A Spatial Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (SMCDA) to map the risk of avian influenza in Lazio and Toscana (central Italy).

Avian influenza (AI) is a global concern, affecting wild and domestic bird populations worldwide. Environmental conditions facilitating the presence of wild birds and a consistent domestic bird population contribute to the introduction and spread of AI within a territory. This study focuses on the identification of major risk areas for AI in the Lazio and Toscana Regions of central Italy using Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (SMCDA).

Being prepared for an avian influenza epidemic with a One Health approach: a cartographic study to identify animal carcasses burial sites in central Italy.

During epidemics, pandemics, or animal disease outbreaks, the large-scale disposal of carcasses presents greater environmental and biosecurity challenges. In Europe, disposal through a rendering plant is the preferred option, but the on-site carcasses burial may be authorised due to logistical and economic advantages. This study utilised a comprehensive GIS-based approach and focuses on the challenges and strategies for large-scale carcass disposal, particularly in the context of avian influenza outbreaks in the Lazio Region of Italy.

Preliminary Assessment of Tumor-Associated Tissue Eosinophilia (TATE) in Canine Mast Cell Tumors: Prevalence and Prognostic Relevance and Its Association with Neoangiogenesis.

Mast cell tumor (MCT) is the most common malignant skin tumor in dogs. In order to gain more information on the prognostic markers in MCT, the role of the eosinophil granulocytes infiltrates was investigated and assessed by the evaluation of tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) in 87 canine cutaneous MCTs. In human medicine, high TATE are often described in highly angiogenic tumors: we therefore assessed the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in neoplastic mast cells.

The Italian Network of Laboratories for Veterinary Oncology (NILOV) 2.0: Improving Knowledge on Canine Tumours.

Advances in tumour research are crucial, and comparative oncology can improve the knowledge in several ways. Dogs are not only models of specific naturally occurring tumours but can also be sentinels of environmental exposures to carcinogens, as they share the same environment with their owners. The purpose of this work was to describe the data collected by The Italian Network of Laboratories for Veterinary Oncology in the first 9 years of activity (2013-2021) and to evaluate their potential epidemiological significance.

Back to the Wild: The Parasitoid Community of (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in a Grapevine-Free Natural Environment.

The European grapevine moth (EGVM), (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the major concerns for vineyard managers in the Mediterranean area. It is a polyphagous moth, which develops on a wide variety of host plants, among which the spurge flax, (Thymelaeaceae), very likely represents its originary wild host plant. In this study, we investigated the parasitoid complex of feeding on during a three-year sampling in a natural reserve in Tuscany, Italy, where this plant is extremely abundant while the grapevine is absent.

A retrospective study on dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in milk and dairy products from the Latium region (Italy) over a 7-year study period (2011-2017).

This study reports the data of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), -furans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls dioxin-like (dl PCBs) measured in a total of 260 samples of the dairy supply chain collected over a period of 7 years (2011-2017) in the Latium region (Italy). Levels and average profiles of congeners were reported for each group of the analyzed dairy matrices, and any differences between different sampling strategies were considered (around likely pollutant sources or casual sampling). Of the samples, 95.

West Nile and Usutu viruses co-circulation in central Italy: outcomes of the 2018 integrated surveillance.

Background: West Nile (WNV) and Usutu (USUV) are emerging vector-borne zoonotic flaviviruses. They are antigenically very similar, sharing the same life cycle with birds as amplification host, Culicidae as vector, and man/horse as dead-end host. They can co-circulate in an overlapping geographic range.

Farms at risk from environmental pollution: a proposal for a risk ranking procedure.

Objectives: to produce a methodology for the risk ranking of farms located around proven or potential sources of contamination to prioritize the monitoring procedures in food production.

Design: environmental factors that can favour the risk of contamination of products of animal origin (POAO) around a pollutant source were identified. A scale of standardized scores was produced for each risk factor (RF) in order to obtain a risk-based classification.

Size, demography, ownership profiles, and identification rate of the owned dog population in central Italy.

The One Health paradigm recognizes that information on infectious diseases, zoonosis and related predictors in animal populations is essential. Pets live in close contact with humans and interact with wild animals, but the lack of reliable information on pet population size, demography and ownership profiles is a constant worldwide. Reliable data must be made available in order to address proper public health policies regarding the design of surveillance plans, the management of canine welfare and stray dog phenomenon, the control of dog behaviour-related problems, and the livestock/wildlife endangerment.

Description of the male of Misetus strumiai Di Giovanni, Scaramozzino amp; Diller, 2018 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae, Phaeogenini) from Italy.

The genus Misetus Wesmael, 1845 is a small taxon of the subfamily Ichneumoninae, tribe Phaeogenini. The genus can be distinguished from other genera of the tribe by having mandible with two teeth, clypeus with more or less developed median apical tooth, genae short and sublinearly narrowed behind eyes in dorsal view; males are characterized by thyridia large and placed far off the base of metasomal tergite II; females are easily recognized by metasoma elongate and compressed apically, apical margin of last metasomal tergite more or less concave and ovipositor short and bent upwards (Selfa Diller 1994, 1995, Di Giovanni et al. 2018).

Occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli in Raw Sheep's Milk from Farm Bulk Tanks in Central Italy.

Abstract: For milk hygiene and safety, the milking phase is a critical moment because it is a probable pathway for the introduction of unwanted microorganisms in the dairy chain. In particular, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli are known as possible microbial contaminants of raw sheep's milk, although extensive knowledge regarding their contamination dynamics on sheep farms is still lacking. This study aimed to examine the occurrence and concentration of these microorganisms in milk samples collected from farm bulk tanks in the region of Lazio (Central Italy) and to investigate the related risk factors.

