An integrated web system to support veterinary activities in Italy for the management of information in epidemic emergencies

Abstract

The management of public health emergencies is improved by quick, exhaustive and stan-dardized flow of data on disease outbreaks, by using specific tools for data collection,registration and analysis. In this context, the National Information System for the Noti-fication of Outbreaks of Animal Diseases (SIMAN) has been developed in Italy to collectand share data on the notifications of outbreaks of animal diseases. SIMAN is connectedthrough web services to the national database of animals and holdings (BDN) and has beenintegrated with tools for the management of epidemic emergencies. The website has beenupdated with a section dedicated to the contingency planning in case of epidemic emer-gency. EpiTrace is one such useful tool also integrated in the BDN and based on the SocialNetwork Analysis (SNA) and on network epidemiological models. This tool gives the pos-sibility of assessing the risk associated to holdings and animals on the basis of their trade,in order to support the veterinary services in tracing back and forward the animals in caseof outbreaks of infectious diseases.