Publications by authors named "Matteo Ricchi"

Article Synopsis
  • Research in Italy has found group B Streptococcus causing illness in both farmed pigs and wild porcupines.
  • In pigs, the infection is likely due to transmission from nonpasteurized bovine milk whey.
  • The study reveals that porcupines have a different source of infection, highlighting the diverse host range for this bacterium.
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  • The study investigates the genetic diversity of 15 strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), the cause of Johne's disease, isolated from red deer in Stelvio National Park over the past decade.
  • Using whole-genome sequencing, researchers found a strong genetic relationship among 13 isolates, indicating a single infection event in this deer population, while two distinct isolates were identified, marking the first discovery of this subspecies in Italy.
  • The research emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach combining molecular epidemiology and ecology to better understand infectious diseases in wildlife.
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  • Paratuberculosis, or Johne's disease, is a contagious bacterial infection affecting ruminants, including certain wild and domestic animals, and is recognized under the new EU Animal Health Law requiring surveillance.
  • A study conducted in Stelvio National Park, Italy, from 2018 to 2022 analyzed 390 red deer for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), finding a 5.9% prevalence overall, which declined over the years.
  • The research indicated that older deer and those with lower body mass were more likely to test positive for MAP, suggesting early stages of the infection with minimal signs of disease in the population.
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  • Fermo virus has been increasingly found in sand flies in northern Italy, but its natural transmission cycle is not well understood.
  • While there is evidence that Fermo virus can infect vertebrates, it has only been detected in sand flies, and no direct cases have been reported in animals or humans.
  • A new real-time PCR method has been developed for detecting Fermo virus, which offers more sensitive detection in insects and has the potential to identify the virus in vertebrates, aiding in the study of its epidemiology and potential risks to health.
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Paratuberculosis is an enteric disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subs. Paratuberculosis (MAP). Quantifying the load of MAP in faeces samples offers the advantage of determining the stage of infection and planning control measures.

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  • * This study compared two methods for assessing antimicrobial susceptibility in 215 bovine mastitis isolates: the broth microdilution (BMD) method and the agar disk diffusion (ADD) method, focusing on various common pathogens.
  • * Overall agreement between the BMD and ADD methods was 80.7%, indicating fair consistency, but specific pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus showed better agreement, while others like Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli had lower compatibility for certain antibiotics.
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Paratuberculosis is a notable infectious disease of ruminants. Goats appear to be particularly susceptible. The survey aimed to investigate the spread of paratuberculosis in Italian goat farming and evaluate whether the presence of the disease could be influenced by welfare and biosecurity deficiencies.

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This study analyzed data from 6 years (2014-2019) of official controls in the Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy) to investigate the frequencies of human pathogens and chemical hazards in foods during production and distribution. Campylobacter spp. was the most prevalent pathogen, isolated in 4.

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Raw milk and dairy products are usually considered the major sources of subsp. (MAP) exposure for humans. During the production process of mozzarella cheese, as well as of other pasta-filata cheeses made with pasteurized or raw milk, curd is heated and stretched by addition of hot or boiling water.

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Paratuberculosis is a chronic enteric progressive disease, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Despite cultural methods being considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of paratuberculosis, quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays have been developed for this purpose.

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We report here on an outbreak of mastitis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae, or group B Streptococcus, in a northern Italy (Lombardy Region) free stall dairy farm. This outbreak was unusual because it occurred in a closed dairy herd and proved to be extremely difficult to resolve even after the application of the classical control procedures, which are specifically focused on the contagious nature of S. agalactiae.

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subsp. s (MAP) is the causative agent of chronic proliferative enteritis found in ruminants, known as paratuberculosis (PTB). The spread of PTB is increasing in countries with advanced animal husbandry practices, leading to significant economic losses.

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(group B , GBS) is one of the most important agents of bovine mastitis and causes remarkable direct and indirect economic losses to the livestock sector. Moreover, this species can cause severe human diseases in susceptible individuals. To investigate the zoonotic potential of , 203 sympatric isolates from both humans and cattle, isolated in the same time frame (2018) and in the same geographic area (Emilia Romagna region, Northern Italy), were characterized by molecular capsular typing (MCT), pilus island typing (PI), and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST).

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Quantitative PCR (qPCR) has become a frequently employed direct method for the detection and quantification of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). The quantity of MAP determined by qPCR, however, may be affected by the type of qPCR quantification standard used (PCR product, plasmid, genomic DNA) and the way in which standard DNA quantity is determined (absorbance, fluorescence).

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Article Synopsis
  • Real-time reverse transcription PCR is the most sensitive test for detecting SARS-CoV-2, crucial for assessing contagiousness in recovered patients.
  • A study was conducted using 387 nasal swabs from patients with low viral loads, averaging a Cq value of 36.8.
  • Only 2.3% of the samples showed active virus replication, indicating that just a small number of clinically recovered individuals may still be contagious despite having residual viral RNA.
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Paratuberculosis, a chronic disease caused by subsp. (MAP), in ten scimitar-horned oryxes (SHOs) hosted in an Italian zoological park and originating from a Slovakian flock, was documented by pathology, molecular, cultural, and serological testing. The infection origin in this threatened species was also investigated by genomic analyses.

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  • Paratuberculosis is an infectious disease in ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), which may also have implications for human health due to its association with Crohn's disease.
  • After detection of the disease, there is no cure available and culling infected animals is the only way to control its spread, making early detection crucial.
  • The study uses an immunoinformatic approach to analyze 10 MAP proteins for their immune response potential, aiming to develop better diagnostic tools and vaccine formulations.
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Paratuberculosis is a chronic disease of ruminants caused by subsp. (MAP). Since isolation of MAP type I (S) is rarely reported in Italy, our research was aimed at isolating, by an inexpensive liquid culture manual method, this type of MAP isolates.

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The aim of this study was to develop and validate different innovative DNA extraction methods to detect Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) DNA from bovine and buffalo colostrum. Paratuberculosis is a chronic inflammatory infection of domestic and wild animals, especially ruminants, caused by MAP.

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  • Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), is a chronic infection affecting ruminants and is linked to diseases like Crohn's in humans.
  • This study evaluated the performance of three methods—culturing, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and a peptide-mediated magnetic separation (PMS) phage-based assay—for detecting MAP in various milk types, like raw and powdered.
  • Results showed that qPCR (94% sensitivity) and culture (83% sensitivity) were more effective than the PMS-phage method (40% sensitivity), indicating that qPCR and culture are the best options for MAP detection in dairy products.
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  • * The study focused on sequencing and assembling the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of two P. zopfii genotypes, revealing their compact sizes and unexpected lack of photosynthesis genes and RNA polymerases.
  • * The findings indicate that plastid genes are still actively transcribed, suggesting alternative mechanisms for gene expression, and the results provide insights into the evolution of Prototheca species and their interactions with hosts.
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  • Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), primarily affects ruminants like red deer and was studied during a culling program in Stelvio National Park (2011-2015).
  • Out of 484 samples tested, including tissue and fecal specimens, a significant portion tested PCR positive, indicating the presence of the disease in both the Lombardy and Bolzano regions.
  • All MAP strains isolated had a similar genetic profile, providing evidence of a common origin and suggesting potential transmission of the disease between wildlife and domestic livestock in Northern Italy.
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In Europe, Trichinella spiralis, the most dangerous species for humans of the genus Trichinella, has a patchy distribution with important foci in Eastern countries and Spain. This zoonotic pathogen was apparently not circulating among wild and domestic animals of Italy. In 2016, muscle larvae belonging to this nematode species were detected in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) shot in the Piacenza province (Northern Italy).

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  • The study aimed to compare quantitative PCR (qPCR) with two different digital PCR (dPCR) systems in measuring three bacterial pathogens.
  • Results showed that both dPCR methods provided consistent quantification, while qPCR had varying degrees of overestimation or underestimation compared to dPCR.
  • For one specific pathogen, both cultural methods and PCR approaches yielded similar quantification, indicating that PCR can be a reliable alternative to traditional methods for that pathogen.
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