Evaluation of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for dog visceral hemangiosarcoma: A retrospective case-control study register-based in Lazio region, Italy.

The genetic and breed susceptibility of visceral hemangiosarcoma in dogs has been studied, but there is no evidence of environmental risk factors as reported in human medicine. We conducted a case-control study in which the sampling population was the list of canine oncology cases of the Animal Tumour Registry of Lazio region, Italy (2009-2017). We defined cases as dogs with visceral hemangiosarcoma and controls as dogs affected by another neoplasm.

Tachinid (Diptera, Tachinidae) parasitoids of (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) and other moths.

The present paper reports data on the biology of eleven species of tachinid flies collected in Italy and Spain on different host plants and emerged from different host larvae. An annotated list of the eleven species emerged from the collected lepidopterans is provided; information about distribution and biology are given as well as the description of their puparia. Two new parasitoid species of the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) were recorded: , whose host preferences were unknown so far, and .

Application of a risk-based standardized animal biomonitoring approach to contaminated sites.

Biomonitoring has been used to disclose the public health impact of contaminated sites. This study aimed at setting up good practices to apply biomonitoring targeting animal matrixes to design risk-based surveillance and exposure assessment plans. A nine-step protocol targeting farmed animals was devised and tested in three case study areas including (1) a waste dump, (2) a waste incinerator, and (3) a secondary aluminum smelter.

Prevalence estimation of Italian ovine cystic echinococcosis in slaughterhouses: A retrospective Bayesian data analysis, 2010-2015.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a complex zoonosis with domestic and sylvatic life-cycles, involving different intermediate and definitive host species. Many previous studies have highlighted the lack of a surveillance system for CE, its persistence in Italy, and endemicity in several Italian regions. Because of the absence of a uniform surveillance program for both humans and animals, disease occurrence is widely underestimated.

Outbreak of swimmer's itch in Central Italy: Description, causative agent and preventive measures.

Swimmer's itch is caused by the penetration of free-swimming larvae of trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae in human skin. It is usually reported in people engaged in recreational water activities in freshwater bodies and in most of cases, it is provoked by bird schistosomes of the genus Trichobilharzia. In the summer 2017, many cases of dermatitis were recorded in people bathing in the waters of the Albano Lake (Rome, Italy) and a parasitological investigation was carried out in order to ascertain the causative agent of these cases.

Reference values of conditioned pain modulation.

Background and aims Endogenous pain modulation can be studied in humans by conditioned pain modulation (CPM): pain induced by a test stimulus is attenuated by a distantly applied noxious conditioning stimulus. The detection of impaired CPM in individual patients is of potential importance to understand the pathophysiology and predict outcomes. However, it requires the availability of reference values.

Erratum to: Parasites in stray dogs from Italy: prevalence, risk factors and management concerns.

The original version of the table of contents unfortunately contained a mistake. The published entry: De Liberato Claudio, Berrilli Federica, Odorizi Livio, Scarcella Roberto, Barni Marco, Amoruso Cristina, Scarito Alessia, Di Filippo Margherita Montalbano, Carvelli Andrea, Iacoponi Francesca and Scaramozzino Paola - Parasites in stray dogs from Italy: prevalence, risk factors and management concernsshould be corrected as follows:De Liberato Claudio, Berrilli Federica, Odorizi Livio, Scarcella Roberto, Barni Marco, Amoruso Cristina, Scarito Alessia, Montalbano Di Filippo Margherita, Carvelli Andrea, Iacoponi Francesca and Scaramozzino Paola - Parasites in stray dogs from Italy: prevalence, risk factors and management concerns.

A cross-sectional serosurvey in a sheep population in central Italy following a bluetongue epidemic.

Bluetongue (BT) is a viral disease that affects ruminants and is transmitted by midges of the genus Culicoides spp. The seroprevalence, the clinical form and the occurrence rates significantly differ in relation to several factors such as bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype, host species, breed susceptibility, specific previous exposure, vector ecology, husbandry and health status. Following the 2001-2006 BTV2 and BTV16 epidemics in central Italy, a new epidemic caused by BTV1 occurred in 2013-2015 causing 398 outbreaks in a susceptible population of about 1 million ruminants.

Local transmission of chikungunya in Rome and the Lazio region, Italy.

On September 7, 2017, three potentially autochthonous cases of chikungunya were notified in the Lazio region. An Outbreak investigation based on established surveillance system data and molecular analysis of viral variant(s) were conducted. Epidemiological analysis suggested the occurrence of 3 main foci of local transmission.

The Role of Complex Analysis in Modelling Economic Growth.

Development and growth are complex and tumultuous processes. Modern economic growth theories identify some key determinants of economic growth. However, the relative importance of the determinants remains unknown, and additional variables may help clarify the directions and dimensions of the interactions.

Behaviour and eating habits as determinants for human opisthorchiasis in the Bolsena Lake area, Italy.

In Italy, food-borne outbreaks of opisthorchiasis have occurred since 2003, all of them originating from some lakes in Central Italy where the only European liver fluke, Opisthorchis felineus (Rivolta, 1884) is endemic. The aim of the present study is to investigate the factors that may facilitate the life cycle of O. felineus in the area of Bolsena Lake, the knowledge of the local population about opisthorchiasis, and preventative healthcare measures.

Endoparasites in household and shelter dogs from Central Italy.

Intestinal and respiratory parasites are among the most common pathogens in dogs and some of them are recognized as zoonotic agents. In Italy, various taxa have been reported, with variable prevalence estimates depending on study area, dog category and coprological exam technique. In this paper, we report the results of six years of passive surveillance.