title: Besnoitia besnoiti among cattle in insular and northwestern Italy: endemic infection or isolated outbreaks?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bovine besnoitiosis, caused by the apicomplexan Besnoitia besnoiti, is a chronic and debilitating disease considered as emerging in Europe. In Spain, Portugal and France it is endemic and foci of infection were recorded in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece and Italy. In Italy, cases of bovine besnoitiosis were registered both in imported and autochthonous cattle, and mostly in central regions; high seroprevalence was also revealed by an epidemiological survey performed in the southern part of the country. Aiming to update information on the disease in northwestern and insular areas of Italy, where data on bovine besnoitiosis were missing, a serosurvey was designed for the present study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three thousand one hundred and forty bovine blood samples from both dairy and beef farms (n = 126) were collected in northwestern regions (Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria) and in the island of Sardinia. Samples were analyzed by a standardized in-house ELISA and those resulted positive were re-tested by Western Blot (WB) for confirmation. On results obtained by both ELISA and WB, apparent (AP) and true prevalence (TP) were calculated at individual and herd levels. Further, a panel of sera resulted positive to ELISA was analyzed by IFAT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 712 animals (AP = 22.7%; TP = 18.8%) and 109 farms (AP = 86.5%; TP = 88.2%) showed a positive reaction in ELISA. Only ten (AP = 0.3%; TP = 0%) specimens proceeding from five farms (AP = 3.9%; TP = 1.7%) from Lombardy were confirmed positive to the WB, corresponding to two Holstein Friesian cows and eight beef cattle. IFAT showed a low sensitivity (44.4%) scoring positive in only four samples out of 9 positive to WB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The survey demonstrated that bovine besnoitiosis cannot still be considered endemic in whole Italy. In fact, independent foci of infection were registered only in Lombardy region. Therefore, a sanitary strategy aimed to increase control measures and to organize monitoring plans, by adequate diagnostic tools is necessary to avoid overestimation of B. besnoiti in Italy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. alessia.gazzonis@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Alessia L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gazzonis
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. gemaga@vet.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Gema
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alvarez Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. sergio.zanzani@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Sergio A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Zanzani
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy. garippa@uniss.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garippa
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. luca.rossi@unito.it.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. marco.maggiora@unito.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maggiora
authors.affiliation: Health Veterinary Service, A.S.L. Savonese 2, Savona, Italy. v.dini@asl2.liguria.it.
authors.forename: Valter
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dini
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Milan, Italy. anna.invernizzi@izsler.it.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Invernizzi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Lodi, Italy. mariovittorio.luini@izsler.it.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luini
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Bergamo, Italy. vito.tranquillo@izsler.it.
authors.forename: Vito M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Tranquillo
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. luisucm@vet.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ortega Mora
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. mariateresa.manfredi@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Manfredi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D021745:Sarcocystidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan