Publications by authors named "Matteo De Ascentis"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the potential distribution of a mosquito species known for spreading vector-borne diseases in central Italy using a combination of entomological data and satellite imagery from Sentinel-2.
- Three predictive models were utilized: a baseline deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for environmental conditions at the time of collection, a multitemporal model analyzing conditions over the past two months, and a MultiAdjacency Graph Attention Network (MAGAT) model that considers spatial and climatic relationships.
- Results showed that the baseline model had a high F1 score of 75.8%, which improved to 81.4% with the multitemporal model and reached 80.9% with the MAGAT model, confirming the widespread presence of the mosquito
West Nile virus (WNV) is the most widespread arbovirus worldwide, responsible for severe neurological symptoms in humans as well as in horses and birds. The main reservoir and amplifier of the virus are birds, and migratory birds seem to have a key role in the introduction and spread of WNV during their migratory routes. WNV lineage 1 (L1) has been missing in Italy for almost 10 years, only to reappear in 2020 in two dead raptor birds in southern Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a viral disease transmitted by Culicoides biting midges that affects wild and domestic ruminants. The causative agent, EHD virus (EHDV), belongs to the family Sedoreoviridae, genus Orbivirus. The virus has never been reported in Europe until October 2022, when the virus was for the first time detected in Sicily and Sardinia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - In 2019, a study was conducted in Abruzzo and Molise, Italy, to identify local mosquito species and understand the distribution of potential disease vectors based on a previous ecoregion classification.
- - From 2019 to 2021, researchers monitored mosquitoes for two viruses, West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV), collecting and testing mosquito samples via Real-time PCR; all 3046 pools tested negative for WNV.
- - USUV was found in several mosquito pools, indicating an enzootic cycle maintained by species like Culex pipiens s.l. and Aedes caspius, highlighting the importance of ecoregions in identifying areas at higher risk for
midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), the vectors of economically important arboviruses such as bluetongue virus and African horse sickness virus, are of global importance. In the absence of transovarial transmission, the parity rate of a population provides imperative information regarding the risk of virus dispersal. Abdominal pigmentation, which develops after blood feeding and ovipositioning, is used as an indicator of parity in During oral susceptibility trials over the last three decades, a persistent proportion of blood engorged females did not develop pigment after incubation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe distribution of Bluetongue virus (BTV) in Europe can be represented by two distinct and interconnected epidemiological systems (episystems), each characterized by different ecological characteristics and vector species. This study investigated the vector competence of Italian populations of and to some representative BTV strains after artificial oral infection. The BTV strains were selected according to their ability to spread to one or both episystems and included BTV-4 ITA, responsible of the recent Italian and French BTV-4 outbreaks; the BTV-2 strain which caused the first BTV incursion in Italy, Corsica, and Balearic Islands; BTV-4 MOR, responsible for the epidemic in Morocco; and BTV-8, the strain which spread through Europe between 2006 and 2008.
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