Publications by authors named "Vaia Kantzoura"

species complex, referred to as (), is distributed globally with some species distributed in specific regions and others spread globally. In Greece, () in dogs, and and in livestock, have been repeatedly reported however only based on morphological identification. Recently, there has been a great effort to accurately identify the species belonging to the species complex, using modern molecular tools and describe their spatial distribution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In livestock research, there has been a growing interest in the impact of melatonin on both health and disease conditions. The hypothesis of the present study was that melatonin treatment prenatally could support the immune competence and growth of experimentally infected lambs. This is the first study that aimed to investigate the impact of melatonin administration throughout pregnancy on immunity and oocyst excretion of pre-partum ewes and their offspring after experimental infection with species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anguillicola (Anguillicoides) crassus is a swimbladder nematode parasite of Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758). The present study investigates the morphology and pathogenicity of A. crassus in European eel, as well as, the effects of different aquatic environments on the infection of A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to assess the gastrointestinal parasitism in relation with the worm control practices (WCP) in dairy cattle in areas of major importance for dairy/milk production of Cameroon.

Methods: Fresh fecal samples were randomly collected from 402 cattle from August to October 2016 in North West Cameroon, and analyze using the McMaster technique. Data on WCP were collected using a questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Internal parasites are limiting factors to successful, sustainable livestock production. Knowledge on how they are dealt with is important to prevent resistance to anthelmintics. The aim of this study was to describe the internal parasitism of indoor pigs in Bamboutos Division in Cameroon, as well as the attendant worm control practices.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A cross-sectional serological survey was carried out to screen the small ruminants of Thessaly, Greece, for infection with Haemonchus contortus, lungworms (i.e. Cystocaulus ocreatus, Muellerius capillaris, Protostrongylus rufescens and Neostrongylus linearis) as a group, and for Cysticercus tenuicolis, Linguatula serrata and Oestrus ovis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Maximum entropy ecological niche modeling was utilized to describe the global geographic distribution of Trichinella species and genotypes and to assess their invasive risk in new areas other than the ones currently known. Also, space-time scan statistic was utilized to identify global spatiotemporal clusters of infection. A database containing 3209 records for 12 species and genotypes identified at the International Trichinella Reference Center (ITRC) as well as climate, elevation, and land cover data extracted from various databases were used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A cross-sectional serological study was carried out to screen the sheep and goat population of Thessaly, Greece for evidence of infection with Toxoplasma, Toxocara, Leishmania, and Echinococcus and to determine the risk factors related to herd characteristics, herd management practices, farmer status, and the bioclimatic variables associated with these zoonotic parasitic infections. A total of 540 sheep and goat serum samples were examined. The seroprevalence of infection in all examined animals was 24.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Maximum entropy ecological niche modelling was utilised to predict the geographic range for fluke genotypes and haplotypes in south-eastern Europe, using the Maxent program. The lowest (0.832) and the highest (0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infections of beef cattle were investigated in 15 farms from 3 different regions of Greece, characterized by temperate Mediterranean climate, during two years. A total of 262 faecal samples were collected. Helminth eggs were detected in 42 (16%) samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Maximum entropy ecological niche modeling and spatial scan statistic were utilized to predict the geographic range and to investigate clusters of infections for equine piroplasms in Greece, using the Maxent and SaTScan programs, respectively. The eastern half of the country represented the culminating area with high probabilities (p>0.75) of presence of equine piroplasms and encompassed most regions with high concentration of equid host populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Equine piroplasms in Greece were studied using the reverse line blot hybridization (RLB) assay. Three genotypes consisting of two Theileria (T. equi and T.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Serum samples were collected from a total of 544 equids that included 524 horses, 13 mules, and 7 ponies from various regions of mainland Greece and were examined by competitive-inhibition ELISA (cELISA) to evaluate the level of exposure of Greek equids to Theileria (Babesia) equi and/or Babesia caballi, the causative agents of piroplasmosis. Association between seropositivity and host-related factors of species, gender, age, origin, activity and location were investigated. The overall seroprevalence was 11.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF