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Publications (72)
Introduction The presence of the wolf in the Central-eastern Alpine regions of Italy, starting from the settlement of the first stable pack in Lessinia mountains (Verona and Trento provinces) in 2013, has progressively increased reaching in 2020/21 an estimated population of 266 individuals, with 33 reproductive units distributed in a territory dou...
Ixodes ricinus ticks are ubiquitous in Europe, including in North-East Italy. These ticks are important vectors of several zoonotic pathogens of public health relevance. In this study, the habitat suitability range of I. ricinus ticks infected with zoonotic pathogens was predicted in North-East Italy, and relevant spatial predictors were identified...
Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is increasingly emerging tool for identification of arthropods including tick vectors using whole or body part of specimens. In this study we created two databases populated with spectra generated from legs and heads of ticks belonging to 11 different specie...
Nella Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia i carnivori selvatici sono sottoposti a sorveglianza passiva in base alle priorità e ai protocolli definiti nel piano regionale. Durante il periodo 2018-2023 sono stati analizzati 2908 esemplari delle specie volpe (Vulpes vulpes - 1840), tasso (Meles meles - 844), faina (Martes foina - 66) martora (Martes martes...
The recent reinforcement of CoV surveillance in animals fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic provided increasing evidence that mammals other than bats might hide further diversity and play critical roles in human infectious diseases. This work describes the results of a two-year survey carried out in Italy with the double objective of uncovering CoV di...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1085996.].
The red fox acts as reservoir for several helminthic infections which are of interest for both public and animal health. Huge efforts have been made for the assessment of the sensitivity of coprological tests for the detection of Echinococcus multilocularis, while less attention has been paid to other helminthic species. This study aimed at assessi...
The assessment of red fox population density is considered relevant to the surveillance of zoonotic agents vectored by this species. However, density is difficult to estimate reliably, since the ecological plasticity and elusive behavior of this carnivore hinder classic methods of inference. In this study, red fox population density was estimated u...
Introduction Echinococcus multilocularis is a zoonotic parasitic cestode affecting wild carnivores worldwide. In the EU, monitoring consists of assessing prevalence in red fox (Vulpes vulpes), which represents the main definitive host and is crucial for the maintenance of the sylvatic cycle. An adequately sized sample of foxes must be tested to ass...
Since 1995, the Alpine chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) population of the Dolomites has
been affected by sarcoptic mange with considerable management concerns. In this study, 15 years (2006–2020) of passive surveillance and demographic data were analyzed in order to describe a mange outbreak. Furthermore, an enhanced passive surveillance protocol w...
Members of the family Parvoviridae are well recognized infectious agents of companion, livestock and wild animals as well, whose relevance on production, health, welfare and conservation is often high. Nevertheless, the knowledge of their epidemiology in wild populations is scarce or fragmentary. In this study, the presence and features of two parv...
Surveillance of Echinococcus multilocularis at the edge of its range is hindered by fragmented distributional patterns and low prevalence in definitive hosts. Thus, tests with adequate levels of sensitivity are especially important for discriminating between infected and non-infected areas. In this study we reassessed the prevalence of E. multilocu...
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), a severe zoonosis occurring in the Palearctic region mainly transmitted through Ixodes ticks. In Italy, TBEV is restricted to the northeastern part of the country. This report describes for the first time a case of clinical TBE in a roe deer (Capreolus cap...
Tick borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the causative agent of Tick borne encephalitis in humans, a severe zoonosis occurring in the Paleartic region mainly transmitted through ticks belonging to the genus Ixodes. In Italy, TBEV is restricted to few foci in the north-eastern part of the country. This report describes for the first time a case of cl...
Background
Surveillance of E. multilocularis at the edge of its range is hindered by fragmented distributional patterns and low prevalence and burden in definitive hosts. Thus, tests with adequate levels of sensitivity are especially important for discriminating between infected and non-infected areas.
Aim
We reassessed the prevalence of E. multil...
In Europe, Ixodes ricinus is the main vector for tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), the most common tick species in Italy, particularly represented in pre-alpine and hilly northern areas. From 2011 to 2017, ticks were collected by dragging in Belluno province (northeast Italy) and analyzed by molecular techniques for TBP detection. Several species of Ric...
Golden jackal (Canis aureus) is a carnivore species that is naturally expanding its distribution range from Eastern Europe to north-eastern Italy and it is protected by Italian law (L157/92). Jackal populations are well established in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and are expanding into other Italian territories. A total of 34 jackals (12 males,...
Canine circovirus (CanineCV) is a recently identified virus affecting both domestic and wild carnivores, including foxes, sometimes in presence of severe clinical signs. Its circulation in wild animals can thus represent a potential threat for endangered species conservation and an infection source for dogs. Nevertheless, no data were available on...
Background
Echinococcus multilocularis is a small tapeworm affecting wild and domestic carnivores and voles in a typical prey-predator life cycle. In Italy, there has been a focus of E. multilocularis since 1997 in the northern Italian Alps, later confirmed in red foxes collected from 2001 to 2005. In this study, we report the results of seven year...
Background
Echinococcus multilocularis is a small tapeworm affecting wild and domestic carnivores and voles in a typical prey-predator life cycle. In Italy, a focus of E. multilocularis has been in existence since 1997 in the northern Italian Alps, later confirmed in foxes collected from 2001 to 2005. In this study, we report the results of seven y...
