EMRS - State investigations and data entry (State)

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FAD Links

Navigation

EMRS Manual for Routine
FAD/EDI Investigations
EMRS – Emergency Management Response
System
- a web enabled lotus notes application developed by the
Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health in cooperation
with multiple program areas of Veterinary Services, State
Departments of Agriculture and other stakeholders to use
in the management of emergency animal disease
outbreaks.

Routine FAD/EDI Reporting
Instance of EMRS used to track the progress and reporting of routine
Foreign Animal Disease and Emerging Disease Investigations in order to
improve our recognition of and response to disease outbreaks.

-It is the intent of management that this system will be the sole system
utilized for the tracking of routine FAD/EDI Investigations after Jan 1, 2004.

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Navigation Instructions!
-clicking on any text in the Table of Contents will take you to the section
referenced.

-use the Return to Table of Contents
button to return to the Table of Contents.

-use the Return to Top
button to return to the beginning page.

-use your browsers Back button to return to a previous screen when
navigating to outside web pages.

-you may scroll through any part of the document by using the scroll bar.

-Text that is highlighted and underlined denotes links to other documents

Any Problems or non-working links on this page should be reported to:
Dr. Fred Bourgeois @[email protected]

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Table of Contents
Navigation Instructions!................................................................................................... 2
FAD/EDI Information for FADD’s ................................................................................. 5

EMRS USER SUPPORT ............................................................. 6
USER NAMES & PASSWORDS ................................................ 6
Who can Access the system and how do you get a user name and password?............... 6
How do I actually get into the system once I have a user name and password? ............ 7

DOCUMENTING FAD INVESTIGATIONS IN EMRS. ....... 11
Who will initiate the New Investigation Summaries? .................................................. 11

What are the specific steps that need to be accomplished in
EMRS to properly document and track FAD Investigations: ....... 11
Step 1: Create Premises ID.
11
Step 2 –Create EMRS Investigation Summary ............................................ 13
Step 3: Create Assigned Herd Exam, E-Mail it............................................ 18
Step 4: Notify by Phone
21
Step 5: On-Farm Investigation by FADD! 21
Step 6: Send Samples, complete Follow-up forms. ..................................... 22
Step 7: Record lab Results and further findings or history in EMRS. .... 36
Step 8: Make Diagnosis
39
Step 9: Consultation of all parties to determine disposition of case. ...... 41
Step 10: Close case if not FAD and no further action needed. ................. 42

Appendix A; Setting Internet passwords and obtaining short
user names for Notes users......................................................... 43
Appendix B; Obtaining EMRS User names and Passwords for
Non-Notes users. ......................................................................... 46
Appendix C: Using the EMRS Premises ID System. ............... 48
Appendix D: Setting your e-mail preferences to Lotus Notes in
Internet Explorer. ....................................................................... 54
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4

FAD/EDI Information for FADD’s
There are several links on the EMRS Download page and directly
within EMRS to access helpful information but for your
convenience I have included some others here!

Grey Book
(Information on
Foreign Animal
Diseases)

VS Memo 580.4
(Procedures for
investigating a
suspected FAD/EDI

Grey Book for
your PDA

Other NVSL
Submission Forms

Blank Forms and
Other EMRS info

Guide to Collection
and Submission of
Samples

NVSL Homepage –
Tests & Test Types
for Ames & FADDL

NVSL Electronic 104

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EMRS USER SUPPORT
Currently all states should be fully utilizing EMRS for all Routine
FAD/EDI investigations. The steps necessary to accomplish this are
demonstrated within this document and the Q & A’s should answer
most questions. Anyone having additional questions dealing with
passwords should contact
[email protected] or other server or
access issues should contact the EMRS support staff team leader
Robert T Carr @[email protected] in Fort Collins @
970-494-7297. Additional user support may be obtained by contacting
one of the following individuals, Dr. Fred Bourgeois
@[email protected] or 318-288-4083, or Dr.
Sherrilyn Wainwright @[email protected] or
631-323-3061.

