Poor guy. Italy is just plain bizarre about science, IMO. Lately, they've been going after Ilaria Capua, one of the world's biggest experts on avian influenza, and the person who implemented the first practical field use of vaccination to help control outbreaks in birds. I read the accusations in a news story in Science, and I'm still baffled.
Science 5 September 2014:
Vol. 345 no. 6201 pp. 1105-1106
DOI: 10.1126/science.345.6201.1105
In an unpublished report that is the culmination of 10 years of investigation, Italian police claim that a "criminal organization," which included scientists, company executives, veterinarians, and government officials, has colluded to profit financially from Italy's battle with avian influenza. Among other things, the report claims that the members of the organization smuggled influenza viruses into Italy, sold viruses illegally, produced and sold an illegal vaccine, and attempted to spread avian influenza to create a market for the vaccine.
Here's a link to the text, which I think has the full article:
http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comme ... illegally/
Perhaps the most explosive charge is that Candoli and others deliberately spread bird flu viruses from 1999 on in an attempt to create a market for vaccines and pressure the government to approve them. The report uses the term “attempted epidemics,” but does not specify how they might have been triggered. The evidence appears to be circumstantial. During calls with veterinarians working for poultry farms in northern Italy, Candoli told them it was time to: “Stop spreading that illness!”
The most obvious interpretation of "Stop spreading the illness" is, of course, that they were trying to get veterinarians to use better disinfection and other precautionary measures to keep from accidentally spreading viruses within the birds on a farm, or between farms on objects like cars, etc. Like telling nurses to remember to wash their hands frequently and stop (inadvertently) spreading MRSA in hospitals.
In 2005, he and a Merial colleague discussed whether it might be the right time for someone to find Italian ducks infected with H5; at the time, a dangerous strain called H5N1 was fanning out of Asia to Africa and Europe. Twenty days after the call, an H5N1 virus—although not of the Asian strain—was isolated from a dead duck near Modena.
So if you live in Italy, you'd better not discuss your research plans to see if something exists, either...
I'd really hate to be a scientist in Italy.