Publications by authors named "Carlo V Citterio"

Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious skin disease caused by . Sera were collected from 411 Iberian ibexes, comprising 157 individuals with sarcoptic mange skin lesions and 254 clinically healthy animals, in 13 population nuclei across Andalusia (southern Spain) between 2015 and 2021. Skin samples from 88 of the 157 animals with mange-compatible lesions were also obtained.

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Article Synopsis
  • Echinococcus multilocularis is a parasitic cestode causing a deadly disease called alveolar echinococcosis, primarily spread by red foxes in Europe.
  • The study investigated genetic diversity among E. multilocularis isolates from 19 European countries, analyzing 4,968 base pairs from five mitochondrial genes and identifying 43 different haplotypes.
  • Findings indicated that most of the isolates shared four predominant haplotypes concentrated in mainland Europe, while Svalbard's isolates were genetically distinct, highlighting the need for more research in underrepresented eastern European regions to understand genetic variability.
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  • The study investigates the effectiveness of different copromicroscopic techniques for detecting gastrointestinal helminths in red foxes, focusing on the comparison between scraping, filtration and counting (SFCT) and simpler methods like flotation (FT) and multiplex PCR (CMPCR).
  • Researchers isolated helminths from 150 red foxes in Italy, identifying three types of nematodes and five types of cestodes, with FT showing low sensitivity compared to SFCT, especially for Taeniidae species.
  • The findings suggest that traditional copromicroscopic methods often underestimate helminth prevalence, particularly in high-prevalence situations for cestodes, due to irregular egg shedding and sample handling issues, highlighting the need for more
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The assessment of red fox population density is considered relevant to the surveillance of zoonotic agents vectored by this species. However, density is difficult to estimate reliably, since the ecological plasticity and elusive behavior of this carnivore hinder classic methods of inference. In this study, red fox population density was estimated using a non-invasive molecular spatial capture-recapture (SCR) approach in two study areas: one in a known hotspot of the zoonotic cestode , and another naïve to the parasite.

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Since 1995, the Alpine chamois () population of the Dolomites has been affected by sarcoptic mange with considerable management concerns. In this study, 15 years (2006-2020) of passive surveillance and demographic data were analyzed in order to describe a mange outbreak. Furthermore, an enhanced passive surveillance protocol was implemented in order to evaluate the efficiency of ordinary vs.

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Surveillance of Echinococcus multilocularis at the edge of its range is hindered by fragmented distributional patterns and low prevalence in definitive hosts. Thus, tests with adequate levels of sensitivity are especially important for discriminating between infected and non-infected areas. In this study we reassessed the prevalence of E.

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(TBEV) is the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), a severe zoonosis occurring in the Palearctic region mainly transmitted through ticks. In Italy, TBEV is restricted to the north-eastern part of the country. This report describes for the first time a case of clinical TBE in a roe deer ( L.

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Canine angiostrongylosis is an emergent cardio-pulmonary gastropod-borne helminthic infection caused by the metastrongyloid nematode Angiostrongylus vasorum. Clinically, it is characterized by a wide spectrum of non-specific signs and the red fox serves as the most important reservoir for dog infections. In Italy, this disease has been well documented both in northwestern and central-southern regions, whereas it is apparently poorly recognized in the northeastern area of the country.

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Background: Echinococcus multilocularis is a small tapeworm affecting wild and domestic carnivores and voles in a typical prey-predator life cycle. In Italy, there has been a focus of E. multilocularis since 1997 in the northern Italian Alps, later confirmed in red foxes collected from 2001 to 2005.

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Sarcoptic mange represents the most severe disease for wild Caprinae individuals and populations in Europe, raising concerns for both conservation and management of these ungulates. To date, this disease has been investigated in different wild caprine species and under many different perspectives including diagnostics, epidemiology, impact on the host populations, and genetics of both hosts and parasite, with the aim to disentangle the host- relationship. Notwithstanding, uncertainty remains and basic questions still need an answer.

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Canine distemper virus (CDV) represents an important threat for both wild and domestic carnivores. Since 2006, the North-Eastern regions in Italy have been experiencing severe and widespread recurring outbreaks of CDV affecting the wild carnivore population. In this study we performed an extensive phylogeographic analysis of CDV strains belonging to the Wildlife-Europe genetic group identified between 2006 and 2018 in Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions.

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An unusual mortality of wild boars occurred in Italy from 2012 to 2015 due to Salmonella Choleraesuis infection. In order to confirm the occurrence of an outbreak of S. Choleraesuis in wild boars and to epidemically characterise the unique S.

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Background: Northeastern Italy is a hotspot for several tick-borne pathogens, transmitted to animals and humans mainly by Ixodes ricinus. Here we compare the results of molecular monitoring of ticks and zoonotic TBPs over a six-year period, with the monitoring of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in an endemic area.

Results: In the period 2011-2016, 2,578 ticks were collected in 38 sites of 20 municipalities of Belluno Province.

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Background: Interactions between parasite species within a host play a fundamental role in shaping parasite communities that have been classified within a continuum between interactive and isolationist. Interactive communities are principally structured by interactions between parasite species, while isolationist communities are structured by processes independent of the presence of other parasite species. Assessing whether, and to what extent, parasite communities exist along this continuum has been challenging due to a lack of an index that quantifies the degree of interactivity.

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A 10-day-old litter of five puppies of Bracco Italiano dog breed showed weakness and diarrhea and, 2 days later, four of them died. At the same time, the bitch showed high hyperthermia (40 °C) and endometritis. The necropsy of a puppy revealed a severe lobar pneumonia accompanied with a bilateral nephrosis.

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Abomasa of 185 chamois shot during 5 consecutive hunting seasons were collected as part of a health monitoring program in an alpine area of Italy and examined for nematodes. The data were obtained during both the preceding period and that following a severe die-off caused by a pneumonia outbreak. Prevalence, mean abundance, mean intensity, and Thul Importance index were consistently high, in particular for Haemonchus contortus, having a low host specificity and high pathogenic potential.

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