USER NAMES & PASSWORDS

Who can Access the system and how do you get a user name
and password?
The system has been designed so that it can be accessed by any
authorized person using Internet Explorer version 5.5 or greater from any
computer having Internet access. You do not need to have Lotus Notes
installed on the computer or have a Lotus notes ID. You do not need RLD
or to be on a secure network. This is very different from the previous
version of the FAD/EDI system that required the use of Lotus Notes on your
computer to access the system through the Client side interface which is
no longer needed. THIS IS STRICKLY WEB BASED THROUGH

INTERNET EXPLORER ONLY –DO NOT USE NETSCAPE!
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The method to use for general access to the system will depend
on the category you are in:
USDA Lotus Notes Users
If you are a federal employee or a State employee and you get e-mail through
the USDA Lotus Notes system then you have a short user name (usually the
same user name you use when you log into Lotus Notes) and you will utilize your
short user name and your Internet password . If you do not know what your short
user name and Internet password please refer to the Appendix A; Setting Internet
passwords and obtaining short user names for Notes users.

Non Lotus Notes Users
If you are not a USDA Lotus Notes user you will need to apply for a Web User
Name and password through the web page referenced in Appendix B.
See Appendix B; Obtaining EMRS User names and Passwords for Non-Notes
users.

How do I actually get into the system once I have a user name
and password?
Start Internet Explorer by double clicking the Internet Explorer icon on
your computer that looks like the one below:
Shortcut to Internet Explorer.lnk

Navigate to page below; select the link to the Routine FAD/EDI Reporting
system; this currently resides on EMRS 03 and EMRS 02 and links will be added
for EMRS 04 which is a faster server. I have placed a direct link in this web page
for your convenience which can be used and then added to your favorites in
Internet explorer so you may quickly return to the Access page for Routine FAD
database in the future.

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http://emrs.aphis.usda.gov/emrslogin.html

When you click the link for the Routine FAD/EDI Reporting you will be prompted
to enter your user name and password as below:

If you would like to try creating forms and looking at views without worrying about
what you create you may want to try the Training Version of EMRS as it appears
essentially the same as the FAD/EDI.

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When you click the link you will be prompted to enter your user name and
password as below:

For user name:
USDA Lotus Notes Users - you will use your short user name; for more info refer
to Appendix A.
Non-Notes Users- use the user name you selected when you registered for Web
Access; for more info refer to Appendix B.
For password:
USDA Lotus Notes Users- your Internet Password which you initially set in your
USDA Address Book profile; for more info refer to Appendix A.
Non-Notes Users- the password you set when you registered for Web Access;
for more info refer to Appendix B

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Once you have entered your short user name and your Internet password and
button you should arrive at the Main Menu page for the
single click the
Routine FAD/EDI database.

IMPORTANT – Please wait until the little Internet Explorer Icon at the bottom
says done which means all of the look-up information has loaded. If you try to go
to other parts of the program too quickly it will fail to load all of the needed
information. This will cause problems with your drop down boxes for choices. If
you find that you do not have any choices in a drop down box you may need to
refresh the look-up by clicking in the spot indicated by the arrow in the top header
and doing a right mouse click then choosing refresh. This will reload all look-up
information (Notes Quirk!)

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DOCUMENTING FAD INVESTIGATIONS IN EMRS.
Who will initiate the New Investigation Summaries?
The person actually creating new Investigation Summaries in each state
may vary but the AVIC or their designee will be the responsible party for
creation of the Investigation Summary, when they are notified of a request
for a New Investigation. To be able to create new Investigation Summaries
you will need to have at least author access. This will generally be granted
to most users. In truth an Area Office secretary that has been properly
trained may be the best person for initiating new investigations with
oversight from the Area Epi or the AVIC.

