T-Racing: a modern tool for supporting epidemiological investigation in animal disease outbreaks in Italy

Abstract

The One Health approach unites efforts across human-animal-environment interfaces against shared threats like zoonotic diseases. T-Racing is a Shiny web application, that supports epidemiological investigations and helps contain livestock-related disease spread, aligning with multidisciplinary principles to safeguard public health. The application uses Temporal Network Analysis techniques to address the dynamic nature of animal trade, facilitating backward and forward tracing strategies. T-Racing leverages web services to retrieve data from multiple sources simultaneously and in near real-time through the plumber package and is distributed using Shinyproxy. T-Racing manages and analyze extensive and diverse datasets within the same environment, including animal movement data, disease outbreak data, and genomic data, all obtained from Italian National databases. In this work, we show T-Racing’s capabilities by simulating epidemiological investigations of brucellosis and tuberculosis outbreaks that occurred in non–endemic areas of Italy. To further highlight its capabilities, an interactive demo of T-Racing is available, showcasing its potential and features. This tool supports epidemiological investigations by adopting a data-driven approach, guiding users through the analysis via an iterative process while leveraging their expertise. Therefore, it enables faster data analysis, improves understanding of disease transmission patterns, and facilitates prompt and targeted interventions.