Myiasis by Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae) in a python affected by pulmonitis.

Myiases are caused by the presence of maggots in vertebrate tissues and organs. Myiases have been studied widely in humans, farm animals, and pets, whereas reports of myiasis in reptiles are scarce. We describe a case of myiasis caused by the Megaselia scalaris (Loew) in an Indian python (Python molurus bivittatus, Kuhl) (Ophida: Boidae). The python, 15 yr old, born and reared in a terrarium in the mainland of Venice (Italy), was affected by diffuse, purulent pneumonia caused by Burkholderia cepacia. The severe infestation of maggots found in the lungs during an autopsy indicated at a myiasis.

Study on ticks and tick-borne zoonoses in public parks in Italy.

A survey on tick density and on tick-borne zoonoses was carried out in four public parks in the outskirts of Imola (northern Italy) from June to October 2006. All stages of Ixodes ricinus and only larvae of Riphicephalus sanguineus were recovered by dragging, performed on 100-m transects. Almost all ticks (99%) were harvested in one park. I. ricinus density (nymphs/100 m(2) ) ranged from 0 in park L to 6.3 in park F. Nymphs and adults of I. ricinus were subjected to PCR for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. and Rickettsia spp. The observed prevalences were 38.3% for Bartonella henselae, 5.2% for Bartonella clarridgeiae, 10.4% for B. burgdorferi s. l., 2.6% for Rickettsia helvetica and 13% for Rickettsia monacensis, respectively. No DNA of A. phagocytophilum was found. Acarological risks (AR) were calculated as probabilities of collecting at least one infected nymph per transect. The AR values calculated for the various zoonotic agents were 11.4% for R. helvetica, 27.7% for B. clarridgeiae, 49.7% for B. burgdorferi s. l., 57.2% for R. monacensis and 90.4% for B. henselae, respectively. In this study, B. clarridgeiae was for the first time identified in I. ricinus ticks.