What are the specific steps that need to be
accomplished in EMRS to properly document and track
FAD Investigations:
Step 1: Create Premises ID.
11
Step 2 –Create EMRS Investigation Summary ............................................ 13
Step 3: Create Assigned Herd Exam, E-Mail it............................................ 18
Step 4: Notify by Phone
21
Step 5: On-Farm Investigation by FADD! 21
Step 6: Send Samples, complete Follow-up forms. ..................................... 22
Step 7: Record lab Results and further findings or history in EMRS. .... 36
Step 8: Make Diagnosis
39
Step 9: Consultation of all parties to determine disposition of case. ...... 41
Step 10: Close case if not FAD and no further action needed.
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Step 1: Create Premises ID.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.
If you have a good address for the producer for which this investigation
will be conducted you should first create a Premises ID or retrieve an

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existing Premises ID for this producer. This would be accomplished by
selecting the button on the Welcome page.

This will bring you to the Prem ID allocation system. If you are unfamiliar
with how this system operates then you may find detailed instructions in
Appendix C: Using the EMRS Premises ID System.
If you are successful in creating or retrieving an existing Premises ID then
you will be able to create a New Investigation from the screen where you
have received the Premises ID, by clicking
which will populate the address and Prem
ID fields automatically for you from the information obtained for the Prem
ID.
The FAD Referral Control number tracking system that has been used in
the past will continue but the number generated should be placed in the
Referral Control Number field. This system is explained in Veterinary
Services Memorandum 580.4 attachment II.

If you do not have a accurate address for the producer then follow the
alternate Step 1 below:

Alternate Step 1
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If you have limited information or have had to request a Prem ID exception,
then you will be allowed to create a New Investigation Summary directly
although
from the Welcome Page by clicking
this should be the exception since the Prem ID will be important for all
Investigations. You will need to enter the address and other information
manually and should use the FAD tracking number in both the Referral
Control number field and the Prem ID field until you obtain a Prem ID.

Step 2 –Create EMRS Investigation Summary
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.

With either method you will have to complete a number of fields on the
Investigation Summary.

Investigation Summary Header Section
Incident Name – Should be “Routine FAD/EDI”.
Incident Site – should be your home state.
Access Group: this should be your State- this field limits documents you create
to be viewed by only those in your state group or at the regional level. If you are
not a member of the EMRS group for your state and you save a document with
the group entered you may not be able to see the investigation.
Referral Control Number: this would be the number assigned with the FAD
numbering system using the Year/State/number format.
Local ID Number – may be used for alternate Premises numbering systems.
Prem ID – if the summary was created using the Prem ID system this will be
filled in for you if using the alternate method then repeat the local control number
entry.
Most of the fields in the Header of the Investigation Summary will be inherited
from other fields completed in following Sections:

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Prem Info Section
Prem ID – inherited if enter thru Prem ID System, otherwise enter
Premises Operation Type- select appropriate, eg Farm or Ranch
Primary Species on Premises- main species present even if it is not involved in
Investigation- judgment call as to what is primary, eg – a Dairy with a few
chickens, primary species would be Bovine
Purpose of Animals – select
Estimated # of Primary Species- enter #
Prem Owner Last & First- Enter if appropriate
Prem Name- Farm or Company Name, eg Heavenly Acres, this should be the
unique facility name not the name of a large company owning multiple farms.
Organization Association- Any group association- CoOp, Broiler Company, etc
, can be used to query for all farms associated with one organization or company.
Contact Information- enter as appropriate for Prem location
Physical Prem Address- this is the address associated with the unique Prem
ID, this will be inherited if the prem id system was used to create a prem id
before creating the Investigation Summary.
Front Gate Lat & Long- should be entered as determined, set source for
coordinates and record person obtaining coordinates.
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Geo-code values section- will be calculated by agent. Some fields are available
for data entry if you have GIS role allowing you to override values.
Primary Contact person- this should be set to the person who will be the
primary contact for the prem, for example an Animal Owner living off-site may be
the primary contact instead of the Prem Owner.

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Investigation Reasons/Details Section
Initiation Reason – self explanatory, follow-up fields will vary depending on
selection but most are self-explanatory.
Reason Details – This is where you fill in all of the History gathered in the
initial phone interview.
Species Initiating Investigation- may be different than primary species on
premises.
Purpose, Estimated #- fill as appropriate

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Referring Contact Section
-Note: This section only appears if the initiation reason is Complaint since the other
reasons would not have a referring contact associated with the initiation of the case!
If it is a practitioner or county agent then the name and contact information would
need to be entered. If the referring contact was the premises owner then the click
the button “Copy from Animal Location “and the information will be copied from
that already entered above. These fields should be completed at the time the
investigation is initiated if known.

