Use of geographic information systems technology in the epidemiological surveillance of African swine fever.

Geographic information systems (GIS) proved to be very useful during the last two outbreaks of African swine fever in Sardinia and enabled comprehensive the implementation and organisation of the epidemic surveillance system. The knowledge of the precise location of the centre of infection made it possible to characterise all centres of infection and led to the mapping of possible routes of origin and spread of the virus from one case to another. GIS provided valuable and essential information to determine areas that required restrictions and offered an effective model of synergy between epidemiological data and legislative requirements during the epidemic.