In February 2020, Italy became the epicentre for COVID-19 in Europe and at the beginning of March, in response to the growing epidemic, the Italian Government put in place emergency measures to restrict the movement of the population.... more
In February 2020, Italy became the epicentre for COVID-19 in Europe and at the beginning of March, in response to the growing epidemic, the Italian Government put in place emergency measures to restrict the movement of the population. Human mobility represents a crucial element to be considered in modelling human infectious diseases. In this paper, we examined the mechanisms underlying COVID-19 propagation using a Susceptible-Infected stochastic model (SI) driven mainly by commuting network in Italy. We modelled a municipality-specific contact rate to capture the disease permeability of each municipality, considering the population at different times of the day and describing the characteristic of the municipalities as attractors of commuters or places that make their workforce available elsewhere. The purpose of our analysis is to provide a better understanding of the epidemiological context of COVID-19 in Italy and to characterize the territory in terms of vulnerability at local o...
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During summer 2006, a bluetongue (BT) epidemic occurred for the first time in Northern Europe, caused by virus serotype 8 (BTV-8). The disease reached latitude 53°N, involving Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. In... more
During summer 2006, a bluetongue (BT) epidemic occurred for the first time in Northern Europe, caused by virus serotype 8 (BTV-8). The disease reached latitude 53°N, involving Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. In 2007 more than 40,000 outbreaks of BTV-8 have been recorded up to latitude 55°N, involving new countries such as Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and almost the whole territory of France. In this epidemiological context, the European Commission recognized the need to develop a web-based information system, EUBTNet, i.e. a bluetongue network application for the European Union (EU), to ensure BT real-time assessment at the European level. A first release of EUBTNet (http://eubtnet. izs.it/btnet/index.htm) was made available to all EU Member States (MS) on 31 May 2007. EUBTNet is a tool for the rapid collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of large quantities of data generated by national/regional bluetongue monitoring programmes...
Research Interests: Political Science and Int
During the recent severe outbreaks of bluetongue (BT) in the Mediterranean Basin, the BT virus (BTV) spread beyond its historical limits into the Balkan region. One of the primary impacts of BT is the cessation in livestock trade which... more
During the recent severe outbreaks of bluetongue (BT) in the Mediterranean Basin, the BT virus (BTV) spread beyond its historical limits into the Balkan region. One of the primary impacts of BT is the cessation in livestock trade which can have severe economic and social consequences. The authors briefly describe the development of the collaborative East-BTnet programme which aims to assist all affected and at-risk Balkan states and adjoining countries in the management of BT, and in the development of individual national surveillance systems. The beneficiary countries involved, and led by the World organisation for animal health (Office International des Epizooties) Collaborating Centre for veterinary training, epidemiology, food safety and animal welfare of the Istituto Zooprofilattico dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale' in collaboration with the Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (IPSC-JRC), ...
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The occurrence of bluetongue virus (BTV) in areas in which intensive animal production is practised and where there is extensive movement of animals may have a substantial impact on both animal trade and husbandry. This situation occurred... more
The occurrence of bluetongue virus (BTV) in areas in which intensive animal production is practised and where there is extensive movement of animals may have a substantial impact on both animal trade and husbandry. This situation occurred in Italy after the detection of bluetongue (BT) in August 2000. In such situations, surveillance can be used to delineate with precision those areas in which the virus is circulating and, consequently, to enforce the appropriate animal movement restrictions. Furthermore, surveillance can provide the data required to assess the risk associated with animal movement and trade. A structured surveillance system for the detection of BTV has been in place in Italy since August 2001. The system is based on the periodical testing of unvaccinated sentinel cattle that are uniformly scattered throughout Italy in a grid of 400 km(2) cells. The initial number of sentinel sites and sentinel animals, together with the width of the restricted area generated by the ...
