Prevalence of Anisakis Larvae in Different Fish Species in Southern Albania: Five-Year Monitoring (2016-2020)

Anisakidae are nematodes that commonly parasitize in the coelomic cavity and viscera of several fish species. They can be found in flesh, which is why they have an important economic and public health impact. The aim of the current work was to assess the presence and prevalence of Anisakis larvae in fish species caught in the coastal area of the Karaburun Peninsula in Vlora Bay (Albania). A total of 856 of wild teleosts and 219 specimens of farmed fish were collected over a 5-year period (from 2016 to 2020). The results showed that out of a total of 1075 analyzed samples, 361 (33.58%) were parasitized with L3 larvae. In particular, only Solea vulgaris returned negative results, while Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, and Sardinella aurita showed the lowest prevalence (4.55%, 9.17%, and 10.53%, respectively) and mean abundance (0.84, 1.19, and 0.92, respectively). Conversely, Scomber japonicus and Scomber scombrus showed the highest prevalence (74.07% and 68.00%, respectively) and mean abundance (188.24 and 249.82, respectively). The data suggest that the coastal area of the Karaburun Peninsula (southern Albania) may be a high-risk area for zoonotic diseases, and the consumption of raw or undercooked fish caught in the Vlora district could result in the acquisition of human anisakiasis. For these reasons, it is necessary to improve the surveillance plan

Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Effects on reproductive and productive performance and meat quality in rabbit breeding

Rabbit breeding has many critical aspects related to reproduction, production, and animal welfare, which reduce its profitability as well as consumer attractiveness. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) seems to be a good nutritional strategy to improve several aspects of rabbit breeding, enhance animal welfare and produce a new functional food considered healthy for human consumption. For this reason, the main available scientific research regarding the physiological effects of n-3 PUFA rich products supplemented to the rabbit diet will be reviewed. In particular, consequences on the reproductive performances of both doe and buck, the productive parameters, and the meat quality will be analysed

Evaluation of Smart Portable Device for Food Diagnostics : a Preliminary Study on Cape Hake Fillets (M. capensis and M. paradoxus)

The new smartphone-based food diagnostic technologies offer significant advantages over traditional methods as they can be easily applied in various steps of the agrifood supply chain including household use and also in the food recovery field for charitable purposes, aimed at helping to reduce food waste. Further advantages include the low cost, the minimal equipment, and nonspecialized personnel required. This study evaluated the performance of two instrumental measurements of the sensors: an electronic nose (PEN3; WinMuster Airsense Analytics) and a smart portable device (FOODsniffer; ARS LAB US). The preliminary study was conducted on cape hake fillets. In order to test the performance of PEN3 and FOODsniffer, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) values were considered as the reference. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation were performed in order to compare PEN3 with TVB-N, and for the FOODsniffer evaluation, a one-way ANOVA was carried out. A significant correlation was shown between PEN3, first component, and TVB-N (r=0.92, P=0.01). The ANOVA results also confirmed a good agreement between FOODsniffer, TVB-N (F=519.9, P=0.01), and PEN3 (F=143.17, P=0.01). Our simulation results confirmed good performance in both methods

Ante-mortem and Post-mortem Inspection and Relationship between Findings in a North Albanian Pig Slaughterhouse

