A website dedicated to the surveillance of the health status of the farmed animals in Ireland, the first of its kind in the country, was officially launched here on Thursday.

Addressing the launch ceremony of the Animal Health Surveillance Website, Irish Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said that "Today's farmers need information to manage risk in all aspects of their businesses, including maintaining the health of their animals."

The animal surveillance website developed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will help farmers to raise their awareness about the animal diseases so as to maximise the economic returns from their farmed animals, he said.

The website can also be promoted as a shop-window through which high animal health status can be appreciated, said the minister, adding that the website has the potential to be used as a marketing tool by Irish trade delegations when promoting Irish produce abroad.

Animal health surveillance has been defined as the systematic collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of animal health data. This process is essentially about gathering intelligence to detect animal diseases as early as possible to better inform risk management at all levels within the animal farming industry.

Ireland is famous for its high-quality and green meat products. Official statistics showed that last year the country exported a record high of 3.8 billion euros (4.4 billion U.S. dollars)of meat products. The launch of the animal health surveillance website is part of the Irish government's efforts to maintain the competitiveness of the Irish meat products on the international market.