Animal Owner Information Section
Many times this is the same as the Premises owner and you can use the button
“Copy from Animal Location”. If different enter as appropriate.

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Case Coordinator Section- assign case coordinator if known:
How to assign a Case Coordinator: Just start typing the last name of the person
responsible and if they have a profile entered then their name will eventually be
in the list to select from.
A Case Coordinator is the person that will be responsible to be sure that all parts
of the FAD Investigation are completed. This is not necessarily the FADD but will
usually be someone at the Area Office level such as the Area Epidemiologist.
The FADD assigned to do the Investigation is assigned to the Herd Exam.

Note:
If you cannot find the person you are looking for then they do not have a
completed profile in the FAD database and one needs to be entered before they
can be assigned the case. See comments below about profiles:
How do you get profiles for the Investigators into the Routine FAD/EDI
database?
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The system should have already been loaded with the profiles of all of the VS
employees within each state. Profiles of all the state VMO’s that will be utilizing
the system should be created by the person designated in each Area Office to
maintain the profiles. This person will need to be assigned the Admin role to have
the ability to create profiles. Instructions on creating profiles can be found in the
following document EMRS Administrative Module Instructions

Once all of this information is complete you can
if all data entered is correct.

and then review

Step 3: Create Assigned Herd Exam, E-Mail it.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.

Once you have created an Investigation Summary assigned to a case
coordinator to oversee the investigation at the area level you should create a
herd exam with and assign the herd exam to an investigator to make a visit to the
premises.
Note About Follow up Forms:
All follow up forms now contain a header section which inherits details from the
Investigation Summary to clearly identify these forms as part of a specific Prem.
This section can be collapsed when working to free up screen space:

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As well all action follow-up forms contain a section for animal owner to clearly
identify which animal owner this particular form is addressing when operating on
prems with multiple animal owners. This section can also be collapsed if not
needed.

To create a new Herd Exam:

Herd Exam
The herd exam form is completed for every premises visit to status the visit and
to record any and all findings associated with animals that were examined or to
record reasons animals were not examined. The Area Office will create the initial
herd exam but follow-up exams will usually be created by the person scheduling
the re-visit.
Fields to be completed include:
Animal Owner Section- if different from Inherited values from
Investigation Summary.
Exam Reason – entered when created.
-usually Sick Call
Assigned Investigator-entered when created.
-enter name of FADD or VMO to actually make the farm visit.
Date Assigned- entered when created, defaults to today’s date.
-the date you notify the investigator about assignment

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All of the remaining fields should be completed by the Investigator
so you would now click

.

Once you have assigned an Investigator to the Herd Exam,you Save it and you
can send a link to this Investigation directly to the investigator and any other
parties you wish by selecting the
exam.

button while you are in the herd

This will bring up a new memo in Lotus Notes if your Internet Explorer has Lotus
notes as the default e-mail program and you will need to address it to the proper
investigator. Other e-mail programs can be used if you choose. If you want to use
Lotus Notes for e-mail you can get further details on setting the default e-mail of
Internet Explorer in Appendix D;
You can add further comments and then choose send. When the investigator
receives the message they only need to click on the link and Internet Explorer will
start automatically and prompt them for their user name and password then take
them directly to this investigation
A phone call to the assigned Investigator is still required to notify them that
you have assigned them a new investigation since they may not have a
chance to view their e-mail.
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Step 4: Notify by Phone
Emergency Programs, Ames & FADDL, and the Regional Offices will
be notified by an automatic agent every time a new Investigation
Summary is created so it will not be necessary for you to e-mail
anyone outside of your state that a New Investigation has been
started. The AVIC should still notify Region and EP by phone when
dealing with a high profile or highly suspicious case. Also remember
to call the FADD in case they do not have ready access to e-mail.

