Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens: Occurrence and Host Associations over Four Years of Wildlife Surveillance in the Liguria Region (Northwest Italy).

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are a considerable public health problem worldwide. The occurrence of spp., s.

A Review on Canine and Human Soft Tissue Sarcomas: New Insights on Prognosis Factors and Treatment Measures.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) represent a diverse group of tumors arising from mesenchymal cells, affecting both humans and animals, including dogs. Although STSs represent a class of rare tumors, especially in humans, they pose significant clinical challenges due to their potential for local recurrence and distant metastasis. Dogs, as a model for human STSs, offer several advantages, including exposure to similar environmental risk factors, genetic diversity among breeds, and the spontaneous development of tumors.

Shiga Toxin-Producing Isolated from Wild Ruminants in Liguria, North-West Italy.

Wildlife may represent an important source of infectious diseases for humans and other wild and domestic animals. Wild ruminants can harbour and transmit Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) to humans, and some strains even carry important antimicrobial resistance. In this study, 289 livers of wild roe deer, fallow deer, red deer and chamois collected in Liguria, north-west Italy, from 2019 to 2023 were analysed.

Microbiome in cancer: A comparative analysis between humans and dogs.

Cancer is a major cause of death in humans and animals worldwide. While cancer survival rates have increased over recent decades, further research to identify risk factors for the onset and progression of disease, and safe and highly efficacious treatments, is needed. Spontaneous tumours in pets represent an excellent model for neoplastic disease in humans.

First record of Aedes japonicus in Liguria region, Northwest of Italy.

Aedes japonicus is an invasive Asian mosquito species, and to date it is widespread in many European countries. In Italy, it was first recorded in 2015 at the Austrian border and it then spread throughout the Northeast of the country. In 2019, it was also identified in Piedmont region, near the Swiss border.

First Report of Swinepox in a Wild Boar in Italy: Pathologic and Molecular Findings.

Swinepox virus (SWPV) is responsible for sporadic acute poxvirus infections in swine worldwide, causing a pathognomonic eruptive proliferative dermatitis. Beside direct and congenital transmission, the pig louse acts as a mechanical vector and favors virus infection through skin lesions. Infections are generally described in domestic pigs, while only a few cases have been reported in wild boars, in Austria and Germany.

Antimicrobial Resistance of Strains Isolated from Human, Wild Boar, and Environmental Samples in 2018-2020 in the Northwest of Italy.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most challenging public health problems worldwide, and integrated surveillance is a key aspect in a One Health control strategy. Additionally, Salmonella is the second most common zoonosis in Europe. We aimed to investigate the circulation of Salmonella strains and their related antimicrobial resistance in human, environmental, and wild boar samples from the northwest of Italy, from 2018 to 2020, to obtain a more comprehensive epidemiological picture.

Hepatitis E Virus (HEV): Identification of Subtypes 3b and 3m in Wild Boar Population in Liguria Region, Italy.

The wild boar is an important natural reservoir for the zoonotic transmission of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) around the world. In particular, HEV genotypes 3 and 4 are an emerging problem in industrialized countries, as the number of wild boars has increased, and their territory is ever closer to farms and populated areas. This study describes the HEV prevalence and geographic circulation among wild boar populations in the Ligurian region (Italy) during the period 2019-2022.

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.

Reappraisal of PRRS Immune Control Strategies: The Way Forward.

The control of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is still a major issue worldwide in the pig farming sector. Despite extensive research efforts and the practical experience gained so far, the syndrome still severely affects farmed pigs worldwide and challenges established beliefs in veterinary virology and immunology. The clinical and economic repercussions of PRRS are based on concomitant, additive features of the virus pathogenicity, host susceptibility, and the influence of environmental, microbial, and non-microbial stressors.

Norovirus Persistence in Oysters to Prolonged Commercial Purification.

Depuration is generally the main treatment employed for bivalve mollusks harvested from contaminated sites. Commercial depuration has demonstrated to be effective for removal of bacterial pathogens, although it probably provides only limited efficacy against human enteric viruses. We evaluated the quantitative reduction of norovirus (NoV) genogroups I and II in naturally contaminated oysters after 1, 4, and 9 days of depuration.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistances of spp. Isolated from Wild Boars in Liguria Region, Italy.

spp. is an important zoonotic agent. Wild boars might host this pathogen in the intestinal tract and might represent a risk for spp.

Microbiological and Histological Analysis for the Evaluation of Farmed Mussels () Health Status, in Coastal Areas of Italy.

Shellfish farming is a relevant economic activity in Italy. The Gulf of La Spezia is one of the major production areas for mussels: the area is characterized by the presence of numerous human activities that could harm the quality of seawater. Additionally, the presence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms may influence the health status of animals, which must be constantly monitored.

HAV detection from milk-based products containing soft fruits: Comparison between four different extraction methods.

Virus detection in food requires appropriate elution and concentration techniques which need to be adapted for different food matrices. ISO/TS-15216-1:2017 and ISO/TS-15216-2:2019 describe standard methods for hepatitis A virus (HAV) research in some food only. Milk-based products containing one or more types of fruit are not covered by ISO procedures, even though they can be contaminated by fruit added to these products or by the food handlers.

Inoculation of specific pathogen-free chickens with an infectious bursal disease virus of the ITA genotype (G6) leads to a high and persistent viral load in lymphoid tissues and to a delayed antiviral response.

Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) of the ITA genotype (G6) was shown to have peculiar molecular characteristics and, despite a subclinical course, aggressiveness towards lymphoid tissues after experimental infection of specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare with a Classical IBDV strain, ITA IBDV distribution and persistence in various tissues (bursa of Fabricious, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, caecal tonsils, Harderian gland, kidney, liver and proventriculus), its cloacal shedding and the involvement of gut TLR-3 in duodenum tissues. The 35-day-old SPF chickens were experimentally infected and sampled up to 28 days post infection (dpi) for IBDV detection and TLR-3 quantification by qRT-PCR.

Molecular characterization of whole genome sequence of infectious bronchitis virus 624I genotype confirms the close relationship with Q1 genotype.

Infectious Bronchitis virus (IBV) genotype Q1 was detected for the first time in China in 1996, and then spread worldwide. The first report of Q1 genotype in Italy occurred in 2011 and a deep molecular investigation of a Q1 isolated in Italy in 2013 has led to speculation regarding the origin of this genotype. Phylogenetic analysis of the S1 sequence of a Q1 Italian strain revealed a close relationship with sequences of the 624I strains circulating in Italy in the early 1990s and this led to the idea that 624I was an ancestor of the Q1 genotype.

Avian Metapneumovirus circulation in Italian broiler farms.

With increasing frequency, avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV) is reported to induce respiratory signs in chickens. An adequate knowledge of current aMPV prevalence among Italian broilers is lacking, with little information available on its economical and health impact on the poultry industry. In order to collect preliminary data on the epidemiological context of aMPV in broiler flocks, a survey was performed in areas of Northern Italy with high poultry density from 2014 to 2016.

Identification of IBV QX vaccine markers : Should vaccine acceptance by authorities require similar identifications for all live IBV vaccines?

IBV genotype QX causes sufficient disease in Europe for several commercial companies to have started developing live attenuated vaccines. Here, one of those vaccines (L1148) was fully consensus sequenced alongside its progenitor field strain (1148-A) to determine vaccine markers, thereby enabling detection on farms. Twenty-eight single nucleotide substitutions were associated with the 1148-A attenuation, of which any combination can identify vaccine L1148 in the field.

A comparison of AMPV subtypes A and B full genomes, gene transcripts and proteins led to reverse-genetics systems rescuing both subtypes.

Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) infection of poultry causes serious disease in most countries and subtype A reverse-genetic (RG) systems have allowed a generation of viruses of known sequence, and proved useful in developments towards better control by live vaccines. While subtype B viruses are more prevalent, bacterial cloning issues made subtype B RG systems difficult to establish. A molecular comparison of subtype A and B viruses was undertaken to assess whether subtype A RG components could be partially or fully substituted.

Molecular investigation of a full-length genome of a Q1-like IBV strain isolated in Italy in 2013.

Since 1996 a new Infectious Bronchitis virus (IBV) genotype, referred to as Q1, circulated in China and was reported for the first time in Italy in 2011, associated with an increase of mortality, kidney lesions and proventriculitis. During northern Italian outbreak of respiratory disease in a broiler flock in 2013, an IBV strain was detected by RT-PCR and characterized as Q1-like based on partial S1 sequence. The virus was isolated and named γCoV/Ck/Italy/I2022/13.

Continued use of IBV 793B vaccine needs reassessment after its withdrawal led to the genotype's disappearance.

Over a period of almost two years, broilers chickens on several hundred Italian farms, were monitored for infectious bronchitis virus. Detections were genotyped using a hypervariable region of the gene coding for the S1 segment of the spike protein. A range of genotypes were detected which comprised QX, Q1, Mass, D274 and 793B.