Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains isolated from livestock and wild animals in Italy suggests the need for a different eradication strategy for bovine tuberculosis.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important zoonosis, which has been re-emerging in different ecological scenarios. In Sicily, Italy, from 2004 to 2014, an anatomopathological survey for tuberculosis-like lesions both in farmed and wild animals was performed. The isolates were genotyped using spoligotyping and Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units-Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (MIRU-VNTR) techniques. High prevalence of lesions was observed for cattle (4%), pigs (4.9%) and wild boars (6.8%), and a total of 625 Mycobacterium bovis isolates were identified. Genotyping analysis showed the presence of 37 different spoligotypes including fifteen spoligotypes not present in other Italian regions and 266 MIRU-VNTR profiles. Spoligotype SB0120 exhibited the highest prevalence in cattle (50%) and pigs (56%) and the highest genetic variety with 126 different MIRU-VNTR profiles. The isolation of M. bovis in a farmer underlines the importance of M. bovis identification during the human TB diagnostic processes. This study supported the use of the genotyping analysis as a valuable tool for the evaluation of the epidemiological role of pigs and other domestic reservoirs such as goats and the role of wildlife in the maintenance of bTB infection.

Epidemiology of ovine oestrosis (OEstrus ovis Linné 1761, Diptera: Oestridae) in Sicily.

A survey for oestrosis was carried out in the slaughterhouse at Messine (Sicily) from May 1996 to April 1998. The heads of sheep from local flocks were collected each month. A total of 841 heads were examined according to a validated procedure. 469 (55.8%) were infested by OEstrus ovis larvae. 4423 larvae were harvested: 1829 first instar larvae or L1 (41.4%), 1286 second instar larvae or L2 (29.1%) and 1308 third instar larvae or L3 (29.6%). The mean larval burden for infected sheep was 9.4 larvae with an average of 3.9 L1, 2.7 L2 and 2.8 L3. No period of hypobiosis was recorded. The proportions of larvae in each of the different larval stages was similar from January to September, however, from October to December the percentage of L1 was higher, indicating a period of slowed development. In order to lower the overall prevalence of this disease, it would be necessary to use a parasiticide effective against O. ovis, for all routine parasite control treatments.