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Animal Health Trust |
Interim Report – December 2011 #2 (3.12.11)
ITALY
Dourine (Trypanosoma equiperdum)
On 2nd December 2011 the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute (IZS) of Giuseppe Caporale, Teramo provided the following update (English translation available on their website at http://www.izs.it/IZS/Engine/RAServePG.php/P/331710010101/C/0).
On 25th November 2011 a new outbreak of Dourine was confirmed in Bari Province (Puglia). The affected horse is a mare that was positive to dourine on complement fixation (CF) serological test and PCR. An epidemiological investigation is ongoing.
To date there have been seven outbreaks confirmed in Italy in 2011. The first case was a stallion that had been subject to routine pre-breeding serological tests on 19th May 2011, in the Province of Catania. Epidemiological investigations were carried out after this positive result and two affected farms, one in Catania Province and one in Naples Province, were found to be epidemiologically linked. Overall 10 animals were found to be positive for Trypanosoma equiperdum by CF test with three of them showing clinical signs. On 5th July 2011 another outbreak was confirmed in Caserta Province (Table 1).
Table 1: Summary of dourine outbreaks in Italy in 2011 showing a total of 7 outbreaks involving 168 horses of which 20 were positive for Trypanosoma equiperdum and of these 5 showed clinical signs
Figure 1: Maps showing geographical distribution of dourine outbreaks in Italy in 2011
(Note: In Catania province, Sicily there are two outbreaks located a short distance apart)
Results of serological tests conducted throughout Italy in 2011 are reported in Table 2 with dourine cases only confirmed in Sicily, Campania and Puglia Region.
Table 1: Summary of dourine serological testing in Italy in 2011
Regards
International Collating Centre