Research Interests: Biology, European Union, Risk assessment, Medicine, Animal Production, and 15 moreBayesian Analysis, Animal Movement, Seasonality, Early Warning, Legislation, Pubmed, Data Collection, Vaccination, Geographic distribution, Surveillance System, Risk Assessment, Population dynamic, Montecarlo Simulation, Seroconversion, and buffer zone
Research Interests: Computer Science, Physics, Computational Biology, Communicable Diseases, Risk assessment, and 14 moreMedicine, Biological Sciences, Humans, Data Science, Mathematical Sciences, Prostitution, Animals, Generalizability Theory, Cattle, Time Factors, Risk Assessment, Epidemics, Contact Tracing, and cattle diseases
The affiliation. assessment and management of risks is a traditional part of veterinary medicine. In the past, veterinary services involved in this type of activity usually assessed risks qualitatively. However, since the 1990s,... more
The affiliation. assessment and management of risks is a traditional part of veterinary medicine. In the past, veterinary services involved in this type of activity usually assessed risks qualitatively. However, since the 1990s, quantitative methods have become increasingly important. The establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994, and the promulgation of its Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the “SPS Agreement”) led to an increased application of import risk analysis and to significant improvements in the methodology of risk analysis as applied to international trade policy for animals and animal products. However, there was very little development of risk analysis in veterinary fields other than international trade and management of health risks to consumers of animal products and little has been published on its use in the choice and definition of control or prophylaxis strategies for animal diseases. This article describes a quantita...
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Outbreaks of highly contagious animal diseases severely affect the global economy, seriously disrupting domestic economies and the international trade of livestock and animal commodities. Italy has a series of contingency plans for the... more
Outbreaks of highly contagious animal diseases severely affect the global economy, seriously disrupting domestic economies and the international trade of livestock and animal commodities. Italy has a series of contingency plans for the management of outbreaks of all major animal diseases. Disease control measures are mainly based on a traditional approach and eradication policies range from culling and stamping-out to movement restrictions of animals and commodities. Given the marked terrain differences in Italy, the uneven distribution of farms and animal population, the presence of potential disease hotspots constituted by high-density clusters of farms and animals, etc., maps have always been a common working tool for the Italian veterinary services to identify location of premises, define the perimeter of the infected and control zones, etc. The Italian Ministry of Health has requested an integrated system for the management of veterinary emergencies. One of the main features of the system is an interactive, customisable and user-friendly Web-based geographic information system (GIS). The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ has been entrusted with the development of a system that provides different administrative levels with a spatial decisional and management tool to assist them in case of epidemics. A Web-based GIS has been designed to integrate epidemiological information with the corresponding geographic component. The system works on a disease basis (disease-specific maps) for fifteen of the most contagious diseases and is accessible through the Web, allowing for real-time recording of new outbreaks
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Bluetongue (BT) is an orbiviral disease of ruminant livestock. In Europe, the insect vectors implicated in BT virus transmission are Culicoides imicola, C. obsoletus, C. scoticus, C. pulicaris and C. dewulfi. C. imicola - an Afro-Asiatic... more
Bluetongue (BT) is an orbiviral disease of ruminant livestock. In Europe, the insect vectors implicated in BT virus transmission are Culicoides imicola, C. obsoletus, C. scoticus, C. pulicaris and C. dewulfi. C. imicola - an Afro-Asiatic species - is believed to account for approximately 90% of BT virus transmission; the latter four species are endemic to the Palaearctic region and are becoming increasingly important as the zone of BT virus infection in Europe moves northwards. As Culicoides distribution and ecology is critical in the spread of BT, it is essential to map their geographic ranges and to determine the ecological and climatic factors influencing their occurrence. Since 2000, more than 50 000 light trap collections have been made across Italy and the presence/absence and abundance of C. imicola ascertained; 3000 of these collections were also screened for two species (C. obsoletus, C. scoticus) of the Obsoletus Complex. To gain further insights into vector breeding habit...
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... Mitarbeiter, erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za, Van der Westhuizen, Erica E., Croft, Vicki F., International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (5th : 2005 : Onderstepoort, South Africa). Archiv, UPSpace at the... more
... Mitarbeiter, erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za, Van der Westhuizen, Erica E., Croft, Vicki F., International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (5th : 2005 : Onderstepoort, South Africa). Archiv, UPSpace at the University of Pretoria (South Africa). ...