Integrated taxonomy to advance species delimitation of the Anopheles maculipennis complex.

The Anopheles maculipennis complex consists of several mosquito species, including some primary malaria vectors. Therefore, the presence of a species in a particular area significantly affects public health. In this study, 1252 mosquitoes were collected in northern Italy, representing four identified species of the Anopheles maculipennis complex (Anopheles daciae sp.

Advancing West Nile virus monitoring through whole genome sequencing: Insights from a One Health genomic surveillance study in Romagna (Italy).

In the last 6 years, Italy accounted for 36 % of the total autochthonous European West Nile virus (WNV) cases reported to ECDC. Since 2001, the country put in place a multi-species national surveillance plan. The plan was enhanced in 2020 by adopting a fully integrated "One Health" approach, including human, wild bird, equine, and mosquito surveillance for the early detection of WNV.

Household expenditure on control of urban mosquitoes Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy.

Background: In 2007, the first outbreak of Chikungunya in Italy generated great alarm, highlighting the health risks caused by exotic species recently introduced in Europe and the need to strengthen control actions against the vectors. Besides health risks, mosquitoes cause nuisance, and citizens are required to adopt control measures. While the economic aspects of mosquito control by public agencies have been investigated, the scientific literature on the costs of mosquito protection incurred by families is scarce.

MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF AMBLYOMMA SCUTATUM (ACARI: IXODIDAE) ACCIDENTALLY INTRODUCED IN ITALY.

Eight ticks were found in Comacchio (FE), Italy parasitizing a young black iguana (Ctenosaura similis) that had been accidentally transported in a commercial plant container from Costa Rica. Specimens were identified morphologically as Amblyomma scutatum and then confirmed by the barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene. Amblyomma scutatum is a common tick known to infest reptiles in Central America, Mexico, and Venezuela, but not in Europe.

Arbovirus screening of mosquitoes collected in 2022 in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, with the implementation of a real-time PCR for the detection of Tahyna virus.

Several Arboviruses (Arthropod-borne virus) are a concrete health risk. While some arboviruses, such as the West Nile virus (WNV) and the Usutu virus (USUV) are actively surveyed, others are neglected, including the Tahyna virus (TAHV). In this work, we tested - searching for all the three viruses - 37,995 mosquitoes collected in 95 attractive traps, baited by carbon dioxide, distributed in the lowlands of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, between 19 July and 12 August 2022.

In vitro susceptibility of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae strains isolated in pigs in northern Italy between 2005 and 2022.

Pleuromutilins (tiamulin and valnemulin) are often used to treat swine dysentery due to recurrent resistance to macrolides and lincosamides. Recently, reduced susceptibility of B. hyodysenteriae to pleuromutilin has been reported.

Effects of the Weather on the Seasonal Population Trend of (Diptera: Culicidae) in Northern Italy.

Background: , the Asian tiger mosquito, has become a prevalent pest in Italy, causing severe nuisance and posing a threat of transmission of arboviruses introduced by infected travelers. In this study, we investigated the influence of weather parameters on the seasonal population density of .

Methods: A Bayesian approach was employed to identify the best meteorological predictors of species trend, using the eggs collected monthly from 2010 to 2022 by the Emilia-Romagna regional monitoring network.

Identification and phylogenetic analysis of spp. parasites found in wildlife in the Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy (2017-2022).

The recent expansion of the habitat of several wildlife species, comprising anthropized areas, is a relevant risk factor for many zoonotic diseases and should be considered in national and regional sanitary monitoring systems. We evaluated adult intestinal spp. parasites isolated from wild carnivores and cystic larval forms isolated from wild mammals analysed at the (IZSLER) as part of the regional wildlife sanitary surveillance plan.

New Isolation of Ponticelli III Virus (: ) in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy.

The number of newly described sandfly-borne phleboviruses has been steadily growing in recent years. Some phleboviruses are human pathogens, but their health relevance is largely uncharacterized. We aimed to investigate the circulation of these viruses in the Emilia-Romagna region where several have already been described.

Sand Flies and Pathogens in the Lowlands of Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy).

Cases of sand fly-borne diseases in the Emilia-Romagna region, such as meningitis caused by Toscana virus and human leishmaniasis, are reported annually through dedicated surveillance systems. Sand flies are abundant in the hilly part of the region, while the lowland is unsuitable habitat for sand flies, which are found in lower numbers in this environment with respect to the hilly areas. In this study, we retrieved sand flies collected during entomological surveillance of the West Nile virus (from 2018 to 2021) to assess their abundance and screen them for the presence of pathogens.

Arbovirus Screening in Mosquitoes in Emilia-Romagna (Italy, 2021) and Isolation of Tahyna Virus.

Several viruses can be transmitted by mosquitoes. We searched some of these viruses in 20,778 mosquitoes, collected in 95 traps on the plains of Emilia-Romagna (North of Italy) in 2021. We detected West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) in pools of .

Fate of Typhimurium and in Black Soldier Fly () Larvae Reared on Two Artificial Diets.

