Digital functions in a participatory One Health surveillance initiative aiming for pandemic averting

Purpose: A community-based Participatory One Health Disease Detection system (PODD) using smart phone technology was piloted in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Volunteers from 300 villages and 74 community governmental agencies were selected purposively to submit daily surveillance reports of poultry health and disease in their communities The primary objective of PODD in pilot phase was to detect abnormal deaths in backyard animal in order to elicit rapid investigation and response. Abnormal numbers or types of death can be a signal of zoonotic diseases which transmits to human and causes pandemic as a subsequence, such as abnormal death in poultry could be an early clinical sign of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a potential precursor of an AI pandemic in humans. Use of smart phones and digital technology is one of the key factors making the PODD system workable. Methods & Materials: The daily reports of poultry health and abnormal poultry death are automatically captured, filtered with predefined case and outbreak definitions, and projected onto a GIS mapping system. The real time analysis of incoming reports allows rapid detection of outbreaks and the generation of automatic SMS warning messages to activate community contingency plans. A disease investigation team is dispatched to confirm the outbreak by clinical examination and, as necessary, laboratory confirmation. The system follows up automatically until 3 weeks after the last report of sick animals or death in the affected area. All stakeholders are notified after complete recovery to normal. Results: During the first 16 months of PODD system piloting 25 abnormal death outbreaks were detected. Eight of the outbreaks were laboratory confirmed with devastating epizootic pathogens, while 17 of the outbreaks unable to confirmed the causes. Within eight laboratory confirmed outbreaks, two of which resulted in almost all chickens in the villages dying. The other six outbreaks could be timely and effectively controlled by the communities. Conclusion: Those early outbreak detection and rapid response demonstrated the potential to integrate this PODD surveillance system under their one health operation centres to prevent pandemic in their community.