Monitoring Campaign over an Edible Dormouse Population ( Glis glis ; Rodentia: Gliridae) in Sicily: First Report of Mesocestodiasis.

This study reports on the health status of the edible dormouse ( Glis glis ) living in Nebrodi Park (Sicily, Italy), responsible for nut crop damage in the area. In the frame of a monitoring campaign for potential zoonotic risk involving 30 dormice, rectal and conjunctival swabs and fur and nest content were collected for bacteriological and parasitological examinations, respectively. A large presence of fleas belonging to Monopsyllus sciurorum was found. Necropsy of a dead dormouse revealed an infection of Mesocestoides lineatus , whose cysts were found in the abdomen cavity and on the liver; this is the first report of this in this species. Further studies are necessary to identify their role in the environment, considering the limited knowledge of this species in Italy.