Private database used for M bovis tracking

AgriBase, owned and developed by state-owned AsureQuality, holds information on more than 142,000 rural properties including farms, vineyards, orchards and forests.
The information includes property locations, owners, contact details and stock holdings.
It gives a helicopter view of the nation’s rural properties and was purpose-built to record disease management information and facilitate tracing, an AsureQuality spokesperson said.
The agency, which has a profit imperative, licenses use of the data to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
A ministry spokesperson said it was developed to create a data warehouse of information about testing results from Mycoplasma bovis and other illnesses that might affect herds from time to time.
Agribase holds detailed property level data, including testing information, which is available to MPI but not the public. 
Although the information contributed by farmers and small block-holders is voluntary, the database is reasonably comprehensive.
“We have not identified any particular gaps while using it,” the spokesperson said.
The data provides authorities with results from successive testing rounds on farms suspected of having cattle that have been in contact with Mycoplasma bovis-infected animals.
MPI experts are using it to determine whether a herd is clear of infection, needs more testing and whether an infection is likely or already present.
The testing information originated from MPI’s Animal Health Laboratory at Wallaceville. The information from the testing is also reviewed by epidemiological experts to help analyse any infection patterns and likely trends throughout the lifespan of a disease outbreak.
AgriBase is also helping MPI to plan responses to localised outbreaks of Mycoplasma bovis.
It can be used to tailor communications to farmers in particular areas and has been useful in understanding the likely spread of the disease.
Apart from helping responses to exotic diseases and pests, AgriBase is used in epidemiological research into human and animal health and to create food safety traceability and verification systems.
The database has been used in response to natural disasters such as the February 2004 floods in the lower North Island, when it helped authorities contact affected farmers and survey the damage.
It also records stock exclusion from waterways, farm fertiliser plans and maps onfarm hazards.
MPI has its own web-based database for biosecurity and other emergency responses, FarmsOnLine.
A decade ago the old Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries debated whether to build FarmsOnLine, adopt AgriBase or adapt a combination of both.
An MPI spokesperson said FarmsOnLine today has a different function to AgriBase, including identifying farm ownership and finding farmers in response to a biosecurity emergency.
The platform was used that way after the discovery of myrtle rust.
An MPI webpage says “We need FarmsOnLine because it’s critical that there are systems in place to protect stock, crops and farmers’ livelihood and the New Zealand economy.
“Our trading partners need assurance that we can respond effectively to disease outbreaks and we need to reduce the chance and the extent of trade restrictions that could cost us millions of dollars.”