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Investigations were carried out to update data on epidemiology and molecular characterization of Echinococcus granulosus in livestock in Italy, in the framework of a national research project during the years 2003-2006. Animals (sheep 2398; cattle 49,485; buffalos 722; pigs 484; horses 294) were sampled in various regions, namely Lombardy (sheep and cattle), Emilia-Romagna (cattle), Campania (buffalos), Abruzzo (sheep and cattle), Sicily and Sardinia (sheep, cattle, pigs, horses). Liver, lung and spleen of slaughtered animals were examined between January 2003 and December 2006 and the number and fertility of hydatid cysts were evaluated. Protoscoleces and/or germinal layers were collected from individual cysts and DNA was extracted from some samples. PCR methods were used for the identification of the main strain clusters for each sample (G1; G5; G6/G7). Fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and NADH dehydrogenase I were sequenced. Fertility and strain typing were not performed on Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna samples for technical reasons. The range of regional prevalences, the strains of E. granulosus identified were the following: sheep 0.3 % - 75.3%, G1; cattle 0.1 % - 67.1%, G1 and G3; buffalos 10%; G1 and G3; pigs 0% - 9.4%, G1 and G7; horses 0% - 2.8%, G4. The results of the surveys confirm the historical trend of cystic echinococcosis in southern and insular Italy. Highest prevalences in sheep and cattle were recorded in Sardinia and Sicily, respectively. G1 strain results highly spread in sheep and also affects sympatrically cattle, buffalo and pigs. Variants of the sheep strain cluster like G3 were also recorded in buffalo and cattle. The presence of G4 and G7, which were isolated in horses and pigs from Sardinia, respectively, should be pointed out. In February 2007, G4 strain has been identified also in a horse from Tuscany, a region of Central Italy (reported in this Congress).

In Italy, compulsory notification of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) to the Italian Ministry of Health was discontinued in 1991, and under the current legislation, the Ministry requires only a summary of the regional cases. Therefore, data of CE no longer reach the Central Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), making the assessment of human CE occurrence even more difficult. It should be noted that, according to the European Directive 2003/99/CE, the Italian regulations (Legislative Decree 4 April 2006, No. 191) officially included CE among zoonoses under surveillance. Thus, it is up to the individual physician’s goodwill to notify individual cases to the Local Health Unit, which in turn will fill out an electronic record to be transmitted to the Health Regional Council, which in turn will transmit the data to the Italian Ministry of Health. Unsurprisingly, with regard to Italy, the ECDC-EFSA Community Summary Reports (2003-2008) on trends and sources of zoonoses indicate that only 1 case (imported) of CE was reported in 2003 and that no surveillance system exists. This contrasts with hundreds of cases per year reported in single Italian Regions, when research was done using different methods and information, e.g. Hospital Discharge Records (HDRs). Diagnosis of human CE relies on modern imaging techniques, with ultrasound (US) being the most frequently used, complemented by serology. The widespread use of US has shown that the cysts go through different stages of involution, either spontaneously or as a result of non-surgical therapies (medical treatment with benzimidazoles and percutaneous treatments) The use of US has spawned several sonographic classifications over the years. Recently, the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis issued a standard ultrasound classification of echinococcal cysts based on their ultrasound appearance. In this classification, cysts are grouped as active, transitional and inactive, and determining the cyst stage has important consequences for clinical management and prognosis. No case of acute CE has ever been reported, so incidence is generally related to the first diagnosis of the disease, irrespective of cyst stage. Reports based on surgery-based surveys are known to greatly underestimate rates of infection. Several papers published in the last years evaluated a mean incidence of 1.3 cases/100,000 inhabitants in Italy. CE is most prevalent in the southern regions and in the islands of Sardinia (4-8 cases/100,000 inhabitants) and Sicily (Pozio E, 2008, Parassitologia 50: 17-24; Garippa G & Manfredi MT, 2009, Vet Res Commun 33, Suppl 1: 35-39). Some studies performed in some regions analyzed the HDRs in order to estimate the occurrence of CE. In Emilia-Romagna, the mean yearly incidence (1997-2002) in Italian citizens residing in the region was 1.07/100,000 inhabitants; the average incidence of persons born in Italy was 0.97/100,000. The existence of an area in the Apennines between the provinces of Reggio Emilia and Modena with a significantly higher risk and incidence (7.1/100,000) similar to that encountered in areas considered endemic, was demonstrated (Battelli G et al, 2004, Parassitologia 46: 415-416). In Lombardy, in 2004, there were 156 admissions for CE; of the patients, 72% resided in the region (Brunetti E et al, 2006, Parassitologia 48: 220). In Tuscany, the mean yearly incidence (1995-2001) in citizens residing in the region was 1.61/100,000 (Montinaro L et al, 2004, G Ital Med Lav Erg 26: 202-207). In Apulia, the period prevalence of hepatic CE during the years 1996-2000 was 6.4/100,000 (Punzo C et al, 2002, Ann Ital Chir 73: 605-609). In Sardinia, the mean yearly incidence (2001-2005) in citizens residing in the region was 6.6/100,000, rising to 10.6/100,000 in the Nuoro province (Conchedda M et al, 2008, Parassitologia 50, Suppl 1: 40). True occurrence of human CE is probably best assessed by ultrasound mass surveys, an increasingly popular method in highly endemic...

