Three web-based biosecurity intelligence systems - BioCaster, EpiSPIDER and HealthMap--are compared with respect to their ability to gather and analyse information relevant to public health. Reports from each system for the period 2-30 August 2010 were studied. The systems were compared to the volume of information that they acquired, their overlaps in this information, their timeliness, their sources, their focus on different languages and their focus on different geographical regions. Main results were as follows: EpiSPIDER obtains the most information and does so mainly through Twitter; no significant difference in systems' timeliness was found; there is a relatively small overlap between the systems (10-20%); the systems have significant differences in their ability to acquire information relevant to different countries, which may be due to the sources they use and the languages they focus on.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring has revolutionized the way biodiversity is surveyed and has been proposed as a reliable method to inform management decisions. Recognition of eDNA techniques as reliable tools to inform management and biosecurity require stringent standards to assess sample quality and reliability of results. Laboratories can have their workflows assessed and certified through accreditation and be involved in proficiency testing schemes provided to test the accuracy and precision of molecular methods. Currently, there is only one eDNA‐based proficiency testing scheme designed to test competency of laboratories in amplifying eDNA from the Great Crested Newt, Triturus cristatus (Laurenti, 1768) in water samples. This test, however, is a closed scheme currently run by invitation only to laboratories in the United Kingdom. Given the paucity of eDNA‐based proficiency schemes to ensure high‐quality services, this commentary discusses how future proficiency testing schemes could be designed to assess eDNA sample quality and reliability on detection results for environmental management and biosecurity applications. We discuss the use of tissue‐derived and synthetic oligonucleotides as reference materials, the need for proficiency testing schemes to assess the capacity of analytical facilities to determine sample quality as well as accurately detecting trace eDNA in blind samples and discuss the context in which fit for purpose eDNA testing schemes could be designed. To complement the future development of eDNA proficiency testing schemes, we provide firsthand accounts and lessons learned while developing the current Great Crested Newt eDNA proficiency scheme. Lastly, we highlight current limitations in standardizing rapidly improving eDNA‐based techniques and discuss disadvantages to accreditation and standardization from an Australian‐centered perspective as a means to promote an active debate on the topic of future eDNA accreditation and proficiency testing.

Aim AquaticHealth.net is an open-source aquatic biosecurity intelligence gathering and analysis application. The system collects information in much the same way as other similar systems (e.g. HealthMap, BioCaster). However, the information collected undergoes minimal automated analysis, and analysis is largely left to AquaticHealth.net's users. The result is an automated system of intelligence gathering, combined with a manual system of intelligence analysis. This approach relies on a large number of users, and so Aquat-icHealth.net relies on an open-intelligence analysis method: any user can publish their own analyses for all to see and analyse further. By combining automated data collection and human analysis, AquaticHealth.net will provide fast and accurate forecasts, accompanied with nuanced explanations. These methods can be applied to other areas of biosecurity and disease surveillance.

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