By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A mobile application designed to track and report animal disease outbreaks has been launched by the federal government in collaboration with the Oyo State government.
The new platform, known as the National Animal Disease Information System (NADIS), was unveiled on Tuesday and will be used by animal health workers to report cases of disease outbreaks in their environment.
A statement on Wednesday from the Co-ordinating Director for the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism in Oyo State, Mr Gideon Alade, said training was organised for private and public animal health workers at the Conference Room of the State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The lead facilitator, Dr Olaseju Taiwo, a Vet and Pest Control expert from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, explained that the new software has two applications, the NADIS-mobile, which is for collection of data from the field, and NADIS-admin for viewing reported diseases and for analysis.
According to him, the application can be downloaded on Play Store as VETSARK or via mobile browsers by typing nadis.mobile.ng.
He said the app would enable veterinary outfits, both public and private or the university sectors, to accurately report cases of disease outbreaks near them, which will be followed by prompt intervention from the government at all levels.
“By doing so, disease outbreaks can easily be curbed before causing much damage,” he said.
He stressed that the purpose of the training session was to teach private and public vets how to use the National Animal Disease Information System (NADIS) and also to improve and expand their surveillance points.
In his presentation, the Head of the State Disease Reporting Records Collation and Epidemiology Unit, Dr Kareem Akeem, stated that disease reporting must be systematic and timely.
He added that it is a form of communication about diseases affecting animals which involves the collection and submission of data on disease cases to the appropriate authorities responsible for surveillance and control.
Dr Akeem stressed that Laboratories, livestock producers, research institutions, animal owners and government agencies are key entities that play a role in identifying and reporting disease cases.
In his opening remarks, the Co-ordinating Director of the Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Opawusi Olalekan, said the purpose of the training is to equip animal health workers with the needed knowledge on disease reporting.
He said the training would help them how to improve their practice at their various veterinary outfits for the good of the public.
While welcoming participants to the training session, the State Director of Veterinary Services, Mrs L.S. Azeez, said the training was timely considering the recent outbreak of deadly zoonotic diseases, such as Anthrax, that ravage few African countries, killing animals and people.
She added that the training will assist the State Government to have a timely and accurate disease reporting format and also to curb and prevent outbreaks of disease.
Mrs Azeez, therefore, called on the Private Veterinary Outfits to give their maximum cooperation to the government officers in the collation of disease reports throughout the state.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale