Maria Assunta A Cafiero

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata · Virology-Unit of Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Linguatula serrata, Frohlich, 1789, is a cosmopolitan zoonotic worm-like parasite of carni- vores and other vertebrates including herbivores and omnivores. The adult form of the parasite typically inhabits the upper respiratory system, nares, and frontal sinuses of dogs, wolves, and cats. Infective eggs may be spread by sneezing, nasal secretions,...

Introduzione I virus West Nile (West Nile Virus, WNV) e Usutu (Usutu Virus, USUV) (famiglia Flaviviridae, genere Flavivirus) sono arbovirus trasmessi da zanzare (Diptera, Culicidae) la cui circolazione è assicurata da un ciclo enzootico uccelli-zanzare e, occasionalmente, da un ciclo epizootico, con coinvolgimento di mammiferi, inclusi equidi e uom...

Anopheles algeriensis Theobald, 1903, considered a competent vector of Plasmodium parasites, is a mosquito species widely distributed in the Mediterranean area but rare in Northern and Central Europe. The disappearance of its suitable breeding sites in Italy is having a detrimental effect on the occurrence of this species once common along the Sout...

Dermanyssus gallinae is a hematophagous ectoparasitic mite that usually infests poultry, but is also known for occasionally attacking other animals and humans. It represents a major problem for poultry systems all over the world, with detrimental effects for both production and animal welfare. Despite the significance of D. gallinae, very little is...

Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium that is responsible for Q fever, a common zoonosis which is present virtually worldwide. This microorganism infects a wide range of wild and domestic mammals, but the main reservoirs are cattle, goats and sheep, which also represent sources of human infection. A potential route o...

Citation: Raele, D.A.; Severini, F.; Boccolini, D.; Menegon, M.; Toma, L.; Vasco, I.; Franco, E.; Miccolis, P.; Desiante, F.; Nola, V.; et al. Entomological Surveillance in Former Malaria-endemic Areas of Southern Italy. Pathogens 2021, 10, 1521. Abstract: Malaria still represents a potential public health issue in Italy, and the presence of former...

ORF virus (Poxviridae) is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma (soremouth), a disease primarily affecting sheep and goats worldwide, but also humans exposed to disease-ridden animals. Pathogens are shed with scabs, and infection mainly occurs by direct contact. Although the disease is relatively benign and self-limiting, the morbidity rate is...

The Abbey of San Leonardo in Siponto (Apulia, Southern Italy) was an important religious and medical center during the Middle Ages. It was a crossroads for pilgrims heading along the Via Francigena to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo and for merchants passing through the harbor of Manfredonia. A recent excavation of Soprintendenza Archeologica de...

The Abbey of San Leonardo in Siponto (Apulia, Southern Italy) was an important religious and medical center during the Middle Ages. It was a crossroads for pilgrims heading along the Via Francigena to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo and for merchants passing through the harbor of Manfredonia. A recent excavation of the local Archaeological Super...

A 35-year-old man was admitted to a hospital in the south of Italy because of a periocular nodule and subpalpebral edema. The patient reported having been stayed in Tanzania five months before. Hematologic parameters were within the normality range, the Acanthocheilonema viteae ELISA did not detect significant levels of antifilarial IgG, and no fur...

Yersinia pestis, pla gene, from human tooth sample 'T6' dating to 14th century

Background: The European region achieved interruption of malaria transmission during the 1970s. Since then, malaria control programs were replaced by surveillance systems in order to prevent possible re-emergence of this disease. Sporadic cases of non-imported malaria were recorded in several European countries in the past decade and locally transm...

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from 500 retail meat products in South Italy from June 2016 to June 2018, including 150 raw bovine, 120 pork, 150 chicken and 80 horse meat. After bacteriological analysis, 12 (2.4%) samples tested positive for MRSA. Isolates were characterized by anti...

Parole chiave Analisi filogenetica, Colture cellulari, Gene VLTF-1, Microscopia elettronica, ORF virus, PCR. Riassunto L'ORF virus (ORFV; Family: Poxviridae) è l'agente causale dell'ectima contagioso, malattia infettiva contagiosa degli ovicaprini e di altri ruminanti domestici o selvatici, con distribuzione mondiale. La malattia è endemica in Ital...

Dermatitis by mesostigmatic mites in city-dwellers

The authenticity and traceability of meat products are issues of primary importance to ensure food safety. Unfortunately, food adulteration (e.g. the addition of inexpensive cuts to minced meat products) and mislabelling (e.g. the inclusion of meat from species other than those declared) happens frequently worldwide. The aim of this study was to ap...

Dirofilaria repens (Spiruridae: Onchocercidae) is a mosquito-borne nematode of domestic/wild canids, including dogs which represent its natural hosts and reservoirs; however, this filarioid parasite can also induce disease in humans. Identifying microfilaremic dogs plays a key role in prevention strategies for the human dirofilariosis, endemic in s...

Dermanyssus gallinae is a haematophagous ectoparasite primarily known as a pest of domestic and wild birds. It occasionally feeds on a range of mammals, and, more importantly, is also of growing concern in human medicine. This review highlights mite attacks on people working with poultry and updates the increasing incidence of dermanyssosis in urba...

We report biomolecular evidence of dolphin morbillivirus in 4 wild Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) from southern Italy; 2 animals showed simultaneous immunohistochemical reactivity against morbilliviral antigen. These cases add further concern and support to the progressively expanding host range of dolphin morbillivirus in the western Mediterranean...

The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a promising technique appreciate for its rapidity, easiness of use and low cost. It is currently used for the molecular detection of several infectious and parasitic diseases, including zoonosis. Among the features of this technique there is the possibility of an immediate visualization of produc...

Dermanyssus gallinae (Mesostigmata: Dermanyssidae, De Geer, 1778) is an ectoparasite of poultry, suspected to play a role as a vector of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica ser. Gallinarum. Despite an association between them being reported, the actual dynamics in field remain unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to confirm the interactions...

28th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Parasitology 21-24 March 2018 Berlin

Background: The poultry red-mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae is a non-burrowing hematophagous nest-dwelling ectoparasite of birds; occasionally, it bites humans, inducing dermatitis. The possibility that it may also be involved in transmission of pathogens is an additional concern to the parasite. Aim of this report was to investigate the presence...

Avian mite dermatitis is a skin affliction of mammals, including humans caused by bites of nidicoulous, haematophagous mites in the suborder Mesostigmata, which naturally parasitize birds. The red-mite, Dermanyssus gallinae is the most common species implicated in episodes of dermatitis in city-dwellers, worldwide. Symptoms manifest in the form of...

Ixodidae ticks are vectors and reservoirs of several species of rickettsiae, and tick-borne rickettsioses are reported worldwide. This study was aimed to verify the distribution of spotted fever group rickettsiae associated with ticks in a wild environment, the National Park of Gargano, where there is proximity between wild and domestic animals, an...

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification in the field: reality beyond the potentiality

Dirofilariasis by Dirofilaria repens is an important mosquito vector borne parasitosis, and the dog represents the natural host and reservoir of the parasite. This filarial nematode can also induce disease in humans, and in the last decades an increasing number of cases have been being reported. The present study describes the first loop mediated i...

Brief description of general principles and mechanism of LAMP reaction. (DOC)

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification in the field: reality beyond the potentiality

By screening a collection of fecal samples from young cats housed in three different shelters in South Italy, noroviruses (NoVs) were found in 3/48 (6.2%) specimens of animals with enteritis signs while they were not detected in samples collected from healthy cats (0/57). Upon sequence analysis of the short RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) regio...

Several different ticks have been reported to harbor microbes related to Coxiella burnetii, the agent of the Q fever. Rhipicephalus bursa is an important vector of tick-borne diseases in livestock in Mediterranean area; it is also abundant in ovi-caprine farms with C. burnetii infection, in Southern Italy. 60 females of Rh. bursa (15 pools) and 40...

In June 2014, a male stray dog was recovered at Ente Nazionale di Protezione Animali (ENPA) kennel of Manfredonia, Apulia region, showing oral bleeding and physical prostration. The dog fell in a water canal and was trapped. During the clinical examination, a specimen of leech was revealed into its oral cavity. The parasite, probably entered by dri...

Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii, is a worldwide zoonosis with important consequences for human and animal health. In livestock, the diagnosis, using direct and indirect techniques, is challenging even if to tackle coxiellosis in domesticated animals a rapid diagnosis is crucial. In the recent years, new molecular methods have been developed to...

The Orf virus (ORFv) or Parapoxvirus (Poxviridae) is an epitheliotropic virus affecting domestic and wild ruminants. Due to the absence of a systemic virus spread, the infection remains usually localized in the skin of the lips, around the nostrils, around the teats and in the oral mucosa (Fig.1). The muco-cutaneous lesions generally heal during 1-...

The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, De Geer 1778, is a blood-sucking miteof birds worldwide, including feral pigeons. The mite only visits its host for blood meals,having to do so repeatedly every 2-3 days. The rest of the time, it lives in crevices andcracks in roosting and nesting sites. When the avian host is not available, it can move t...

AIM: Ixodes festai is a poorly-known bird parasite tick. It was originally described by Maria Tonelli Rondelli in 1926 from a female specimen on Alectoris barbara (Phasianidae) in Derna (Libya). The species mainly occurs in the West Mediterranean (Tunisia, Morocco, Southern France, Corsica) (Pérez-Eid C, 2007, Les tiques. Identification, biologie,...

Dermanyssus gallinae (poultry red mite) is a major threat for the poultry industry and is of significant interest for public health. Identification of D. gallinae can be difficult for scientists not familiar with mite morphology and terminology especially when trying to use identification keys. Moreover, this species may easily be confused with ano...

Table S1. Glossary of the main morphological terms used in the key (listed in alphabetical order).

In the poultry industry, control of the red mite D. gallinae primarily relies worldwide on acaricides registered for use in agriculture or for livestock, and those most widely used are carbamates, followed by amidines, pyrethroids and organophosphates. Due to the repeated use of acaricides - sometimes in high concentrations - to control infestation...

Dermanyssus gallinae is a haematophagous ectoparasite responsible for anemia, weight loss, dermatitis and a decrease in egg production. Dermanyssus gallinae may play a role in the modulation of the host immune system, maybe predisposing the host to some bacterial infections such as chlamydiosis. This is an important zoonosis. Humans are exposed to...

The red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae (Acarina: Mesostigmata), is a temporary blood-sucking ectoparasite of poultry and other avian species, with a worldwide distribution. It can occasionally bite mammals, including humans, and cause dermatitis. Medical textbooks frequently cite itching and cutaneous lesions resulting from red-mite bites as a normal o...

Recent surveys and sample collection have confirmed the endemicity of Dermanyssus gallinae in poultry farming worldwide. The reduction in number and efficacy of many acaricide products has accentuated the prevalence rates of this poultry ectoparasite observed more often in non intensive systems such as free-range, barns or backyards and more often...

In the present work mites previously identified as Dermanyssus gallinae De Geer (Acari, Mesostigmata) using morphological keys were investigated by molecular tools. The complete internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), 5.8S ribosomal DNA, and ITS2 region of the ribosomal DNA from mites were amplified and sequenced to examine the level of sequence vari...

Recent surveys and sample collection have confirmed the endemicity of Dermanyssus gallinae in poultry farming worldwide. The reduction in number and efficacy of many acaricide products has accentuated the prevalence rates of this poultry ectoparasite observed more often in non intensive systems such as free-range, barns or backyards and more often...

Phylogenetic analysis of Dermanyssus gallinae mites originating from UK, France and Italy was performed using partial amplification of the mitochondrial COI gene. Results showed that UK samples reveal the greatest variation and diversity and are linked to one of the French populations highlighting North-South genetic transitions in European red mit...

Red mite field populations from seven naturally infested Italian caged laying poultry farms were investigated for their susceptibility to acaricide formulations available on the market, containing amitraz, carbaryl and permethrin. A minimum of 3,000 mites of all stages were collected from each farm and were tested with five acaricide concentrations...

An ovine rotavirus (OVR) strain, 762, was isolated from a 30-day-old lamb affected with severe gastroenteritis, in Zaragoza, Spain, and the VP4, VP7, VP6, NSP4, and NSP5/NSP6 genes were subsequently characterized molecularly. Strain OVR762 was classified as a P[14] rotavirus, as the VP4 and VP8* trypsin-cleavage product of the VP4 protein revealed...

D ermanyssus gallinae (De Geer 1778), è un artropode ematofago che infesta gli uccelli, soprattutto polli e, meno frequente-mente, i mammiferi (cani, gatti, cavalli, ecc.) compreso l'uomo (Neveau-Lemaire, 1938). L'acaro femmina, che misura 700-800 micron di lunghezza e 400 micron di larghezza (Neveau-Lemaire, 1938) a digiuno, dopo il pasto di san-g...

D ermanyssus gallinae (De Geer 1778), è un artropode ematofago che infesta gli uccelli, soprattutto polli e, meno frequente-mente, i mammiferi (cani, gatti, cavalli, ecc.) compreso l'uomo (Neveau-Lemaire, 1938). L'acaro femmina, che misura 700-800 micron di lunghezza e 400 micron di larghezza (Neveau-Lemaire, 1938) a digiuno, dopo il pasto di san-g...

Between July and September 2002 there were outbreaks of bluetongue on three sheep holdings in the communities of San Gregorio Magno (Salerno, Campania), Laviano (Salerno, Campania) and Carpino (Foggia, Puglia), and the involvement of bluetongue virus (btv) was confirmed serologically and virologically. The mortality rate was at least 11 per cent an...