IINTRODUCTION
Bovine besnoitiosis is a parasitic disease
caused by the tissue cyst forming protozoan Besnoitia
besnoiti The European Food Safety Authority ( has
reported that bovine besnoitiosis is re emerging in Europe 1
It represents a chronic and debilitating disease that is
responsible for severe economic losses such as poor body
condition, decreased milk production, infertility in bulls and
occasional abortion 2 Autochthonous outbreaks of the
disease were reported in Central Italy for the first time in 2009
3 In Sicily, although the disease was observed in a heifer in
2014 4 no epidemiological data is known
AIM OF THE WORK
This study describes an
autochthonous outbreak of Bovine besnoitiosis in North
Western Sicily a bull that shows typical clinical symptoms
related to bovine besnoitiosis and moreover, the serological
investigation of the herd, suspected of being infected by B
besnoiti
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In a 16 month old affected
bull, clinical status was evaluated both in acute and chronic
stage After slaughtering, samples of skin, conjunctiva, tongue,
and tendons were collected for histopathological examination
Furthermore, i n the bull and in the Limousine herd of 72
animals, serological investigation using ID Screen® Besnoitia
Indirect 2 0 ID vet was performed.
RESULT
The bull showed typical clinical signs of besnoitiosis
such as: high fever, diffuse oedema at the joints of limbs and
scrotum, hyperemia of muzzle and eyes, orchitis , thickening of
the nasal planum and wheezing. About 1 0 12 days later, skin
lesions ( hyperkeratosis, alopecia, dandruff and scab) appeared
(Figure 1).
At the 58th day after the beginning of the first signs, the animal
showed diffuse skin thickening, was emaciated and reluctant to
move. Histological examination showed multifocal coalescing
thick wall cysts surrounding parasitophorous vacuole containing
thousands of banana shaped bradyzoites all the collected
samples (Figure 2 3).
ELISA confirmed the seropositivity of the bull, moreover,
79,17% of the herd resulted positive (Tab 1)
CONCLUSION.
Finally, since all the animals were born in the
farm or were bought from nearby farms this case confirms the
presence of autochthonous B. besnoiti also in Sicily and may
contribute to a further epidemiological study in this area.
REFERENCES
[1] EFSA Journal, 2010, EFSA Journal 8: 1499-514
[2]Gutiérrez Expósito et al., 2017 Int J Parasitol . 47: 737 51
[3]A. Gentile et al., 2012 Vet Parasitol . 184: 108 15
[4]Di Marco et al., 2016 LXX SISVET. 430
