Ranking freshwater fish farms for the risk of disease introduction and spread

A model has been developed by the Cefas Fish Health Inspectorate to support a risk-based surveillance scheme for notifiable fish pathogens in England & Wales.

The spreadsheet which can be downloaded from this web page demonstrates how this model has been applied to rank freshwater farms for the risk of becoming infected and spreading diseases.  It enables the input of farm specific information and provides a graphical display of calculated scores for the risks of introduction and spread of pathogens relative to all other authorised fish farm sites in England and Wales. 

The impact on a farm’s risk scores resulting from modification of different management practices can be demonstrated, allowing farmers to identify key factors that will effectively improve biosecurity on their sites.  This information can assist with the development and review of farm biosecurity measures plans.

Download model template:

• Risk Ranking Model Template. <xls> format.

This work is ongoing and the model may be subject to change and thus the Fish Health Inspectorate welcome any comments, please send to fhi@cefas.co.uk.