Currently available tools and strategies for emergency vaccination in case of avian influenza

Recent epidemics of highly contagious animal diseases included in the list A of the OIE such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and avian influenza (AI) have led to the implementation of stamping-out policies resulting in the depopulation of millions of animals. The enforcement of a control strategy based on culling of animals that are infected, suspected of being infected or suspected of being contaminated, which is based only on the application of sanitary restrictions on farms, may not be sufficient to avoid the spread of infection, particularly in areas that have high animal densities, thus resulting in mass depopulation. In the European Union, the directive that imposes the enforcement of a stampingout policy (92/40/EC) for AI was adopted in 1992 but was drafted in the 1980s. The poultry industry has undergone substantial changes in the last twenty years, mainly resulting in shorter production cycles and greater animal densities per territorial unit. Due to these organizational changes, infectious diseases are significantly more difficult to control as a result of the greater number of susceptible animals reared per given unit of time and the difficulties in applying adequate biosecurity measures. The slaughter and destruction of great numbers of animals is also questionable from an ethical point of view, particularly when human-health implications are negligible. For this reason, mass depopulation has raised serious concerns for the general public and has recently led to very high costs and economic losses for the national and federal governments, the stakeholders and ultimately for the consumers. In the past, the use of vaccines in such emergencies has been limited by the impossibility of differentiating vaccinated/infected from vaccinated/non-infected animals. The major concern was that through trade or movement of apparently uninfected animals or products, the disease could spread further or might be exported to other countries. For this reason export bans have been imposed on countries enforcing a vaccination policy. This paper takes into account the possible strategies for the control of avian influenza infections, bearing in mind the new proposed definition of AI. In detail, an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using conventional inactivated (homologous and heterologous) vaccines and recombinant vaccines is presented and discussed. Reference is made to the different control strategies including the restriction measures to be applied in case of the enforcement of a vaccination policy. In addition, the implications of a vaccination policy on trade are discussed. In conclusion, if vaccination is accepted as an option for the control of AI, vaccine banks including companion diagnostic tests must be established and made available for immediate use

Geoethics and geological culture. Reflections from the Geoitalia Conference 2011

This is the first volume of an international scientific journal that is dedicated to issues of geoethics and geological culture. Its goal is to inform the Italian and international scientific communities about what emerged at the GeoItalia 2011 conference, attended by not only Italian geoscientists. At this conference, the geoscientists questioned their role in society and the responsibilities that they have to assume as scholars of the planet Earth and experts of the territory. They highlighted the need for rediscovery of the cultural values of geology as a science that can contribute to the construction of correct social knowledge, and the need to be aware that geoethics cannot exist without a real awareness among geoscientists of the cultural value of the Earth sciences

Geoethics and geological culture: awareness, responsibility and challenges

The international debate in the field of geoethics focuses on some of the most important environmental emergencies, while highlighting the great responsibilities of geoscientists, whatever field they work in, and the important social, cultural and economic repercussions that their choices can have on society. The GeoItalia 2009 and 2011 conferences that were held in Rimini and Turin, respectively, and were organized by the Italian Federation of Earth Science, were two important moments for the promotion of geoethics in Italy. They were devoted to the highlighting of how, and with what tools and contents, can the geosciences contribute to the cultural renewal of society. They also covered the active roles of geoscientists in the dissemination of scientific information, contributing in this way to the correct construction of social knowledge. Geology is culture, and as such it can help to dispel misconceptions and cultural stereotypes that concern natural phenomena, disasters, resources, and land management. Geological culture consists of methods, goals, values, history, ways of thinking about nature, and specific sensitivity for approaching problems and their solutions. So geology has to fix referenced values, as indispensable prerequisites for geoethics. Together, geological culture and geoethics can strengthen the bond that joins people to their territory, and can help to find solutions and answers to some important challenges in the coming years regarding natural risks, resources, and climate change. Starting from these considerations, we stress the importance of establishing an ethical criterion for Earth scientists, to focus attention on the issue of the responsibility of geoscientists, and the need to more clearly define their scientific identity and the value of their specificities

Promoting Geoethics in Society: A New Challenge for Geoscientists

The Geoscience community is called to play an important role in society: helping in the defense against natural risks, orienting on global issues like climate change, looking for new ways to source natural resources from a sustainable perspective, building a knowledgeable society and help to improve the living conditions of human life especially in low income countries. This implies geoscientists are more aware of their social responsibility and capable of working by the principles of integrity, honesty with respect for land, water and air..

