Need for a sustainable use of medicinal products: environmental impacts of ivermectin.

It is worldwide recognized that the use of pharmaceuticals for human and veterinary purposes could lead to unsustainable effects on the environment. A strategy to reduce the impact of pharmaceuticals on the environment has been recently established at European level, where guidelines to evaluate the impacts of veterinary drugs used to treat animal diseases are in place. The aim of this article is to focus on the worldwide used antiparasitic drug ivermectin (IVM) and its potential impact on the environment. A specific section is related to the IVM resistance that the massive use of this drug could generate enhancing the risk scenarios also for human health. The application of stringent measures for the veterinary use of this substance, in line with the recommendations provided by International frameworks such as One Health and EcoHealth, is recommended.

The Use of Antimicrobials in Italian Heavy Pig Fattening Farms.

Data on antimicrobial use (AMU) in heavy pig production (>150 kg) are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the AMU in this production. Data from 2015 were collected for 143 fattening farms. The AMU was estimated through a treatment index per 100 days (TI100) using the defined daily dose animal for Italy (DDDAit). When possible, a comparison with the European Medicines Agency's defined daily doses for animals (DDDvet) was performed. The median TI100 was 10.7 (range, 0.2-49.5). Group treatments represented 94.6% of overall consumption. The AMU calculated using DDDAit and DDDvet were strongly correlated (ρ = 0.976; p < 0.001). The AMU was negatively correlated with injectables use (ρ = -0.46, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with oral products (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.014), premixes (ρ = 0.26, p = 0.002), and mortality (ρ = 0.18; p = 0.027). Farm size was negatively correlated with AMU (ρ = -0.29, p < 0.001). Smaller farms were more frequently above the median TI100 (odds ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval = 1.2-4.7), suggesting that they may have lower biosecurity and management standards. The results of this study should provide useful insights for the development of an Italian monitoring system.

The Implications of EU Regulation 2016/429 on Neglected Diseases of Small Ruminants including Contagious Agalactia with Particular Reference to Italy.

After almost 40 years, the 27 member states (MS) of the European Union (EU) will comply with the European Law 429/2016 in 2021 by completing a process of unification and harmonization of all regulations related to animal health between MS. These new provisions are based on modern scientific principles on animal health, on long-term epidemiological data, and, above all, on the most current risk assessment and analysis. The paper describes all changes and updates, which will impact the Italian current National regulation. A total of 58 animal diseases have been included in the Annex II ("Listing") and Annex IV ("Categorization") of the new Delegated Act (DA 2018/1629). Five diseases comprising the great viral epizooties were automatically included on the list because of their primary importance. These diseases include foot and mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF), highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and African horse sickness (AHS). Another 53 diseases have been identified by the ad hoc assessment on listing and categorization of animal diseases developed by the European Food Safety Association. Seventeen communicable diseases of the Order Artiodactlya (sheep, goats, deer, etc.) have been listed including foot and mouth disease, sheep and goat pox, and pestes de petits ruminants. In addition, other endemic diseases affecting more than one species include blue tongue, tuberculosis, brucellosis, and anthrax. There are five categories (A-E) based on the degree of action to be undertaken throughout the EU for each disease. These vary from complete eradication for diseases not normally found in the EU like FMD (category A) for establishing surveillance for diseases like West Nile that present high risk but lack control tools (category E).

A "One-Health" approach for diagnosis and molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Italy.

The current pandemic is caused by a novel coronavirus (CoV) called SARS-CoV-2 (species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, subgenus Sarbecovirus, genus Betacoronavirus, family Coronaviridae). In Italy, up to the 2nd of April 2020, overall 139,422 confirmed cases and 17,669 deaths have been notified, while 26,491 people have recovered. Besides the overloading of hospitals, another issue to face was the capacity to perform thousands of tests per day. In this perspective, to support the National Health Care System and to minimize the impact of this rapidly spreading virus, the Italian Ministry of Health involved the Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (IZSs), Veterinary Public Health Institutes, in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 by testing human samples. The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise is currently testing more than 600 samples per day and performing whole genome sequencing from positive samples. Sequence analysis of these samples suggested that different viral variants may be circulating in Italy, and so in Abruzzo region. CoVs, and related diseases, are well known to veterinarians since decades. The experience that veterinarians operating within the Public Health system gained in the control and characterization of previous health issues of livestock and poultry including avian flu, bluetongue, foot and mouth disease, responsible for huge economic losses, is certainly of great help to minimize the impact of this global crisis.

Surveillance and control of African Swine Fever in free-ranging pigs in Sardinia.

African swine fever (ASF) is a notifiable infectious disease, caused by the ASF virus (ASFV), which is a DNA virus belonging to the family Asfarviridae, genus Asfivirus. This disease has gained importance in the last decade after its spread in several countries in Eastern and Central Europe, and more recently, in China. Despite the efforts made to eradicate it, ASF is still present on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (Italy) and has been since 1978. ASF risk factors on the island have been analysed in previous studies; the role of free-ranging pigs in virus persistence has been suggested, but has not been fully elucidated. The most recent eradication plan provides more stringent measures to combat free-ranging pigs and any kind of illegality in the pig sector. From December 2017 to June 2018, a total of 29 depopulation actions were performed in 13 municipalities in central Sardinia, during which 2,281 free-ranging pigs were culled and more than 50% of them were tested for ASFV and antibody presence (1,218 and 1,416, respectively). A total of 651 pigs were seropositive, with a mean seroprevalence of 53.4% (CI 95% = 50.6-56.3), and 38 were ASFV positive (virus prevalence = 2.6%; CI 95% = 2.1-3.0). To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to provide a complete evaluation of this millennial system of pig farming and ASFV prevalence in free-ranging pigs. Furthermore, it has emphasised the necessity of combining the maintenance of an epidemiological surveillance program with continuous education of farmers and other people involved in pig husbandry, based on cultural and economic aspects.

Development and test of a visual-only meat inspection system for heavy pigs in Northern Italy.

BACKGROUND: There is a general consensus in recognizing that traditional meat inspection is no longer able to address the hazards related to meat consumption. Moreover, it has been shown that invasive procedures, such as palpation and incision, can increase microbial contamination in carcasses. For these reasons, legislations all over the world are changing meat inspection techniques, moving towards visual-only techniques. Hence, there was also the need to test visual-only inspection in pigs in Italy. RESULTS: A protocol for visual-only post-mortem inspection was produced together with a 24-class scheme used to record pathological lesions. A list of guidelines needed for univocal interpretation and classification of lesions was developed. To record lesions at the slaughtering line, a light instrument that is resistant to the slaughter environment was designed and then produced in collaboration with an electro-medical company. Six contracted veterinarians were chosen and trained. They performed visual-only post-mortem inspections on 231.673 heavy pigs in three different slaughterhouses of Northern Italy. Visual-only inspection was compared to traditional inspection on 38.819 pig carcasses. No relevant differences were found between the two systems. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison between traditional and visual-only inspection showed that visual-only inspection can be adopted in pig slaughterhouse. The analysis of the performance of the veterinarians stressed the importance of standardization and continuous education for veterinarians working in this field.