Database Application in Veterinary Medicine for Human and Animal Health Surveillance in the Veneto Region - Italy

Taking into account the sanitary consequences of the food crisis which hit Europe in the '90s, well summarized by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), the collection and exchange of data along all the steps of the food production chain ("from farm to fork") is essential [4]. The aim of this paper is to describe a practical use of the information system technologies applied to food safety and beef traceability in the Veneto Region (Northern Italy). Since 1994, the regional veterinary service has been developing a Regional Information System (RIS) with the aim of creating and maintaining an effective and structured communication network among all the stakeholders (health authorities, producers, consumers). The core of the RIS is the Regional Data Bank (RDB) which stores all data about farms and related industries and is linked to a geographical information system for spatial data management. The RDB also manages the regional register of individual bovine animals, containing information on cattle movements, slaughtering, births and deaths. The RDB is linked to the National Data Bank and provides it with the information required by the Italian and European legislations. An important node of the RIS is the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), a veterinary public health institute that conducts official laboratory controls and research activities in the areas of animal health and welfare, food safety, and environmental protection. The IZSVe headquarters also house the Regional Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology (CREV) which is responsible for the implementation and management of the RIS. The ongoing consolidation of RDB archives has recently allowed the development of a procedure (GESVET) for the management of the activities performed by the Veterinary Services of the 21 Local Public Health Units (LPHUs) operating in the region. Inter alia a specific module for the management of the veterinary activities at slaughterhouses has been implemented. The RIS is also integrated with the IZSVe laboratories (IZILAB) information system.