0000000001178529
AUTHOR
S. Vullo
Surveillance of bovine tuberculosis in Sicily
Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) by M. bovis is a chronic infectious disease of cattle that can represent a risk to human health. bTB European Eradication Plans are based on tuberculin testing and slaughtering of reactive subjects. Despite control measures have been applied in Italy since 1964, illness is still present in Sicily. On 2012, regional official data reported an herd infection prevalence of 3.09% and an herd incidence of 2.37%. In the same year, head prevalence was of 0.70%. This study has analyzed the results of the control activity performed on cattle farm in Sicily between 2009-2012, with the aim to evaluate the bTB prevalence and incidence.
Co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Gamma variants in Italy, February and March 2021
Background Several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have emerged through 2020 and 2021. There is need for tools to estimate the relative transmissibility of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 with respect to circulating strains. Aim We aimed to assess the prevalence of co-circulating VOC in Italy and estimate their relative transmissibility. Methods We conducted two genomic surveillance surveys on 18 February and 18 March 2021 across the whole Italian territory covering 3,243 clinical samples and developed a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of co-circulating strains. Results The Alpha variant was already dominant on 18 February in a majority of regions/autonomous provinces (…