The third issue of the ASSET Paper Series [12] focuses on some highly delicate topics that lie at the intersection of science, ethics, politics, and economics. In the first article of the collection, Donato Greco, epidemiologist and public health expert, discusses about the role and the management of national borders when dealing with both the spread of an infectious disease and the flow of migrants or refugees, citing the recent EU decision on such a matter.

Another relevant issue during public health emergencies is that of conflicts of interest, due to possible interferences in the decision-making processes by some of the stakeholders involved. A serious problem, for it may lead to bias in studies, to unbalanced decisions regarding resources allocated to specific diseases, and can distort the processes of approving vaccinations and medicines. Anat Gesser-Edelsburg and Manfred S. Green, from the School of Public Health of the University of Haifa, analyse the problem and try to suggest how to pre-empt conflicts of interest.

The last article talks about the trade-off between secrecy and transparency in intentionally caused outbreaks in modern societies. Finally, Kjersti Brattekås and Rebecca K. Davidson, from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, analyse the topic on the basis of current knowledge, history of biological attacks, countermeasures and policy trends.