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First cross-sectional serological survey on Besnoitia besnoiti in cattle in Italy

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Abstract

A cross-sectional serological survey was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of besnoitiosis in cattle farms located in a region of southern Italy. A geographical information system (GIS) was used in order to uniformly sample the bovine farms (n = 88) throughout the entire region. Blood samples were collected from 528 autochthonous cattle and sera were tested for antibodies to Besnoitia besnoiti using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. The farm prevalence was 83.0 % (73/88), and the individual animal prevalence was 44.1 % (233/528). The availability of geo-referenced point or areal data on bovine besnoitiosis and the construction of prevalence maps by GIS are suggested for dissemination of information to veterinarians on this emerging infection in cattle.

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Conflict of interest

None of the authors of this paper has a financial or personal relationship with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, CREMOPAR Regione Campania, Via Della Veterinaria 1, 80137, Naples, Italy

    Laura Rinaldi, Maria Paola Maurelli, Antonio Bosco & Giuseppe Cringoli

  2. Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro Magna Graecia, Viale Europa, 88100, Catanzaro, Italy

    Vincenzo Musella

  3. Laboratório de Parasitologia Victor Caeiro, Núcleo da Mitra, ICAAM, Universidade de Évora, Apartado 94, 7000-554, Évora, Portugal

    Helder Cortes

Authors
  1. Laura Rinaldi
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  2. Maria Paola Maurelli
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  3. Vincenzo Musella
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  4. Antonio Bosco
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  5. Helder Cortes
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  6. Giuseppe Cringoli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giuseppe Cringoli.

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Rinaldi, L., Maurelli, M.P., Musella, V. et al. First cross-sectional serological survey on Besnoitia besnoiti in cattle in Italy. Parasitol Res 112, 1805–1807 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3241-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3241-y

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