Isolation and molecular typing of Leishmania infantum from Phlebotomus perfiliewi in a reemerging focus of leishmaniasis, Northeastern Italy

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania (L.) infantum is a public health threat in the Emilia-Romagna region, northeastern Italy, but its epidemiology has not been fully elucidated in this area. The objective of this study was to characterize Leishmania infection in sand flies collected in a re-emerging focus of VL in the Bologna province. During the summer of 2016, 6114 sand flies were collected, identified, and tested for Leishmania detection. Of the identified sand flies, 96.5% were Phlebotomus (P.) perfiliewi and 3.5% were P. perniciosus. Detected parasites were characterized by biomolecular methods (multilocus microsatellite typing and characterization of repetitive region on chromosome 31), and quantified by real-time PCR. The prevalence of Leishmania infection in individually-tested P. perfiliewi sand flies varied from 6% to 10% with an increasing trend during the season. Promastigotes of L. infantum were isolated by dissection in one P. perfiliewi female; the isolated strain (Lein-pw) were closely related to Leishmania parasites from VL cases in northeastern Italy, but differed from strains isolated in dogs from the same area. Our findings strongly support the vector status of P. perfiliewi for human VL in the study area

SURVEY ON CAMPYLOBACTER SPP. PREVALENCE IN BROILER CHICKENS SLAUGHTERED IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA REGION

Thermophilic Campylobacter spp. have been recognised as a major cause of foodborne infections in many countries throughout the world. Poultry meat is the most common source for foodborne cases of human campylobacteriosis. An European baseline study (Dec. 516/07/UE) was carried out in the year 2008 with the aim of determining the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chickens and the contamination level on the broiler carcasses. One hundred broiler flocks were sampled in 4 poultry slaughterhouses in Emilia Romagna and 52% (IC 95%: 41,8%-62,1%) were positive for Campylobacter jejuni/coli. The prevalence of thermophylic Campylobacter on carcasses was 26,0% (IC 95%: 17,7%- 35,7%) and it was correlated to finding of these bacteria in the broilers’ gut (O.R.: 3,8; I.C. 95%: 1,4-9,9)

Four-Year Monitoring of Foodborne Pathogens in Raw Milk Sold by Vending Machines in Italy

Prevalence data were collected from official microbiological records monitoring four selected foodborne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter jejuni) in raw milk sold by self-service vending machines in seven Italian Regions (n. 60907 samples from 1239 vending machines) during the years 2008 to 2011. Data of samples analyzed both by culture-based and real-time PCR methods were collected in one Region. A total of 100 raw milk consumers in four regions were interviewed while purchasing raw milk from vending machines. One hundred and seventy eight samples out of 60907 were positive for one of the four foodborne pathogens investigated; overall, 18 samples were positive for Salmonella spp., 83 for L. monocytogenes, 24 for E. coli O157:H7 and 53 for C. jejuni in the seven Regions investigated. There were no significant differences in prevalence among Regions, but a significant increase in C. jejuni prevalence was observed over the years. A comparison of the two different analysis methods showed that real-time PCR is from 2.71 to 9.40 times more sensitive than culture-based method. Data on consumer habits showed that some behaviors may enhance the risk of infection due to raw milk consumption: 37% of consumers do not boil milk before consumption, 93% never use an insulated bag to transport raw milk home, and raw milk is consumed by children under five years of age. The study emphasizes that end-product controls alone are not sufficient to guarantee an adequate level of consumer protection. The beta distribution of positive samples in this study and the data on raw milk consumer habits are useful and appropriate for the development of a National Quantitative Risk Assessment of Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157 and C. jejuni related to raw milk consumption

Sequence types and pleuromutilin susceptibility of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae isolates from Italian pigs with swine dysentery: 2003–2012

Swine dysentery is a mucohaemorrhagic colitis of pigs caused by infection with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. The disease can be controlled by treatment with antimicrobial agents, with the pleuromutilins tiamulin and valnemulin being widely used. In recent years, the occurrence of B.hyodysenteriae with reduced susceptibility to these drugs has been increasing. The aim of this study was to determine temporal changes in genetic groups and pleuromutilin susceptibility amongst B.hyodysenteriae isolates from Italy. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on 108 isolates recovered from 87 farms in different regions of Italy from 2003 to 2012, and their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tiamulin and valnemulin were determined. Logistic regression was performed to assess associations between susceptibility to the two antimicrobial agents and genetic group, year and region of isolation. The isolates were allocated to 23 sequence types (STs), with five clonal clusters (Ccs) and seven singletons. More than 50% of isolates were resistant to both pleuromutilins (MIC >2.0 μg/mL for tiamulin and >1.0 μg/mL for valnemulin). All 10 isolates in ST 83 were resistant; these were first isolated in 2011 and came from nine farms, suggesting recent widespread dissemination of a resistant strain. Significant associations were found between the proportion of pleuromutilin susceptible isolates and the genetic group and year of isolation. Although resistant isolates were found in all Ccs, isolates in Ccs 2 and 7 were over five times more likely to be susceptible than those in the other Ccs. A significant trend in the reduction of susceptibility over time also was observed

Color in image watermarking

chapter 3This chapter summarizes the state-of-the-art color techniques used in the emerging field of image watermarking. It is now well understood that a color approach is required when it comes to deal with security, steganography and watermarking applications of multimedia contents. Indeed, consumers and business expectations are focused on the protection of their contents, which are here color images and videos. In the past few years, several gray-level image watermarking schemes have been proposed but their application to color image is often inadequate since they usually work with the luminance or with individual color channel. Unfortunately, color cannot be considered as a simple RGB decomposition and all of its intrinsic information must be integrated in the watermarking process. Therefore, it is the chapter objective to present, first, the major difficulties associated with the treatment of color images, and second, the state-of-the-art methods used in the field of color image watermarking