Cinzia Tessarin

Detection of Babesia EU1 in Ixodes ricinus ticks in northern Italy.

Babesia EU1, a potentially important emerging zoonotic pathogen, already detected in ticks and wild ruminants of different European Countries, was found in three pools of Ixodes ricinus nymphs in three different sites located in a single District of north-eastern Italy. Totally 356 ticks (60 pools) were collected from the environment during a surveillance activity in the year 2006. Babesia EU1 estimated individual tick prevalence in the area is 0.85%. The finding that also in northern Italy the tick population is carrying Babesia EU1 suggests a wide geographical spreading of this zoonotic pathogen in Europe.

Cardiovascular flukes (Trematoda: Spirorchiidae) in Caretta caretta Linnaeus, 1758 from the Mediterranean Sea

BackgroundThe northern Adriatic Sea represents one of the most important neritic foraging grounds for the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta L. in the Mediterranean Sea. Four genera of blood flukes with variable prevalence and pathogenic impact have been reported worldwide in this species. Hapalotrema Looss, 1899 and Amphiorchis Price, 1934 are the only two genera reported in Mediterranean waters; however, updated data describing spirorchiidiasis in the central and eastern Mediterranean and infection prevalence are still lacking. This work aimed to investigate the presence and pathology of spirorchiidiasis in C. caretta in the Mediterranean Sea.MethodsOne hundred sixty-eight animals stranded along the northwestern Adriatic coast between 2009 and 2015 were submitted to necropsy and subsequent analyses for the detection of adult flukes, detection of eggs in the faeces and spleen and histopathology. Molecular analyses were carried out on hosts (mitochondrial D-loop) and parasites (28S gene and ITS2 spacer) to trace the turtle origins and identify the fluke phylogenetic relationships.ResultsSpirorchiidiasis was detected in 16.7% of the animals. Hapalotrema mistroides (Monticelli, 1899) and Neospirorchis sp. were found in twenty-six and ten cases, respectively. Adult flukes were found in six cases, while eggs were detectable through copromicroscopic examination for all infected turtles, and the results for the detection of eggs in the spleen agreed with the copromicroscopic analysis. Only mild lesions were observed. Eggs of types 1 and 3 were grossly visible in the gastrointestinal mucosa, vasculitis was rarely observed in the heart and great vessels, and multifocal granulomas were widespread in the tissues. Molecular identification unambiguously assigned the spirorchiid samples to H. mistroides and Neospirorchis sp. Genetic characterization of loggerhead mtDNA pointed to a Mediterranean origin of the turtle hosts.ConclusionThis survey provides new data on the spread of spirorchiidiasis in the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle population and reports for the first time the presence of Neospirorchis spp. in this basin. The infections did not have a causal effect on the death nor a strong impact on the general health status of the animals.