Parasites and microorganisms associated with the snakes collected for the "festa Dei serpari" in Cocullo, Italy.

While in much of the Western world snakes are feared, in the small, rural, mountainous town of Cocullo, in the middle of central Italy, snakes are annually collected and celebrated in a sacro-profane ritual. Every 1st of May, Serpari (snake catchers) capture and showcase dozens of non-venomous snakes to celebrate the ritual of San Domenico. In order to detect potential zoonotic pathogens within this unique epidemiological context, parasites and microorganisms of snakes harvested for the "festa dei serpari" ritual were investigated. Snakes (n = 112) were examined and ectoparasites collected, as well as blood and feces sampled. Ectoparasites were identified morpho-molecularly, and coprological examination conducted through direct smear and flotation. Molecular screenings were performed to identify parasites and microorganisms in collected samples (i.e., Mesostigmata mites, Anaplasma/Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Coxiella burnetii, Babesia/Theileria spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., Leishmania spp. and helminths). Overall, 28.5% (32/112) of snakes were molecularly positive for at least one parasite and/or microorganism. Endosymbiont Wolbachia bacteria were identified from Macronyssidae mites and zoonotic vector-borne pathogens (e.g., Rickettsia, Leishmania), as well as orally transmitted pathogens (i.e., Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas), were detected from blood and feces. Thus, given the central role of the snakes in the tradition of Cocullo, surveys of their parasitic fauna and associated zoonotic pathogens may aid to generate conservation policies to benefit the human-snake interactions, whilst preserving the cultural patrimony of this event.

Leishmania (L.) infantum BH401 strain induces classic renal lesions in dogs: Histological and confocal microscopy study.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) alterations in visceral leishmaniasis are related mainly to collagen deposition (fibropoiesis). In canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), an intense fibrosis associated to chronic inflammation in organs such as kidneys is described. However, renal fibropoiesis has not been described in natural or experimental infections with L. (L.) infantum. We aimed to characterize renal nephropathies by histology and confocal microscopy comparing renal lesions in dogs naturally and experimentally infected with L. (L.) infantum. Sixty-two mixed-breed symptomatic dogs naturally infected with L. (L.) infantum, sixteen beagles experimentally infected with two strains of L. infantum (eleven dogs with the BH400 strain and five dogs with the BH401 strain), and five uninfected beagles (controls) were used. Samples were stained with hematoxylin & eosin for routine histology. Congo red was used to visualize amyloid protein deposits, periodic acid-Schiff to identify glomerular basal membrane anomalies, Masson's trichrome for collagen deposits, and Jones' methenamine silver to reveal membranous glomerulonephropathy. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify Leishmania amastigotes, and confocal microscopy was used for macrophage characterization (L1/calprotectin and CD163 antigen receptors). The most common lesions were chronic glomerular and interstitial nephritis, which was found in all naturally infected dogs and dogs experimentally infected with L. infantum strain BH401 but not with the BH400 strain. Glomeruloesclerosis was the main lesion presented in all BH401 group. Morphometric analysis revealed positive correlation of renal glomeruli tufts with cellular expression of L1/calprotectin and CD163 antigens. Leishmania infantum strain BH401 shows pathogenicity that may be sufficient to induce classic chronic visceral renal leishmaniasis.