Monitoring Campaign over an Edible Dormouse Population (<i>Glis glis</i>; Rodentia: Gliridae) in Sicily: First Report of Mesocestodiasis
2021
Giorgia Schirò | Domenico Pieri | Mario Lo Valvo | Luigi Gradoni | Simone Mario Cacciò | Francesco Severini | Gianluca Marucci | Lucia Galuppo | Valentina Cumbo | Roberto Puleio | Guido Ruggero Loria
This study reports on the health status of the edible dormouse (<i>Glis glis</i>) living in Nebrodi Park (Sicily, Italy), responsible for nut crop damage in the area. In the frame of a monitoring campaign for potential zoonotic risk involving 30 dormice, rectal and conjunctival swabs and fur and nest content were collected for bacteriological and parasitological examinations, respectively. A large presence of fleas belonging to <i>Monopsyllus sciurorum</i> was found. Necropsy of a dead dormouse revealed an infection of <i>Mesocestoides lineatus</i>, whose cysts were found in the abdomen cavity and on the liver; this is the first report of this in this species. Further studies are necessary to identify their role in the environment, considering the limited knowledge of this species in Italy.
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