Monografia che compendia la situazione epidemiologica italiana delle malattie sostenute da Dirofilaria spp. nel cane. ogni autore ha riferito le proprie esperienze regionali permettendo così la creazione di un quadro estremamente aggiornato della distribuzione di questi importanti agenti di malattia.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is an important public health and economic problem in many areas of the world, e.g. in the Mediterranean Region. In Italy, the lack of official data and poor level of reporting, both in animals and humans, do not allow to have a appropriate picture on its occurrence and socio-economic impact. At the moment, the most reliable epidemiological information is based on research data. Aim. The aim of this paper is to give a brief updating of the occurrence of animal CE in Italy. Methods. The epidemiological situation of animal CE in Italy is presented, mainly reviewing recent surveys and studies carried out on MIUR National Projects, PHD research or other research plans. Results. Until now, in Italy, the following agents of CE have been identified: Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (genotypes G1, G2, G3), E. equinus (G4), E. ortleppi (G5), and pig strain (G7). CE has been reported in farmed animals, dogs, wildlife (mainly wolves and wild-boars), and in humans. E. multilocularis (alveolar echinococcosis) has been reported in foxes. It is not present in other animals (althought some wrong reports were notified in recent years) or in humans. Recent reported CE prevalences (ranges or mean) are the following: Northern Italy: sheep 0.1- 0.5 % (in some areas, adult sheep 25-45%); cattle 0.02-0.7% (1.4 % in a limited area in Emilia-Romagna region); horses 0.3 %; pigs

The metazoan parasite assemblage of the head of 30 specimens of the Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) from the western Mediterranean Sea was analysed. Eight species of parasites were found, four mazocraeid monogeneans: Grubea cochlear (prevalence = 10%), Kuhnia scombercolias (59%), K. scombri (52%), Pseudokuhnia minor (86%); three didymozoid trematodes: Nematobothrium cf. faciale (21%), N. filiforme (41%), N. scombri (7%); and one laerneopodid copepod: Clavelissa scombri (7%). Results were compared with previously published data from 14 localities of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, using non-parametric univariate and multivariate analyses, and the whole parasite fauna of S. colias was compared with that of the congeners (S. australasicus, S. japonicus and S. scombrus). Parasites showed to reflect the biogeographical and phylogenetic history of host. From a methodological point of view, the use of both non-parametric univariate and multivariate techniques proved to be effective tools to detect dissimilarities between parasite assemblages.

Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) due to Echinococcus granulosus is still the main parasitic zoonoses, typical of the Mediterranean basin. Old and recent updating of the Italian situation shows different prevalence levels that led to divide the territory in sporadic (north) endemic (center) and hyper endemic (south and islands From a sociological, but also operative, point of view the key of lecture of our results highlights the CE diffusion with high prevalence levels everywhere sheep are bred independently of the socio-economic development of the area and the number of sheep raised. Indeed lung prevalences calculated for different areas ranged from 27,2 % (abroad) to almost 40 % in center and Sardinia but this difference disappears as national areas only were considered.

Liver and lungs from 7,500 horses, slaughtered in the province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy) during the period from March 2006 to February 2007, were examined for Echinococcus granulosus infection or cystic echinococcosis (CE). DNA was extracted from germinal layer and protoscoleces of a fertile cyst and PCR reactions were performed in order to strain typing DNA isolates for NADH and COI mitochondrial genes. PCR products were then purified and sequenced in forward and reverse. Liver cysts were found in two horses. A horse presented two fertile cysts and hydatid material obtained from one cyst (10 cm) was identified as G4 strain of E.granulosus for ND1 and CO1 partial genes. The animal, a 10-year-old female, came from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany Region, Central Italy) and was permanently maintained on pasture together with sheep, cattle and other horses. This is the first molecular identification of the E.granulosus horse strain or G4 in Continental Italy.

Echinococcus granulosus (Eg) shows a great intraspecific variation.. This variability led to the identification of 10 different genotypes and genetic variants of the parasite (G1–G10). In horses, cystic echinococcosis (CE) has a quite low diffusion and seems to be strictly correlated to species-specific infection with horse own subspecific variant of Eg, named, after biomolecular characterization, G4 or horse strain. In Italy, this strain was identified by molecular tools for the first time in 2006 in Sardinia. Aim of the present paper is to report the first identification of G4 strain in Continental Italy. Liver and lungs from 7,500 horses, slaughtered in the province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy) during the period from March 2006 to February 2007, were examined for CE. DNA was extracted from germinal layer and protoscoleces of a fertile cyst and PCR reactions were performed in order to strain typing DNA isolates. PCR products were then purified and sequenced in forward and reverse. Liver cysts were found in two horses. A horse harboured one calcified cyst; the other presented two fertile cysts and hydatid material obtained from one cyst (10 cm) was identified as G4 strain of Eg for ND1 and CO1 partial genes. The animal, a 10-year-old female, came from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany Region, Central Italy) and was permanently maintained on pasture together with sheep, cattle and other horses. This is the first molecular identification of the Eg horse strain or G4 in Continental Italy.