Molecular and Serological Findings in Sheep During Two Outbreaks in Sicily (Southern Italy).

Q fever is a widespread zoonotic disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium , primarily transmitted through the inhalation of contaminated aerosols. This study aimed to detect in two Sicilian sheep flocks, with no better defined reproductive disorders reported by the farmers. Blood, individual and bulk milk, ticks, and conjunctival swabs were collected from both flocks (A and B).

A Canine Leptospirosis Clinical Case Due to (Serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae) in a Dog Kennel in Castelvetrano (Western Sicily, South Italy).

Leptospirosis is a worldwide widespread zoonosis caused by genus. We report an acute leptospirosis case in a puppy housed at a municipal kennel and the subsequent diagnostic investigations carried out on all dogs housed in the kennel. Laboratory investigation included mainly a microagglutination test, real-time PCR, and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) for genus.

Serogroup Pomona in a Dairy Cattle Farm in a Multi-Host Zootechnical System.

Bovine leptospirosis is an infectious zoonotic disease causing reproductive problems and economic losses in livestock. This work reports, for the first time in Sicily (South Italy), an outbreak of serogroup Pomona that occurred in cattle farms within the Nebrodi Park and was mainly characterized by full-term abortion. Blood and urine samples were collected at different time points from animals of six different farms (Farms A-F) sharing the same grazing area.

Serological and Molecular Evidence of in Stray Cats from Southern Italy.

is a slow growing and facultative intracellular pathogen mainly transmitted by arthropod vectors adapted to domestic and wild mammalian reservoir hosts. Since cats are the major source of the infection, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and the DNA presence in randomly sampled stray cats. Blood samples of 429 cats were collected from shelter of Palermo (Southern Italy) and sera and whole blood were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively.