Identification and Characterisation of a Myxoma Virus Detected in the Italian Hare ().

Myxoma virus (MYXV) is a Leporipoxvirus (genus) belonging to the family Poxviridae; it is characterised by a genome of approximately 161 kb dsDNA encoding for several proteins that play an essential role in both host spectrum determination and immunomodulation. The healthy reservoir of the virus is spp. At the same time, in wild and domestic European rabbits (), MYXV is the etiologic agent of myxomatosis, a disease with an extremely high mortality rate.

Helminth biocoenosis of (Hilzheimer, 1906) from Pianosa island, Italy.

Pianosa is a 10 km Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea which is part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. In this island lives a brown hare population which, according to the literature, belongs to the ancestral taxon that offers a unique opportunity to observe how the parasite biocoenosis shapes in condition of isolation, limited space availability and high population density. The aim of this work is to describe the helminth component community of a non-managed, isolated, and dense hare population, evaluating host-parasite relationship and parasite community structure.

Hare populations in Europe: intra and interspecific analysis of mtDNA variation.

We report results of a project aimed at analysing genetic diversification in Lepus corsicanus (italian hare), carried out at the INFS as part of an ongoing project on the biology of L. corsicanus. Samples of Italian hare were collected in different localities in central-southern Italy and Sicily.