Sarcoptic mange represents the most severe disease for wild Caprinae individuals and populations in Europe, raising concerns for both conservation and management of these ungulates. To date, this disease has been investigated in different wild caprine species and under many different perspectives including diagnostics, epidemiology, impact on the h...
Canine distemper virus (CDV) represents an important threat for both wild and domestic carnivores. Since 2006, the North-Eastern regions in Italy have been experiencing severe and widespread recurring outbreaks of CDV affecting the wild carnivore population. In this study we performed an extensive phylogeographic analysis of CDV strains belonging t...
Information on the population dynamics of a reservoir species have been increasingly adopted to understand and eventually predict the dispersal patterns of infectious diseases throughout an area. Although potentially relevant, to date there are no studies which have investigated the genetic structure of the red fox population in relation to infecti...
Sample table.
Table showing in sequence year of collection, country of origin, specific location, disease status, sample ID, list of alleles for each microsatellite locus.
(XLSX)
Correlogram of the autocorrelation coefficient (r) as a function of distance classes.
Correlogram of the whole dataset with distance classes of 10 km. Correlation coefficient (r) is shown in the vertical axis. Error bars bound the 95% confidence interval determined by bootstrap resampling (999 iterations). Upper (U) and lower (L) confidence limits...
Distribution of the genetic groups (A-B-C) in the study area. Considering structure result K = 3 for the complete dataset, individuals assigned to groups A, B and C are identified with violet, light green and orange dots, respectively. Samples with an assignment probability greater than or equal to 0.7 (Q ≥ 0.7) are shown with dots; admixed individ...
Structure program results.
Structure analysis performed on the Italian subset estimated K = 4 as the most likely number of clusters.
(TIF)
Mantel test.
Geographic Distance in km (GGD) on the x-axes and Linear Genetic Distance (LinGD) on the y-axes.
(TIF)
Material and methods supplemental information.
(DOCX)
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonosis caused by a positive RNA single stranded virus of the Hepeviridae family. In developed countries, pigs and wild boars are the main reservoir for zoonotic genotypes 3 and 4. In spring 2017, for the first time HEV was detected in wild boars captured in the Regional Park of the Euganean Hills, in north-e...
Trombiculosis has been reported in some wild ruminant species. We investigated the occurrence of trombiculosis in the northern chamois ( Rupicapra rupricapra rupicapra) in the Western Italian Alps, and we describe the related histopathologic changes. Superficial scrapes and skin samples were taken from 191 chamois from the Lombardy and Piedmont reg...
Improving the knowledge on the distribution and status of the wild populations is desirable to inform
strategies for disease surveillance, early detection and control. This is the case for the red fox
in North-Eastern Italy, where rabies has been eradicated after a recent epizootic but the risk of
its re-introduction through the eastern border is s...
Background:
Northeastern Italy is a hotspot for several tick-borne pathogens, transmitted to animals and humans mainly by Ixodes ricinus. Here we compare the results of molecular monitoring of ticks and zoonotic TBPs over a six-year period, with the monitoring of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in an endemic area.
Results:
In the period 2011-2016, 2,5...
Game control centres could represent an important infrastructure for surveillance on wildlife diseases and, due to the increasing interest in game meat, the distribution of these facilities should become more and more widespread in North-Eastern Italy. At the moment, however, their distribution is still very patchy, being present in some areas, whi...
Cesium-137 (137Cs) is an alkali metal radioactive isotope of cesium, which is mainly formed as by-product of uranium nuclear fission, especially in nuclear fission reactors. 137Cs can be usually found in the environment due to anthropogenic contaminations. In Europe, however, it mainly occurs as a result of the Chernobyl accident fallout. Due to ra...
The need for data on the organoleptic and safety qualities of wild game meat derives from the will to promote
this food as a valid nutritional resource. In this perspective, hunting periods could be scheduled not only taking
into account the biology and the ecology of the game species, but also the conditions ensuring the best sensory
profile of ga...
Assuring hygiene and quality of hunted game meat is relevant for public health, and should therefore be undertaken before game meat is marketed. Standardisation of the analytical methods and specific microbiological thresholds should be implemented, also considering the remarkable diversity in hunting traditions, conditions and facilities. The pres...
The sarcoptic mange epizootic affecting chamois in the Dolomites Alps since 1995 has risen considerable concern in a management and conservation perspective, due to its strong impact on chamois and ibex populations. A remarkable amount of data has been collected by different wildlife research and management institutions, in order to analyze mange p...
Sarcoptic mange appeared in chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) in the eastern Parco Naturale Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino (PPPSM) in 2007, spreading from the neighboring areas of Belluno province. Since then, the disease spread further, covering all the park area in 2010-2011.
In this area, of approximately 200 km2, sarcoptic mange showed an impact...
Since 2006 the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in north-eastern Italy has experienced an epidemic of canine distemper virus (CDV). Additionally, in 2008, after a thirteen-year absence from Italy, fox rabies was re-introduced in the Udine province at the national border with Slovenia. Disease intervention strategies are being developed and implem...
In this supporting text, we develop a model of co-circulation that allows co-infection within a single fox population and use it to estimate transmission parameters of both diseases.
(DOCX)
In this supporting text, we perform sensitivity analyses of our estimates to changes in the density of foxes.
(DOCX)
Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection represents an important conservation threat to many carnivore species and has contributed to the population decline of several wild terrestrial and aquatic mammalian species. Since 2006, the Alpine region of North-Eastern (NE) Italy has been experiencing a severe and widespread outbreak of CDV affecting the wi...