DEVELOPING A MOBILE APP FOR FISH DISEASE IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT, AND EXPANDING A COMMERCIAL DATABASE FOR FISH DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS

<b>Project Methods</b><br> App: PD Durborow and co-PD Atkinson will design the App in consultation with a private mobile application production company, Studio Symposium. This will be an iterative process involving initial creation of App components (interface, pathogen and treatment reference, diagnostic/decision trees) followed by alpha-testing of these at both KSU (Durborow) and OSU (Atkinson), followed by Beta-testing with KSU and OSU students, and aquaculturists. The App will have a format similar to the web site FishPathogens.net created by co-PD Atkinson. The App will be underpinned by a reference dataset of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasitic pathogens (nematodes, myxozoans, monogeneans, digeneans, cestodes, fungi, & crustaceans). Data entry forms (user interface) will be created to allow addition of new pathogens to the dataset.Each pathogen will have a detailed descriptive text including taxonomy, clinical signs (symptoms), etiology (cause of disease), treatments, preventions, and references. These data will be drawn initially from the existing structure of website Fishpathogens.net (Atkinson). New pathogens can be added at any time, particularly those suggested by survey feedback from clinics, aquarists and aquaculturists.Each pathogen will have video footage (where relevant) and still photographs to aid in identification. Existing video and images will be imported from website FishPathogens.net (Atkinson) and the DVD Diseases of Warmwater Fish and Trout Diseases (Durborow), and from KSU FDDL historical case reports. Additional photographs and videos of fish diseases and fish pathogens will be created: at KSU by PD Durborow and a graduate student using the Nikon Eclipse 90i microscope and Canon HD microscope camcorder; and at OSU by co-PD Atkinson and OSU Microbiology undergraduates using a Nikon SMZ1500 dissection scope with Canon DSL and a Leica DM2500 compound microscope and SPOT imaging system. KSU and OSU will compose descriptive text to accompany all photographs and videos. Students will create diagrams and life cycle charts as part of course activities.Initial public release of Version 1.0 of the App will occur in the second year of the project, coupled with its incorporation into the KSU Aquaculture Extension program and the Oregon State University Department of Microbiology's Salmon Disease Workshop. The App will also be advertised through Extension routes including newsletters, emails to County Extension Offices, and demonstrations during workshops. We will assess effectiveness of the App and identify needed improvements through a stakeholder user survey, which will be implemented and managed by KSU. The survey will include questions: 1) how long have you had the App, 2) how often do you use it, 3) how many new practices, or changes in historical practices, have you adopted from the App, 4) please estimate the number of dollars you have earned or saved as a result of using this App, and 5) has this App made some aspect of your life easier/better. These questions are recommended by Dr. Todd Sink of Texas A&M University, creator of several aquaculture mobile apps (personal communication, March 2015).Suggested changes will be discussed between Durborow and Atkinson and incorporated into the final public release version of the App in year three.Learning Games: Two learning games will be created: Fish Detective and SimFish (these are working titles and may change). Atkinson will lead design of the games at OSU, and will draw upon his previous computer game industry experience. OSU and KSU students will design interface and workflow aspects of the games in year 1. Both games will require decisions about fish health to be made by consultation with the App and derivative database products (e.g. epidemiology/occurrence maps; direct Database interface with be limited by licensing requirements). In years 1-2 Atkinson will work directly with OSU eCampus to implement the games and to test them with university students; game coding problems will be used as applied teaching tools in OSU Computer Science courses. Both games will be playable initially without requiring the App to be finished. The finished games will be simplified for use in outreach and K-12 teaching.Database: We will establish an online, searchable Database of fish disease diagnostic laboratory case data. The database will be designed by Durborow and Atkinson with the database development firm New Planet Technologies and Julie Bebak-Williams, DVM, who will serve as a consultant for customizing the database for a wide range of fish species. New Planet Technologies is the database designer for DVMdx, an agricultural animal data management platform used by pharmaceutical company Merck Animal Health, customized in 2015 to accommodate farm-raised channel catfish. Dr. Bebak-Williams was a consultant for Merck to implement this addition of channel catfish to DVMdx. Wewill work with herand New Planet Technologies to expand the database to include more fish species: largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, koi, rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, bluegill sunfish, hybrid bluegills (crossed with green sunfish), goldfish, tilapia, paddlefish, blue catfish, and channel x blue catfish hybrids. We will design the data fields to be compatible with the NAHLN (National Animal Health Laboratory Network) database. Dr. Michael Martin of Clemson University, a NAHLN member who helped design the messaging protocol and schema for the NAHLN software system, will provide guidance in the database design, to ensure compatibility. Online data entry forms will be designed to allow data entry of both new clinical cases and historic FDDL paper case reports back to 1990 (data entry will be performed by KSU Extension/laboratory personnel with the help of KSU and OSU students).Initial public release of Version 1.0 of the Database will occur in the second year of the project. We will assess usability and compatibility of the Database, and canvas for suggested improvements through a stakeholder user survey, which will be implemented and managed by KSU Extension/laboratory personnel. The survey will include questions: 1) Is the Database in user-friendly format? How could its ease-of-use be improved? 2) Are the data entry points sufficient for the information that you wish to enter? What additional data would you like to enter; what data would you suggest omitting? and 3) Has the Database helped you with your fish disease diagnostic laboratory analyses? What has it helped you to analyze that you were previously not able to?Suggested changes will be discussed between Durborow and Atkinson and incorporated into the final public release version of the Database in year three.