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African swine fever (ASF) is a severe viral disease characterized by high lethality in suids and caused by the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). The ASF genotype I virus was introduced to Europe in 1957, marking the onset of the first European epidemic wave. In 2007, ASFV genotype II was detected in Georgia, affecting domestic pigs and wild boars before spreading to various European and extra-European countries, including Italy. The first case of ASFV in Italy was documented on 7 January 2022, in a wild boar in the Piedmont region. Since then, several ASFV-positive wild boar carcasses have been identified in the Piedmont and Liguria regions. By June 2023, ASFV had spread to Lombardy, one of the major pig-producing regions in northern Italy; the virus was first detected in early summer in wild boar carcasses. Two months later, it was diagnosed in a commercial pig farm as a consequence of the disease's spread amongst wild boars and an increase in the viral environmental load. This report aims to describe the features of ASFV domestic pig outbreaks that occurred in the Zinasco municipality (Lombardy) and the joint efforts to mitigate potential direct and indirect economic impacts on the Italian and global pig industry. The epidemiological investigation and the measures implemented, which were all performed according to national and European regulations, as well as exceptional ad hoc measures aimed at protecting the pig industry, are described in order to provide a practical and effective approach to combating ASF.

Objectives: To design a novel artificial intelligence-based software platform that allows users to analyze text data by identifying various coherent topics and parts of the data related to a specific research theme-of-interest (TOI)., Materials and Methods: Our platform uses state-of-the-art unsupervised natural language processing methods, building on top of a large language model, to analyze social media text data. At the center of the platform's functionality is BERTopic, which clusters social media posts, forming collections of words representing distinct topics. A key feature of our platform is its ability to identify whole sentences corresponding to topic words, vastly improving the platform's ability to perform downstream similarity operations with respect to a user-defined TOI., Results: Two case studies on mental health among university students are performed to demonstrate the utility of the platform, focusing on signals within social media (Reddit) data related to depression and their connection to various emergent themes within the data., Discussion and Conclusion: Our platform provides researchers with a readily available and inexpensive tool to parse large quantities of unstructured, noisy data into coherent themes, as well as identifying portions of the data related to the research TOI. While the development process for the platform was focused on mental health themes, we believe it to be generalizable to other domains of research as well., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.)

In April 2023, an outbreak of clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses carrying the T271A mammalian adaptive mutation in the PB2 protein was detected in a backyard poultry farm in Italy. Five domestic dogs and one cat living on the premises had seroconverted in the absence of clinical signs. Virological and serological monitoring of individuals exposed to the virus proved the absence of human transmission, however, asymptomatic influenza A(H5N1) infections in mammalian pets may have important public health implications.

African swine fever is a devastating contagious viral disease of kept and wild porcine animals that will challenge the Veterinary Services involved in its eradication. Nowadays, ASF represents one of the biggest challenges for the pig sector at a global level. Following a number of simulated virus random introductions, the paper estimates the average number of farms (including their type) and animals that will be under restriction, and finally the average distance of infected farms from the nearest rendering plant. The study includes data referring to 101,032 farms with 9,322,819 pigs which are available in the Italian National Database (BDN). The simulations consider 5 different biogeographic regions with their own domestic pig distribution, breeding systems, and wild boar presence. Following an index case in a farm, and in the worst‑case scenario, in the 10 km radius of the restriction area, there will be: 2,636 farms in South Italy; 470,216 animals in Po Valley; 147 km in Central Italy is the longest mean distance from the infected farm to the nearest rendering plant.

This study described a SARS-CoV-2 infection in minks on an Italian farm. Surveillance was performed based on clinical examination and a collection of 1879 swabs and 74 sera from dead and live animals. The farm was placed under surveillance for 4.5 months, from the end of July 2020, when a man working on the farm tested positive by RT-PCR, till mid-December 2020 when all the animals were sacrificed. Clinical examination revealed no clinical signs or increased mortality rates attributable to SARS-CoV-2, while diagnostic tests detected only four weak PCR-positive samples, but 100% of sera were positive for SARS-CoV-2 anti-S antibodies. The phylogenetic analysis of two SARS-CoV-2 sequences from two minks and the sequence of the worker showed that they belonged to different clades. It could be therefore assumed that two distinct introductions of the virus occurred on the farm, and that the first introduction probably occurred before the start of the surveillance period. From the data collected, and especially from the detection of specific antibodies through the combination of different tests, it can be postulated that syndromic surveillance combined with genome detection by PCR may not be sufficient to achieve a diagnosis in asymptomatic animals. In particular, the serological approach, especially when using tests directed towards the S protein, may be useful for improving the traceability of virus circulation in similar environments.

Background: African Swine Fever (ASF) is a challenge for pig health worldwide. The disease has spread to multiple countries on five continents. ASF-free countries need to apply effective strategies to prevent the introduction of infection., Methods: Italy implemented a surveillance and prevention plan for ASF in 2020, supported by a dedicated information system. Several pillars for action have been identified: passive surveillance in both domestic pigs and wild boar populations, verification of the implementation of biosecurity measures on farms and an awareness campaign for all involved stakeholders., Results: There were some regional differences in the management of passive surveillance. In order to identify all critical points and apply corrective measures, regional authorities were called to carry out a gap analysis exercise in July 2020. There were an adequate number of samples collected from wild boar but the number of samples collected from domestic pigs was below the target in most regions. Furthermore, sample distribution within the country was not homogeneous., Conclusions: During the forthcoming year, some issues must be addressed in order to establish an effective early detection system in Italian ASF-free regions., (© 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Aims: Unfractionated-heparin (UFH) is the first-choice parenteral anticoagulant during invasive percutaneous procedures and its effect is monitored by the activated coagulation time (ACT). The effects of the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) on the ACT and on ACT prolongation by UFH were not clearly established. We assessed the ACT prolongation induced by different UFH concentrations in blood samples of patients taking the four types of currently marketed NOACs and in patients not taking anticoagulants., Methods and Results: We measured the ACT in patients on dabigatran 110 mg (n = 8), rivaroxaban (n = 10), apixaban (n = 9) and edoxaban (n = 10) at supposed peak plasma concentrations, before and after in vitro addition of 3 UFH concentrations, corresponding to doses of 2000, 5000 and 10,000 IU. Seven non-anticoagulated patients served as controls. Patients in the 5 groups did not differ significantly for age, body weight and glomerular filtration rate. Baseline ACTs (s, mean ± SD) were 192 ± 27, 124 ± 14, 132 ± 14, 151 ± 30 and 134 ± 7 in dabigatran 110, rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban and controls, respectively (P < 0.05 for dabigatran vs the other NOACs). We found a linear prolongation of the ACT with the in vitro UFH addition (P < 0.001), but prolongation was similar between the NOACs and controls., Conclusions: Dabigatran induces a moderate, significant ACT prolongation. None of the NOACs affects the UFH-induced ACT prolongation in the commonly used UFH range. The dose of UFH currently recommended to achieve the target ACT should thus be used irrespective of whether patients are taking NOACs or not., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)