Step 5: On-Farm Investigation by FADD!
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: FADD.
The assigned Investigator will proceed to investigate the case and will apply
appropriate diagnostic techniques. The FADD is responsible to collect and
submit any samples to the appropriate laboratory along with a properly prepared
lab submission that is shipped with the samples. The FADD should also notify
the appropriate lab by phone that the samples are shipped. The appropriate
groups to notify are identified in VS Memo 580.4.

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Step 6: Send Samples, complete Follow-up forms.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: FADD.

The FADD is responsible for completing any assigned Herd Exam, and will need
to create a Lab submission in EMRS for any samples submitted, also quarantine
status forms if the premises received a quarantine. The FADD should also add
any additional information to the Investigation Summary such as GPS
coordinates or address and contact information that was collected or corrected
during the visit.
We eventually have the capability to replicate the Investigation Summary to a
tablet PC and complete all of these follow-up forms in the field, to print the Lab
submission form specific to whatever lab you are using, complete with bar coding
for premises ID. Then any findings would be replicated back up to the master
FAD database. Until an FADD has the equipment and software to make this
possible they must take written findings and complete the following follow-up
forms.
The following is a complete list of follow-up forms to the Investigation Summary.
These forms are created by clicking the button
at the top of the Investigation Summary, then selecting the type of follow-up form
from the list. Most of these forms will only apply in special circumstances or
during an outbreak. The statuses for Diagnosis would be available only to those
with the DRO ( Disease Reporting Officer) role which would generally be the
Area Epidemiologist or other designated persons.

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The follow-up forms that would usually be completed by the FADD
would be:

Herd Exam
The herd exam form is completed for every premises visit to status the visit and
to record any and all findings associated with animals that were examined or to
record reasons animals were not examined. The Area Office will usually create
the initial herd exam but follow-up exams will usually be created by the person
scheduling the re-visit.
A herd exam that had been assigned to you would be located by following the
link sent to you or by using one of the views or the search features to locate the
Investigation Summary for this case. The link is just for Viewing the document
quickly, if you wish to make edits to the document you should open the FAD/EDI
database and search for the case so that all parts of the Look-up database are
operational. Once you have the Investigation Summary open you would click the
tab and scroll to the bottom to find any existing herd
exams, then click on

to open it.

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The Herd Exam will open in the view mode and must be placed in the edit mode
to make changes by clicking the

button

Fields to be completed include:
Exam Reason – when created.
Assigned Investigator- when created.
Date Assigned- when created.
Exam Date- by Investigator-this is the trigger for Completion.
Clinical History- The FADD will include any clinical history
obtained.

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Date of Onset – when did owner think the first signs appeared.
Date of First Death –if any animals died, when.
Primary Species Affected
#sick, dead, unaffected
Breed
Secondary Species
Same as above
Other Species

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Physical Exam Findings
Multiple fields by system
Note: Exam Findings can be by individual or by group, to detail
findings by individual if more than one examined you would create a new
herd exam for each individual or list group and detail in comments which
individuals were showing signs. Same can be done for necropsy results.

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Differential Diagnosis –both domestic and foreign
Probable Diagnosis-both domestic and foreign,
Confidence of Diagnosis-both domestic and foreign
Sample Collection- yes or no
Comments-comments about samples

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Return to Table of Contents
When all fields are complete then you will click the

button

Laboratory Submission
A lab submission needs to be filled in for each day that lab samples are submitted.
Several samples collected the same day going to the same lab may be included on one
submission but detailed on several follow-up Lab Sample/report forms. It is
recommended that if a Herd Exam is completed the Lab Submission Form be
created from the button within the Herd Exam form which will then keep the Lab
Submission associated with the herd exam for that visit.

