Prof. Tacconelli presents preparedness project at Italian arboviroses conference

Last week, ID-CARE Director, Professor Evelina Tacconelli, attended the “Arboviroses: new challenges for Italy” conference in Verona to present the BE READY NOW project and to unveil, alongside Professor Federico Gobbi, the Rete Veneta Perpetual Cohort.

Global travel, warming temperatures and expanding mosquito ranges are shifting Italy’s infectious‑disease map. In 2025 West Nile caused over 700 cases and 49 deaths, Emilia‑Romagna reported 322 local Chikungunya cases, and early 2026 already saw 113 confirmed dengue cases linked mainly to the Maldives. Tropical viruses are no longer distant threats: with climate change they’re becoming seasonal, sometimes year‑round, and new mosquito species are on the way from Korea and Japan.

These realities were the focus of “Arboviroses: new challenges for Italy,” a two‑day national congress in Verona (19–20 May 2026) organised by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar. More than 200 experts used a One Health lens, integrating human, animal and environmental surveillance, to discuss early warning systems based on sentinel animals, vectors and human cases.

Highlights included Professor Evelina Tacconelli’s presentation of BE READY NOW, a new 10‑year European partnership (launched 1 Jan 2026) backed by €120M to speed diagnostics, therapies and vaccines and to create an “ever‑warm” research ecosystem that stays ready between crises. She also unveiled, with Professor Federico Gobbi, the Rete Veneta Perpetual Cohort, a local, continuous monitoring project linking the University of Verona's research expertise with the clinical and diagnostic capabilites of the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital.

Takeaway message: beating arboviral threats needs integrated surveillance, clinical readiness, lab excellence and international cooperation. Verona is positioning itself as a hub for those strategies, because these infections now touch home.

Find out more about the BE READY NOW project here: https://www.id-care.net/projects/be-ready-now

BE READY NOW is funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101226682.