Database relativo agli 8.101 comuni italiani, contenente informazioni di pericolosità di base e locale, in formato Microsoft Access

Nell’ambito della attività del Task 5/7 “Reti neuronali” è stato messo a punto un database (file in formato Microsoft ACCESS, denominato “Prodotto 1_UO Geologica INGV Roma - UR CNR ITC L'Aquila.accdb”, allegato al presente rapporto) che, per ciascuno degli 8.101 comuni italiani nell’elenco dell’Istat (http://www.istat.it/strumenti/definizioni/comuni/), contiene informazioni sulla pericolosità sismica di base e locale. I dati inseriti sono finalizzati alle elaborazioni previste per il Livello 0. Tutti i parametri di pericolosità sismica sono stati calcolati considerando il comune come un punto, avente coordinate geografiche riferite ad un elemento caratteristico posizionato nel centro abitato capoluogo

Geological events during the Holocene: an overview for Northern Europe and the Mediterranean

The Holocene is the most recent geological epoch spanning from about 11700 years ago to the present day. The most important human civilizations appeared during the Holocene. From the Holocene onwards, environmental changes, and the hazards associated with them, became extremely important for their impact on historical events, in some cases blending with humanity’s vicissitudes and influencing the rise and decline of civilizations. This paper summarises the geological and climatic conditions of Northern Europe during the Holocene and tries to determine whether or not they support the hypothesis formulated by Felice Vinci (Vinci, 2003) about the migration of Baltic populations towards the Mediterranean in the Bronze Age at the end of the “climatic optimum” (Houghton et al., 1990; Rohling & De Rijk, 1999). This study presents data on glacio-eustatic changes and on isostatic uplift together with information on probable tsunamis that occurred in the North Atlantic, North Sea, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea. Moreover, some data on catastrophic events that affected the Mediterranean region are reported, because these catastrophes could have favoured the settlement of “people coming from the sea” that took advantage of the demographic and socio-economic weakening of indigenous populations (Driessen, 2002). The paper aims to provide geological and palaeogeographic constraints to the hypotheses formulated by Felice Vinci on the migration of Scandinavians towards the Mediterranean. The data analysed have been collected from the available scientific literature (see references). The amount of information available for each geological phenomenon is vast and sometimes theories developed from the same data are in conflict. The comparison between the Mediterranean and the Baltic areas (one of which could have been the theatre of the Homeric events) will be useful to find evidence of geological phenomena within the Homeric texts, giving useful indications to better understand where the poems are set or at least to provide interesting discussion points related to Felice Vinci’s hypothesis (Vinci 2003)

Evento sismico ed etica della responsabilità nell’avanzamento delle conoscenze scientifiche

Ethics takes advantage of the experience. Based on the experience, man directs criteria and individual and social behaviours, trying to make more responsible actions in the historical and environmental context in which he lives, with the goal of a real progress of mankind. The experience increases in times of crisis, when the available tools become insufficient to provide a further progress and we are forced to consider the level of civilization attained. In passing through points of rupture, the equilibrium of consolidated and shared beliefs can enter into crisis, making a change indispensable. The severity of a seismic event, such as that occurred in L'Aquila on 6 April 2009, in addition to the emotional impact produced, requires a deep reflection from our community, because of the scientific questions that necessarily it raises, questions that may no longer be evaded by a debate, almost entirely focused on the issues of seismic hazard. The earthquake is an breakage event: in the Earth's crust (physical phenomenon), on the construction (technical aspects and socio-economic repercussions), in the community (psycho-emotional and anthropological effects), in the consciences (ethical implications). A seismic event represents a verification moment: inside the community, we have to face atavistic fears and bring into question acquired certainties, trying to measure the degree of cohesion and the response to this disturbance; in technical field, we compare the structural capacity of the buildings with the seismic demand, and from this comparison we can understand the real level of safety of building systems, used materials and predisposed norms; in scientific field, researchers verify the knowledge elements of phenomena, interpretation models, adopted strategies and followed research lines. Therefore, the earthquake may represent an opportunity for the scientific knowledge advancement and the human progress. However, it is not so obvious that this will happen. The history of the science teaches us that few researchers are be able to catch the new in what everyone can see. Other scientists continue to discuss, very slowly changing their ideas regarding the new trends, that those few researchers have identified and redefined. After this event, what can change? And, above all, what will have to change? Some concepts commonly used in the study and mitigation of seismic risk (prediction, prevention, emergency, laws, popularization) will be considered, in the attempt to seize new guidelines for the defence against earthquakes