NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AND RECORDING-SYSTEMS FOR CONTAGIOUS ANIMAL-DISEASE CONTROL

A conceptual framework was described for national identification and r ecording (I&R) systems, especially referring to the role in the contro l of highly contagious diseases in pigs. Subsequently, four different concepts of I&R systems were described: a current system meeting EU mi nimum standards, a revised system that will be introduced in several c ountries in the near future and two future concepts, based on electron ic identification and monitoring. These concepts were discussed from t he perspective of (1) their role in disease prevention and control, an d (2) the impact of additional applications of these systems on animal production. It was concluded that improvement of the current I&R syst em can be beneficial to contagious disease control. Moreover, electron ic identification and monitoring systems could be an especially import ant tool in improving collection and subsequent utilisation of informa tion in future animal production. The additional applications would al so be very valuable in increasing the economic feasibility of these sy stems.