Sections/Fields to be completed:

Animal Owner Section
-only if different from inherited, can be edited, opens collapsed

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Collector/ Submitter Section
Collected by- defaults to Herd Exam Investigator
Submitter- defaults to collector

Lab Information Section
Purpose of Submission- usually FAD/EP Diagnostic
Priority of Submission-enter appropriate See Attachment 111 on Page 10 0f VS580.4 –
Lab Submitted to: Select
Field Tracking Number- if unique id used
Lab Accession number-entered later by lab
Date Shipped
Courier Name/ Delivered by:
Air Bill #/ Delivered by-depends on prior selection if Hand Delivered then Delivered by:
Shipping Container Packing- this is the outside container not the primary sample
container

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Specimen Herd/Flock Information
Species
Number sick, dead, unaffected, total-inherited from herd exam
Purpose of animals-inherited
Country of Origin-defaulted to US
Sample Preservation Method-no dry ice
Submitters Name
Date Submitted
Number of Specimens Submitted - # Containers, # Animals-all
calculated from specimen forms
Disease to test for: select appropriate, not required
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After Saving this form you add sample detail forms to detail type and amount of
samples.

Lab Work Completed Date – Leave Blank until all results are received!

To create a sample form from a Lab Submission form select the Create Sample Button at
the top of the form

This will create a lab sample form where individual samples can be detailed. One sample
form should be filled out for each sample. Prem Info, Collection Date, Field Tracking
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Number for the Submission Container and Species will be inherited from the Lab
Submission.
Fields to be completed
Sample ID – this should be a unique identifier for this sample
Sample Type- drop down
Sample Preservation- this is in the container for this sample not the shipping container.
Examinations Requested- radio buttons
Primary Container- this is the inner most container for this sample not any additional
packaging.
# of Containers used for this sample- usually 1
# of Animals per container- uually1 unless a pooled sample
ID Type- radio buttons to detai the id units for the ID field
ID- this is the unique identifier for the animal or group sampled
Breed- pick
Color- enter
Age –enter
Age qualifier- what does the previous number mean?
Sex- radio button, intact or not?
Status- necropsy sample or live animal sample?

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All fields applicable should be completed and then the sample form Saved. Once a
completed sample form is saved then it appears as a single line on the Lab Submission
form in the Sample View Section.

To create additional samples on a Lab Submission you would create the first sample then
after saving if you would like to create additional samples, which share some of the same
information you have several options available. While viewing the Sample Detail form
you would click on the Copy Sample button.

This would open a pop-up giving you several options for quickly creating sample using
some of the information already entered. This allows the “canned” samples on the left or
you can choose any and all fields that you wish to be inherited by clicking the choices on
the right.

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Clicking the Same Animal(s) Different Test will result in a form that copies the animal
ID and type already entered but not the rest of the sample information. Other variations
follow the same pattern to allow you to quickly create many different samples for the
same animal, many like samples for different animals or any variations of such. This
allows you to quickly create a form for each individual sample so that results can be
detailed down to the unique sample and animal from which they came.

Copy Sample: Same Animal(s) Different Test button:

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Statuses
This would be used to set a Quarantine status in place if the Investigation resulted in
an individual premises quarantine which would be the responsibility of the FADD.
To create a Quarantine Status you would click the button labeled

35

then select statuses from the pop-up menu

and once the document below opens select
Status type -Quarantine
Start Date –date quarantined
End Date-leave empty until released
Reasons & Comments- Details, Quarantine #, etc

Step 7: Record lab Results and further findings or history in
EMRS.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.
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The Area Epidemiologist or his designee would enter the results of any lab submissions
on the Lab Sample/Lab report usually at the Area level. The FADD would be consulted
for any further input. This is done by first locating the existing Investigation Summary
using one of several methods.

Search by Prem ID

List All Investigation Summaries and pick from list

Or using Views that sort by person or location

Once a sample is submitted to the lab and a result is received then a new Test Result is
entered for that sample by clicking on the New Test button shown above in the Sample
View Section of the Lab Submission. Thi9s will create a new Test Result form for this
sample, which allows you to enter one test result for the sample. Each new test result
should have a new test result form created.

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Once a completed Test Result form is saved it will be visible as a single line in the Test
Results Section of the Sample form from which it was created:

It will also be visible on the Lab Submission form below the appropriate sample;

After Multiple Samples are created and test results are entered they can be viewed
together in the Sample View Section of the Lab Submission. New Test Results can also
be entered from this view by clicking the New Test button.
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:

When all lab reports have been received and entered then you will need
to reflect that in the Lab Submission by entering a Lab Complete Date.
the Lab Submission and enter a LabWork Complete Date and

.