Ensuring food security is one of the main challenges facing the world over the next 30 years. There is, thus, an urgent need to significantly increase the supply of sustainable protein that can be transformed into animal feed. Proteins from insects offer a valuable alternative.

Unsupervised machine learning and geometric morphometrics as tools for the identification of inter and intraspecific variations in the Anopheles Maculipennis complex.

Geometric morphometric analysis was combined with two different unsupervised machine learning algorithms, UMAP and HDBSCAN, to visualize morphological differences in wing shape among and within four Anopheles sibling species (An. atroparvus, An. melanoon, An.

Assessment of the Costs Related to West Nile Virus Monitoring in Lombardy Region (Italy) between 2014 and 2018.

In Italy, the West Nile Virus surveillance plan considers a multidisciplinary approach to identify the presence of the virus in the environment (entomological, ornithological, and equine surveillance) and to determine the risk of infections through potentially infected donors (blood and organ donors). The costs associated with the surveillance program for the Lombardy Region between 2014 and 2018 were estimated. The costs of the program were compared with a scenario in which the program was not implemented, requiring individual blood donation nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) to detect the presence of WNV in human samples throughout the seasonal period of vector presence.

Identification of Toscana virus in natural population of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Moroccan leishmaniasis foci.

Background: Phlebotomine sand flies are known as vectors of various pathogens such as Leishmania sp parasite and Toscana virus (TOSV). Leishmaniasis is endemic in Morocco, and TOSV is increasingly reported. Our objective is to analyze the specific composition of the natural population of sand flies in endemic and non endemic area of leishmaniasis in Morocco, thus evaluated their infection by Toscana virus.

Host preference and Leishmania infantum natural infection of the sand fly Phlebotomus perfiliewi in northern Italy.

The host preference of hematophagous insects is important in determining the cycle of pathogens that they potentially transmit; for example, sand flies are competent vectors of Leishmania parasites. In this work, we evaluated the host preference of sand flies collected in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in 2018 and 2019 in an area in which Leishmania infantum circulates actively. Out of about 30,000 sampled sand flies, we obtained 252 engorged females, which were processed to identify the sources of blood meals.

Co-Circulation of Phleboviruses and Parasites in Sand Flies from a Single Site in Italy Monitored between 2017 and 2020.

Sand flies transmit , which is responsible for causing leishmaniasis, as well as many phleboviruses, including the human pathogenic Toscana virus. We screened sand flies collected from a single site between 2017 and 2020 for the presence of both phleboviruses and . The sand flies were sampled with attractive carbon dioxide traps and CDC light traps between May and October.

Serological Evidence of Phleboviruses in Domestic Animals on the Pre-Apennine Hills (Northern Italy).

Phleboviruses are arboviruses transmitted by sand flies, mosquitoes and ticks. Some sand fly-borne phleboviruses cause illnesses in humans, such as the summer fevers caused by the Sicilian and Naples viruses or meningitis caused by the Toscana virus. Indeed, traces of several phleboviral infections have been serologically detected in domestic animals, but their potential pathogenic role in vertebrates other than humans is still unclear, as is the role of vertebrates as potential reservoirs of these viruses.

Geometric morphometrics and machine learning as tools for the identification of sibling mosquito species of the Maculipennis complex (Anopheles).

Geometric morphometrics allows researchers to use the specific software to quantify and to visualize morphological differences between taxa from insect wings. Our objective was to assess wing geometry to distinguish four Anopheles sibling species of the Maculipennis complex, An. maculipennis s.

Isolation and Molecular Typing of from in a Re-Emerging Focus of Leishmaniasis, Northeastern Italy.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by is a public health threat in the Emilia-Romagna region, northeastern Italy, but its epidemiology has not been fully elucidated in this area. The objective of this study was to characterize infection in sand flies collected in a re-emerging focus of VL in the Bologna province. During the summer of 2016, 6114 sand flies were collected, identified, and tested for detection.

Isolation of a Trypanosome Related to (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatidae) from (Diptera: Psychodidae).

The group includes several trypanosome species hardly distinguishable due to the lack of discriminating morphological characters. Trypanosomes belonging to this group have been isolated from different bovine, ovine, and cervids in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Americas. The principal vectors of the group are considered tabanid flies; however, is transmitted exclusively by sheep keds.

An early start of West Nile virus seasonal transmission: the added value of One Heath surveillance in detecting early circulation and triggering timely response in Italy, June to July 2018.

In Italy, the 2018 West Nile virus transmission season started early with a high number of cases reported. One-Health surveillance, within the Italian West Nile national preparedness and response plan, detected viral circulation 9 days before symptom-onset of the first confirmed human case; triggering timely implementation of blood and transplant safety measures. This is an example of how functional coordination allows health authorities to use early warning triggers from surveillance systems to implement preventive measures.

Kebab: can the traditional cooking process sanitize a natural contamination by

Over the last few years a considerable spread of ethnic foods was observed in Italy. Among them is the Döner kebab. During 2014-2015, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional cooking process, raw product (defrosted), sliced cooked portions cut through electric knife and assembled sandwich were officially sampled in kebab houses and in a local industrial kebab producer in Reggio Emilia (a province in Italy).