From bird flu to blue tongue. The viruses that have infested and decimated chicken, sheep and cattle farms throughout Italy in the last 15 years may have been induced by those who wanted to profit from the production of vaccines. All by exploiting the fear that inevitably spreads among farmers and consumers when it comes to epidemics. The Rome prosecutor's office has just concluded an investigation that excites managers of the Ministry of Health and managers of pharmaceutical giants. There are 41 suspects and 3 associations identified by the deputy prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo. The charges range from receiving stolen goods to corruption, from the administration of medicines in a way dangerous to public health to the attempted epidemic, from extortion to abuse of office.<\/p>\n
The US was the first to discover the smuggling of live avian flu virus strains with Saudi Arabia. Paolo Candoli, Italian manager of the pharmaceutical multinational Merial spa, was interrogated on March 30, 2004 by American investigators to whom he confessed to having received a virus of bird flu<\/span><\/a><\/span> highly named pathogen H9<\/a>. Coming from Saudi Arabia, the virus traveled by sea, hidden in ice cubes, and then arrived in Cesena in April 1999, by courier, directly to Candoli's home. Head of the virology laboratory of the National Center for La Merial becomes the privileged interlocutor of the Ministry of Health also for blue-tongue, bluetongue (also known as "blue tongue"<\/span><\/a><\/span>) affecting sheep and cattle.<\/p>\navian flu, deputy in the Chamber of Civic Choice, Ilaria Capua<\/span><\/a><\/span> instead it is accused of having given the viral strain of Pakistani origin called H7N3<\/a> to Merial Italia spa \u00abby unduly receiving \u2013 reads the indictment \u2013 an unspecified but large sum of money from Daniela Nieddu\u00bb, head of \u00abResearch and development\u00bb of the pharmaceutical company. The H9 and H7N3 viruses were initially used "to produce clandestinely, without the prescribed ministerial authorisation, medicinal products for veterinary use, then proceeding with their marketing and administration on animals, causing the uncontrolled spread of avian flu on farms poultry farming in northern Italy\u00bb. All this has caused the contagion of 7 operators in the sector, the serious danger to health deriving from the consumption of this meat and the slaughter of millions of chickens and turkeys, with an estimated damage of 40 million euros. Then from clandestinity we move on to the green light from the Ministry of Health. Fearing a health emergency, the ministerial leaders under investigation begin to authorize the urgent purchase of millions of doses of vaccine "to favor - the indictment reads - the economic interests of Merial Italia spa and Fort Dodge, to the detriment of competing companies \u00bb. The patent for the "Diva" test (which identifies whether an animal is positive for the virus) is also sold to these two companies in exchange for money, royalties, gifts, funding for conferences and research. In charge of selling the diagnostic kit for the Fort Dodge is Richard Currie, husband of Ilaria Capua.<\/p>\n