EU finances large project about endemic contagious diseases in farm animals and salmon

It started two years ago when Prof.dr.ir Gerdien van Schaik was asked to organize a consortium for the EU H2020 call about endemic diseases in farm animals and aquaculture. The resulting project   entitled: “Data-driven control and prioritisation of non-EU-regulated contagious animal diseases (DECIDE)” involving 19 partners from 11 countries was recently funded with €10 million.

Gerdien van Schaik, de coordinator of the DECIDE project, works at Royal GD and holds a chair at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine in ‘monitoring and surveillance of animal health’. “I think it’s great challenge to coordinate and successfully finalize a project with so many partners in different countries”, tells van Schaik.

Why do we do the DECIDE project?

The main goal of the DECIDE project is to develop data-driven decision support tools and workflows with which farmers and veterinarians can make informed decisions for the control of endemic contagious diseases in calves, broilers, piglets and salmon. These decisions take into account the presence of the infection, the direct production losses, the impact on welfare and the costs and benefits of any treatment. “I will not be satisfied until DECIDE has developed practical tools for livestock farmers and their veterinarians that improve the health and welfare of calves, broilers, piglets and salmon”, says van Schaik.

What does the consortium consist of?

The DECIDE consortium consists of experts from different disciplines and sectors, namely veterinary epidemiology and diagnostics, social sciences, economics, animal welfare, information technology, artificial intelligence, data sciences, and mechanistic and predictive modelling. Companies such as Vion Foods and Lely will deliver the data, but also organizations such as Royal GD or the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries will do so. These partners can implement the developed tools in their workflows.

When does the project start?

The DECIDE project will start in the spring of 2021, with appointments of at least nine PhD students, two of which will be at Farm Animal Health. One PhD will focus on economics of animal health and welfare, the other on the development and applications of the tools in the broiler sector.

Teamwork

The DECIDE project was realized in close collaboration with Wilma Steeneveld, Mirjam Nielen and Arjan Stegeman of Farm Animal Health and Helene Knaus of the RSO-DGK office.