Simple Summary In European Union abattoirs, the safety of meat is dependent on the favorable opinion from an official veterinarian, in accordance with the current legislation. From this perspective, the feedback generated from the ante-mortem visit and the post-mortem inspection can be investigated to control the health and welfare conditions of the animals in the pre-slaughter phases. From this perspective, we evaluated the ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection outcomes of slaughtered pigs in northern Albania and correlated the results in order to gain insight into the conditions and injuries of pigs slaughtered outside the European context and to extend knowledge on the possible relationship between ante-mortem and post-mortem relief. Dyspnea and tail, skin, and ear lesions were the most frequently observed conditions before slaughter, while pleuritis, pneumonia, liver alterations, white spots on the liver, and pericarditis were the most frequent lesions after slaughter. A significant increase in the total number of post-mortem findings was also observed as the number of ante-mortem findings increased. Overall, the prevalence of the findings observed in this study falls within the broad range of the data in the literature, but additional information should be collected during meat inspection so as to better understand the relationship between ante- and post-mortem outcomes. In June 2014, Albania was granted EU candidate status, thus starting a process of compliance with the membership criteria. In this context, a modern meat inspection approach in line with the European legislation was applied to a pig slaughterhouse in northern Albania in order to investigate the ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) conditions and the relationship between these findings. For this purpose, 3930 pigs divided into 35 batches were evaluated over a 3-month period. The most frequent AM conditions recorded were tail lesions and dyspnea (9.1%), followed by skin (8.9%) and ear lesions (8.5%), while in the PM inspections, pleuritis was the most frequently observed condition (10.2%), followed by pneumonia (8.5%), liver alterations (5.7%), milk spot liver (3.8%), and pericarditis (3.3%). With the exception of liver alterations, the other PM lesions mentioned were positively associated with lesions on the ears (OR = 1.036; p < 0.001) and skin (OR = 1.026; p = 0.011) and dyspnea (OR = 1.021; p = 0.005), confirming the link between these variables and the health and welfare conditions of pigs on farms. Overall, the evidence that emerged from this Albanian slaughterhouse can be considered in line with other European contexts, especially in light of the considerable variability in the data present in the literature

Legge 5 febbraio 1992 n.104 "legge quadro per l'assistenza, l'integrazione sociale e i diritti per le persone handicappate".

In questo capitolo gli Autori, dopo aver affrontato il tema della malattia, dell’invalidità e dell’handicap, analizzano la legge 5 febbraio 1992, n.104 avente ad oggetto l’assistenza, l’integrazione sociale e i diritti delle persone handicappate.In this chapter the Authors, after having dealt with the theme of disease, disability and handicap, they analyze the law of February 5, 1992, no.104 concerning the care, social integration and rights of persons with disabilities

Legge 5 febbraio 1992 n.104 "legge quadro per l'assistenza, l'integrazione sociale e i diritti per le persone handicappate".

In questo capitolo gli Autori, dopo aver affrontato il tema della malattia, dell’invalidità e dell’handicap, analizzano la legge 5 febbraio 1992, n.104 avente ad oggetto l’assistenza, l’integrazione sociale e i diritti delle persone handicappate.In this chapter the Authors, after having dealt with the theme of disease, disability and handicap, they analyze the law of February 5, 1992, no.104 concerning the care, social integration and rights of persons with disabilities

When Pet Snacks Look Like Children&apos;s Toys! The Potential Role of Pet Snacks in Transmission of Bacterial Zoonotic Pathogens in the Household

Recent foodborne pathogen outbreaks associated with dry pet food and treats have focused the attention on these products as vehicles of pathogens for both pets and their owners. This study investigates the purchasing habits of dog owners and determines if and in what form pet snacks can be potentially dangerous for humans, especially for children. For these purposes, questionnaires collected from 406 dog owners were evaluated and microbiological analyses were performed on 120 dry pet snacks. The shape of the pet snack affects the purchase (median score, Mdn = 6.4) and the star bone was the preferred one (Mdn = 7.1). Most of the participants (76.0%; p &lt; 0.001) stated that snacks are attractive to their children and that the possibility for children to get in contact with pet snacks is rare, but not implausible (Mdn = 3.1). Indeed, more than 6% of respondents admitted that there had been incidents of involuntary ingestion of pet snacks, with fever and gastrointestinal manifestations. Microbiological analyses showed that 119 dry pet snacks analyzed of a total of 120 (99.2%) were in good sanitary condition except for one sample where the presence of Listeria ivanovii was confirmed. The upward trend in the presence of pets in households and the strong and continuous growth in value and volume of the pet food market led researchers to analyze possible public health issues. Children and infants in particular are the most exposed subjects as they are more likely to come into contact with pet snacks, attracted by a shape similar to that of a toy. For this reason, although our findings did not highlight important microbiological contamination of pet snacks, it would be useful to standardize food safety criteria with those for human food from a One Health perspective

Best Session Paper Award

A software tool has been developed in order to evaluate bioelectrical currents. The tool is able to provide a graphical representation of the behaviour of small currents emitted by characteristic points of the human body and captured through a non invasive probe previously developed. The software implementation combines a variety of graphical techniques to create a powerful system that will enable users to perform an accurate and reliable analysis of the emitted currents and to easily go on to further applications and research. This paper introduces the design and the main characteristics of the tool and shows significant measurement results