Design of a Livestock Disease Outbreak Notification System for Veterinary Services in Niger State

Delayed detection and reporting of livestock disease outbreaks in Nigeria results in rapid spread, significant economic losses for farmers, and occasional zoonotic risks to human populations. This study presents the design of a livestock disease outbreak notification system for the Niger State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's veterinary services division, serving communities in North Central Nigeria. An assessment of existing disease reporting practices revealed that notification chains from field officers to state headquarters averaged 72 hours due to dependence on telephone calls and physical reporting visits. The proposed system design incorporates a mobile reporting interface for veterinary field officers using GPS-tagged incident forms, an automated national classification engine for uploaded disease symptom photographs, and an escalation algorithm that triggers SMS and email alerts to district veterinary officers and the state epidemiologist within one hour of confirmed outbreak classification. The system architecture was designed in compliance with the Food and Agriculture Organization's Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases data standards. Interface wireframes and system architecture diagrams were validated through expert review by three senior veterinary officers in Niger State. Keywords: livestock disease notification, veterinary technology, Niger State, outbreak management, animal health.