Contributors

The Surveillance Network Assessment Tool (SNAT) is the result of a common work undertaken as follow:

- A first draft has been developed by a group of 4 epidemiologists (P. Hendrikx [Regional technical assistant in the Caribbean], S. Molia [Cirad Guadeloupe], A. Maillard [Regional technical assistant in the Indian Ocean] and G. Gerbier [Cirad Montpellier]).

- This document has then been revised and corrected by the CaribVET epidemiology group in December 2007 (K. Hackshaw [St Vincent], B. Sanford [Barbados], S. Phanord [Haïti], M. De Paz [Belize], L. Gomez [Dominican Republic], J.F. Lopez [Dominican Republic], M.I. Percedo-Abreu [Cuba], L. Gouyet [Martinique], T. Lefrançois [Cirad Guadeloupe], S. Ahoussou [Cirad Guadeloupe], N. Ehrhardt [Cirad Guadeloupe]).

Objectives

This questionnaire was developed to realize an inventory of the situation of an epidemiological surveillance network.

The majority of epidemiological surveillance networks have common organizational methods, and it seemed relevant to develop a questionnaire which could be used in all countries of a same region.

Organization of the questionnaire

This questionnaire is built according to two logics. The first is to draw up a detailed inventory of the structures and procedures of an epidemiological surveillance network for animal diseases. The second is to present a synthesis of the progress of the network for its principal fields of activity, through a summary table.

In order to ease the understanding of a surveillance networks situation, the document goes from the most synthetic to the most detailed description of the network.

The first part presents a one page table of the global results of the SNAT displaying the level of compliance for each one of the 13 sections of the questionnaire.

The second part presents, for each one of the 13 sections, the summary of findings and the proposed ways to improve the situation of the network, including estimates of costs and origin of funds.

The third part is the detailed questionnaire itself including all necessary questions to be addressed in order to have a precise description of the network.

The summary part of the questionnaire is always presented in the form of four criteria which are satisfied or not by the network under study. If the criterion is satisfied, which is established after having filled the appropriate section of the detailed questionnaire in the third part, the box corresponding to the criterion is ticked.

Once the four criteria have been addressed, the summary of the chapter is done by counting the number of satisfied criteria (number of boxes ticked) then by surrounding the pie chart corresponding to the result (for example, a pie chart half filled would correspond to two criteria satisfied out of four).

To see SNAT questionnaire please upload atteached files (english, french and spanish versions are available)