Trend of confirmed WNND cases by month of symptom onset. Italy: 2012 – 2023. Source: ISS, 9 Nov. 2023
There is no national government open data on infectious diseases in Italy. Yet the idea is there, and now we also have the practice. A team of Italian researchers has published in the prestigious journal Nature an article which tells of a very interesting experiment: the collection of a complete data set on outbreaks of West Nile virus (West Nile fever) that occurred in Italy over ten years, from September 2012 to November 2022.
Schematic overview of the key steps to build the WNVDB open access dataset.
In detail, things work like this: the regions, in full autonomy, define the regulatory-programmatic documents for epidemiological and laboratory surveillance in their territory and transmit the data to the ISS and the Ministry, which then transmits the data to the European Commission and to ECDC. In the meantime, the Department of Infectious Diseases of the ISS, with the coordination of Office V of the Directorate General for Prevention of the Ministry of Health and in collaboration with the Center for Exotic Diseases Studies (CESME) of the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Abruzzo and Molise , publishes surveillance system data in a periodic bulletin in .pdf format.
Observed data (black dots) and estimated Richards curves (solid red line) with 95% confidence intervals (red shaded area) of West Nile epidemics for (a) Emilia-Romagna in 2018, (b) Emilia-Romagna in 2022, (c) Veneto in 2018 and (d) Veneto in 2022. The red dots represent the point forecasts for outbreaks in 2022.
The team of researchers, belonging to the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, the Roma Tre University, Lumsa and the Santa Maria Annunziata Hospital in Florence, decided to create a centralized open access archive – Open data – digitizing the bulletins published by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità to demonstrate the potential use of this data to facilitate the analysis and monitoring of the disease. The data is now available on GitHub.
Information on the type of infected host was collected, together with additional information where available, on the type of infection, the age of those affected, together with geographical details. Overall, in 10 years, Italy has counted a total of 1576 West Nile virus (WNV) infections, with an annual average of 143 cases. However, all outbreaks were mild, except those in 2018 and 2022, for which 581 and 599 outbreaks were recorded, respectively. Excluding these two years from the calculation results in an annual average of only 44 cases, corresponding to < 1 case for every million residents.
The database also reports weekly cases of WNV infections in mosquitoes and wild birds at the provincial level. THEIn fact, West Nile virus has been found in 52 different species of wild birds over the years.
“By combining our data with other sources of information such as meteorological data, it becomes possible to evaluate potential relationships between West Nile virus outbreaks and environmental factors” we read in the study. “What we did can also be repeated for other pathogens as done in the past in other studies such as per Mpox, Ebola e bird flu” Francesco Branda, one of the authors of the paper, tells us. “More generally, what we will try to develop in the future is an open platform like this where anyone working in this area will be able to search for the pathogen of interest and download the data relating to the pathogen for their own research”. “It is then a question of transparency – continues Branda. “Open data plays a crucial role in generating reliable results by enabling greater government transparency”.
Having a completely open and easily available dataset on other infectious diseases in Italy can be very useful for several reasons:
1. Research and analysis. The dataset can be a valuable resource for researchers and scientists studying West Nile virus and its impact on public health. The data can be used to analyze epidemic patterns while developing effective prevention and control strategies.
2. Monitoring and surveillance. An open dataset enables continuous monitoring and surveillance of epidemics. Public health authorities, researchers and policymakers can regularly access the data to monitor the spread of the virus, identify high-risk areas and implement timely interventions. This information can help provide rapid response and proactive measures to prevent further transmission.
3. Collaborations between institutions. Open data promotes collaboration between researchers, institutions and organizations working in this case on WNV. This collaboration can lead to more effective strategies for disease prevention and control.
4. Public supervision. Making the dataset freely available supports public scrutiny of the government’s handling of the epidemic. It enables transparency and empowers citizens, journalists, and advocacy groups to examine data, evaluate government response to WNV outbreaks, and hold authorities accountable.
5. Improved predictive and modeling capabilities. Access to a comprehensive and open dataset improves the accuracy and reliability of disease prediction capabilities. Accurate models can aid in early warning systems, resource planning and targeted interventions.