows-based program, and it requires users to have a good knowledge of the Windows 95/98/NT mouse-driven interface and file management. In other words, the program operator should have extensive experience in using the latest Windows technology, and experience in the DOS or Windows 3 environment will probably not be very useful. Inexperienced computer users will not be able to install and configure the software for use.
TADinfo needs to be under the supervision of an experienced epidemiologist who understands the issues related to data collection, input and analysis, and there must be an identified staff member (data input clerk or technician) who can handle the data input.
The current version of TADinfo requires, in addition to MS Windows 95/98/NT, the installation of two ancillary pieces of software: MS Access (specifically version 97) and ArcView 3.0 or higher. MS Access is needed for the data input, storage and analysis functions of TADinfo, while ArcView is required for the mapping functions. (FAO is currently working on the creation of a simple map viewer to replace ArcView; and eventually Access will also be replaced with a built-in database system.) All of this implies a fairly powerful computer system with high hardware specifications (100-200 MB free hard drive space; a minimum of 32 MB RAM, preferably 200 MHz or faster CPU and 17-inch SVGA monitor).
In order to create maps of disease distribution, TADinfo also requires electronic/digital maps of the country with its internal administrative boundaries in ArcView ("shape files") format. FAO/EMPRES does have these maps for some countries, but many of them are outdated. Countries requesting TADinfo may have to find these maps (usually kept by university Geography Departments or Transport Ministries) and send them to FAO together with their software requests.
The current version of TADinfo is also not a network application. It is a single-user system that must be installed on a single PC in the national epidemiology unit. Although FAO hopes to have a network version available by the end of the year, users must realize the limitations of the present software. TADinfo has an "installation ID" for each version, which means that users can only install one version per country. These installation IDs are centrally recorded by FAO.
Potential users must send FAO details of their country surveillance system (a small dossier of two or three pages) and examples of the field reporting forms that will be fed into TADinfo.
FAO will also need the name and contact address of the person designated by the CVO to operate TADinfo, together with details of that person's computing experience.
Users should indicate whether an updated electronic map (in ArcView format) is available for the country, and, if possible, send it to FAO/EMPRES on diskette.
Having this information will enable FAO/EMPRES to give any additional advice, training materials or follow-up that might be needed in order to install TADinfo successfully in the country concerned. It is very likely that some countries may have to change the manner in which they report diseases to their national epidemiology units in order to use TADinfo; EMPRES will be able to give guidance in such circumstances.