On the Right Track
New technology from a South Saint Paul firm aids in the detection of avian flu.
Digital Angel Corp., a South Saint Paul-based, RFID and GPS technology development firm, has made a name for itself in the last few years turning out devices that can track the movements and whereabouts of, for example, aircraft, and wayward dogs and cats. It might be on the right track again. The company recently introduced its Bio-ThermoTM implantable RFID microchip and identity system for use in poultry. The microchip, which can be implanted in individual birds, detects fluctuations in body temperature— a key indicator of a virus or illness such as avian flu.
“An implantable microchip is effectively a communications device,” says Digital Angel President and CEO Kevin McGrath. “It is stimulated by an external energy source which in effect allows information to be reflected back out of the RFID device to a scanner. The Bio-Thermo chip allows you to transmit a unique number as well as the temperature around the chip."
For commercial farmers, manually taking the temperature of each of their animals is nearly impossible. Imagine approaching 500 head of cattle or a couple hundred chickens armed with only a rubber glove and a glass thermometer. “You must understand that for a lot of animals it is very hard to take a temperature, ”McGrath says. “For birds, it is almost impossible, so this device adds an additional weapon to the arsenal associated with animal health.”
Though Digital Angel has had tracking and temperature-sensing microchips for companion pets on the market, the poultry microchip has global appeal. “Specifically in regard to avian flu, our focus is to try and thwart outbreaks of [the illness] before it can migrate to humans,” McGrath says. “In that regard, humans are the beneficiaries.”
People who make their living as farmers will benefit economically as well. “Because avian flu spreads so quickly, by the time you notice an outbreak on a large farm, the only easy solution would be to kill all the birds or vaccinate and medicate all of them, which can be very expensive,” he explains. “It is possible that the use of the Bio-Thermo chip will allow [farmers] to identify the threat earlier, which would mean you would be dealing with a smaller subset of birds rather than an entire population.”
Digital Angel is also developing the Bio-Thermo microchip for use in large livestock. “We see the technology being of greatest value to farmers with larger and more expensive animals like pigs and cattle,” says McGrath.
The Bio-Thermo RFID for poultry will be introduced in Asia before it hits the U.S. marketplace. Cost per piece is around $2 for mass-quantity orders, with the idea that users would chip “sentinel birds,” or every one out of 200 on a large poultry farm.
—Lena Valenty