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In this number
Dear Readers,
In the new year the BENV is completely changed in the structure of the site.
The contents of the new site, based on Responsive technology, are reduced and adapted to the size of the display used: accessing the smartphones with the elements will be arranged in such a way as to ensure the best visibility.
Moreover, the arrangement of the menu items allows the best accessibility and transparency, organizing the contents in such a way that they can be viewed in a screen of reduced dimensions such as that of mobile devices.
The visualization of an article allows navigation to the other contents of the section through the index, on the right, which shows the titles published in the reference section.
The drop-down menu Find the online services includes all the useful features, including the pdf version of the current number and previous issues, the possibility to send an article to the attention of the editorial staff and the latest news.
In the Scientific Articles section, you will then find an article on the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic in China. “Entry of ASF into China would have devastating consequences for animal health, food safety, and food security, and raise the possibility of further spread to Southeast Asia including the Korean Peninsula and Japan”. This is what is reported in the document on the risk assessment of the introduction of ASA in China published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in March 2018. Considering what happened just few months later, the FAO report can be truly considered a Cassandra’s prediction.
The history and epidemiology of Lassa Fever (LF) are outlined in another article that provides important information to understand what are the causes related to the re-emerging of the disease in Nigeria.
From the first case of the disease reported in the village of Lassa in 1969, the Lassa Fever outbreaks continued to occur in Nigeria involving almost all the 774 local government areas in the 36 states, including Abuja. In recent years the incidence, prevalence and mortality rate have increased gradually due to the increasing spread of the disease inside and outside the country. Infections caused by the Lassa virus continue to pose a serious public health problem in Nigeria and in the world. Moreover, as previous studies have shown (Borio et al., 2002; Bossi et al., 2004), the Lassa virus is included in the list of potential biological weapons, arousing a strong interest in public health (Bukbuk et al., 2014). Currently, there are good, sensitive, and specific laboratory diagnosis for LF, reliable supportive treatment but up to now, no licenced LF vaccine has been developed by scientists yet.
In November, the aims of the scientific world were to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among general public, health workers and policy makers. It was achieved thank to the World Antibiotic Awareness Week and the European Antibiotic Day. During these events, the Ministry of Health re-launched the international campaigns and published the materials prepared by the technical coordination group, translated and adapted in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Health. Furthermore, a Workshop was organized on the issue in terms of emergency, epidemiology, spread, in animal production in the EU and in Italy.
Regarding the data on epidemics, the new BENV is totally changed: it is possible to view the data on animal disease outbreaks notified in SIMAN in "real-time", as well as the health status of the territories and the animal species involved in outbreaks.
In the new Data section, you will be able to generate updated and detailed maps, according to your interests, on the distribution of the main animal diseases notified in SIMAN during a selected period of time.
As regards the section of the Officially Free Territories, the Lazio Region has been declared officially free for bovine brucellosis and the province of Frosinone UI for bovine tuberculosis.
In the section Submit your article, which can be consulted through the drop-down menu Find the online services, you can read the guidelines for the authors and send the articles to the editor of the BENV. To contact us you can send an email to benv@izs.it
I wish you a pleasant reading.
Francesca Dall'Acqua
Centro di Referenza Nazionale per l'Epidemiologia Veterinaria, la Programmazione, l'Informazione e l'Analisi del Rischio (COVEPI)
