The national information system for the notification of animal diseases in Italy

This paper describes the national system for the notification and management of outbreaks of animal diseases in Italy (Sistema Informativo Nazionale Malattie Animali: SIMAN). The main objective of the system is to provide a tool for the management of epidemic emergencies and to fulfil the information obligations towards international organisations, such as the European Commission and World Organisation for Animal Health (Office International des Épizooties: OIE). SIMAN was thus designed to collect all relevant information on outbreaks of animal diseases and to provide a useful tool for the management of activities to be implemented in emergencies. SIMAN is able to collect and report information concerning suspected or confirmed animal outbreaks in a consistent way and allows veterinary services to enter data electronically, instead of using paperwork, within the framework of the process of e-government and dematerialisation of the administrative acts. Data are immediately accessible for local and national authorities. The system provides the relevant national authorities with information relative to the planning of control measures in case epidemic emergencies. SIMAN is part of the e-government process that involves all public administrations of the European Union (EU) and refers to the use of information and communication technologies for the digital processing of documents so as to simplify the system and to make administrative procedures on the Internet much easier to follow.