Step 8: Make Diagnosis
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.

In consultation with the FADD and the AVIC or any other interested parties the
Area Epidemiologist would make a case diagnosis.
This would be done by opening the Investigation Summary,
To create a Diagnosis Status you would click the button labeled

39

then select statuses from the pop-up menu

and once the document below opens select
Status type – Diagnosis –Negative or Positive
Start Date –date Diagnosis made
End Date -leave empty until case closed
Reasons & Comments- Details

Then select the
define the Diagnosis.

button and a pop-up will give you the choices to

and when you select the definition it will appear in the status document..

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Step 9: Consultation of all parties to determine disposition of
case.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.
Are any further examinations needed or any further action to be taken is decided by
the Area Epidemiologist, AVIC and FADD in consultation with state Veterinarian.

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Step 10: Close case if not FAD and no further action needed.
Responsible Party in VS 580.4: AVIC or their designee.

First make sure all follow-up forms are complete and statuses have been closed.

Remember! Each case should have:
1) Investigation Summary
2) A minimum of one completed herd exam
3) A minimum of one completed lab submission with a minimum of
one Sample and one Result form if samples were taken.
4) A Diagnosis status.
Edit the Investigation Summary and enter a date in the field Investigation Close Date and
a Closing Reason.

and this will complete the case and will place a red banner across top of Investigation
Summary stating that case has been closed.

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Appendix A; Setting Internet passwords and obtaining
short user names for Notes users.
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If you are a Lotus Notes user you may find out you short user name and set a
Internet password if you do not know it from within the USDA Address Book while
online. Do not use the local copy of the USDA Address book as this will not replicate
your changes.
From within Notes navigate to the Notes mail server you normally use by selecting
File>Database>Open

then select your Mail server and when
this opens scroll down and select USDA
Address Book.

When the Address Book opens begin typing your last name and a search screen will
appear

find your profile and select it, open the profile by double clicking it..

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The short user name that you will use to log-in is found in the field Short name. If
you need to set an Internet password or re-set your Internet password then you will
need to click the EDIT Person button.

Once your profile is in the edit mode you may see an Encrypted password made up
of letters and numbers in the field Internet password. To set or re-set your password
remove all the letters and numbers including the parentheses from this field and
type in your new desired password. When you have entered your new password
then click Save and Close. Notes will instruct you if the password you select is not
suitable. Once the password is accepted it may take up to an hour before your new
password will be available for use to access EMRS. The user name is always all
lowercase and your password is case sensitive to what you created.

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Appendix B; Obtaining EMRS User names and
Passwords for Non-Notes users.
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If you are not a USDA employee and have not been issued a Notes ID then you will
have to obtain a User name and password through the EMRS Registration Page.
This page can be reached from the VS website below, then click the Register button.
You will need to answer “Yes” to any warnings that are displayed .
This will generally be required for most State VMO’s and others outside USDA
although there are some exceptions. If you have previously registered and cannot
remember your password you can change your password by clicking the re-set
password option.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ep/emrs.html
or click here to go directly to registration Register and when page opens click
“New registration” unless you are trying to change your password and you would
select reset password and enter the e-mail address you used when you originally
registered. If you cannot reset your password then e-mail a request for a change to

[email protected]
When you are presented with the screen below you must click the link on the page
for new registration demonstrated below, before you will be presented with the
fields you need to fill in.
EMRS
REGISTRATION
SYSTEM
Click here for help.
USER REQUESTS
- new registration
- reset password

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Once you have successfully registered the Screen will return No Documents Found
which means you have completed Registration. Your new user name and password
will be confirmed by e-mail when it is activated.

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Appendix C: Using the National Premises ID System.
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What is a
Premises ID
(PREM ID) ?

