The use of a web-based interactive geographical information system for the surveillance of bluetongue in Italy.

Since 2000 Italy has experienced five epidemics of bluetongue, an arthropod-borne disease that affects primarily sheep and asymptomatically cattle, goats and wildlife ruminants. In four years the disease spread through Southern and Central Italy, involving 14 Italian regions out of 20. To control the disease, the Ministry of Health established a surveillance system that included clinical, entomological and serological surveillance elements. The National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology--Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale'--developed a Web-based National Information System (NIS) and a Geographical Information System (GIS)to collect and manage data from Veterinary Services across Italy. The system was designed to gather and spread information in order to support the management of control activities and to provide an early warning system. Surveillance data are displayed to the user in different ways: reports, tables and interactive maps.

Implementation of a system for the regional management of animal health emergencies.

A telematic system to support decisions and operations in case of animal health emergencies has been designed and implemented in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The system aims to improve decision-making by Veterinary Services in the event of an outbreak of exotic disease. The system has been tested, first by a simulated outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and then during an outbreak of swine vesicular disease. Critical problems were detected and corrected in both cases.

The Italian information system on zoonoses data collection.

In the framework of the international obligations subscribed by the Italian government, the Italian Ministry of Health should provide the European Union (EU) (European Commission, European Food Safety Authority - EFSA) with a set of data and information related to the report and the spread of zoonoses and to the activities put in place for monitoring and control of zoonoses. In 2008, the Italian Ministry of Health commissioned the Istituto G. Caporale (ICT) to implement an information system able to provide information and data on the monitoring and control of zoonoses in the national territory, in accordance with the national and community legislation. The system is part of the e-Government process that involves all public administrations of the EU and refers to the use of information and communication technologies for the digital processing of documents in order to obtain simplification and interoperability of administrative procedures through the Internet, as defined in the strategic lines published by the National Centre for Information Systems in Public Administration (DigitPA) in 2009-2011.

Surveillance system of bluetongue in Italy.

The authors provide details of the bluetongue surveillance and the Internet-based information systems that were implemented in Italy. The systems were structured with the aim of gathering and spreading information and data to support decision-making, management of control activities and provide an early warning system. Information and data generated by the surveillance system enabled the detailed analysis of bluetongue epidemiology, vector distribution and vector population dynamics. This information and data also allowed the analysis of risk factors associated with vector spread and animal movements, which resulted in and increased the flexibility and the efficiency of the enforcement of control measures.