A PREM ID is the identification number assigned to a location (i.e., a house,
farm, livestock market, etc). The PREM ID is important to link all
documents to the same premises.
•
•

Animals can be sick or healthy
May be triggered by a phone call, trace, survey, quarantine, etc

The starting point for all investigation within EMRS is the creation of a premises
ID.
The National Premises ID system allows you to enter an address for a distinct
premises and then validate that address by accepted methods to have a very clear
standardized address on which to create a unique Premises ID for use in tracking all
activities at that physical location. This number then becomes the key to tie together
any activities that are carried out on that physical location regardless of type
program, species or ownership. Once an ID is assigned to that physical location it
remains in effect..

The premises ID system is currently accessed through the EMRS Welcome page as shown
below:

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Click the
NAIS Premises Allocator: button: which will bring you to this screen where
you will enter an address to be validated. The explanation of each field is found in the text
next to the field. This screen is actually a Web Page that can easily be set-up to be accessed
through the Internet by anyone that registers for a password and user name.

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Once the information is entered in each field then you should click the Validate Address
button.
The process of searching a commercially available database of existing valid United States
Postal Service addresses through a web service to try and return a standard , validated
address. This process is extremely important to allow the computer to look for duplications
of addresses before assigning new unique ID numbers. If this procedure is not used then an
address of 123 N First St and 123 N. First St would not appear as duplicates due to the
period causing these to appear different. Many other examples of misspellings, improper
cities, etc can cause the same duplication problems so we have found this to be a critical
element in the issuing of Prem ID’s. As you can see there is no confidential or sensitive
information contained in the system or needed to assign a unique ID to a physical location.

The above returns the below address when validated, in a standard format.

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The next step is the actual issuing of a Prem ID if one does not already exist. This address
previously was issued a Prem ID so it will return an existing Prem ID. This keeps from
duplicating ID’s on a given location through use of an Oracle database which is maintained
in Fort Collins that contains all of the addresses that currently have an existing prem ID. If
the system finds no duplicates for a validated address then it will create a new ID with the
following format. If an ID already exists then it will return the existing ID.

The Create a New Investigation Summary button will create a new Investigation
Summary within EMRS with the information contained in the address field being placed in
the animal location address fields and the Prem ID in the Prem ID fields and these fields
are not editable to maintain the integrity of the Prem ID system.
FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO COMPLETE THE INVESTIGATION SUMMARY
SEE THE SECTION
EMRS Manual for Routine FAD Investigations”
The validation of addresses is critical to maintain the unique prem ID. We have found in
the past that a large number of prems will be assigned duplicate ID’s due to the listing of
the wrong city or misspellings of streets or city names. This is the reason we have built the
system to rely heavily on the U.S. Postal system data and are currently looking at adding
Census data to further improve the validation procedure. We have found that in Urban
areas we were able to validate about 98% of addresses but in rural areas we may only get
about 90% or less validated depending on the level of 911 addresses and the postal data.
We anticipate that some areas we will have a low level of validation but we are searching

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for new ways to improve this process. To handle addresses that are not able to be validated
from US Postal data we have built the Prem ID Exception Process.

Prem ID Exception Process
When an address cannot be validated through the use of the postal data then we have this
screen which explains that no matches are found and allowing you to request an Exception.
This process can be limited to only trained individuals that are able to determine if this is a
valid address through several methods that we are currently using such as Street Atlas, US
Census 2000 data, and several other sources of address information. This keeps people
from requesting large numbers of exceptions due to improper entry of cities, zip codes, etc.

If an exception is requested then the following screen comes up with the address you are
requesting and asking some questions about the request. The requestors name and the
date, etc are also included with the request as well as an e-mail address so that the
requestor can be notified if the request is approved.

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Once a request is sent then it appears as a pending request within the Web interface for the
Prem ID Exception process. Approvers have access to this interface to review and approve
or reject the exceptions.
When you have been approved for an exception it will be e-mailed to you, in the future
these exceptions will be retrieved directly into the FAD Instance of EMRS.

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Appendix D: Setting your e-mail preferences to Lotus
Notes in Internet Explorer.
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At anytime when you have Internet Explorer open you may select
Tools>Internet Options

On the pop-up screen select the Programs tab and select the E-mail Editor
as Lotus Notes then Apply and OK.

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