The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of Arcobacter spp. in food samples collected from Sicilia region. A total of 91 food products of animal origin (41 meat, 17 fresh milk, 18 shellfish) and 15 samples of fresh vegetables, were examined by cultural method and confirmed by biochemical analysis and PCR methods. The detection of Arcobacter spp. was performed, after selective enrichment, on two selective agar plates: Arcobacter agar and mCCD (modified charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate) agar supplemented with CAT (Cefoperazone, Amphotericin B and Teicoplanin). Arcobacter species were isolated using the membrane filtration technique. In 13 (14.3%) out of the 91 tested samples, the presence of Arcobacter spp. was found: the isolates were confirmed by multiplex PCR and identified as belonging to the species A. butzleri and A. cryaerophilus. The highest prevalence rate was observed in chicken meat (8.8%) followed by shellfish (3.3%). Negative results have been obtained for raw milks and vegetables samples. The preliminary study highlights the importance of this emerging pathogen and the need for further studies on its prevalence and distribution in different types of food for human consumption.

A case of staphylococcal food poisoning was observed in two individuals of the same family after consumption of primosale, a semiripened sheep cheese produced in Sicily. Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the cheese produced enterotoxin C (SEC) and carried both the enterotoxin C (sec) and the toxic shock syndrome toxin (tsst-1) gene. Following this case, an extensive survey was conducted on 971 food samples (raw milk, cheese, meat, and food preparations). S. aureus was detected in 102 of 971 food samples, from all types of food with the exception of ricotta cheese. The tsst-1 gene was present in 42% of the strains, either alone or in combination with other toxin genes. The enterotoxin C gene was the most represented enterotoxin, but it was only found in dairy products. Six S. aureus isolates carried the sea gene alone, two isolates carried both sea and seb, and one isolate carried both sea and sec. A significant percentage (46%) of all isolates carried a toxin gene, creating significant concern that virulent S. aureus can be transmitted through food in Sicily.

Two species of Rhinoestrus (i.e. Rhinoestrus purpureus (Brauer) and Rhinoestrus usbekistanicus Gan) cause nasal myiasis in horses, donkeys and zebras. In the past 15 years myiasis caused by R. purpureus has been reported in Egypt and by R. usbekistanicus in Senegal and Niger, both in horses and in donkeys. With the aim to investigate the presence of this myiasis in autochthonous horses and donkeys from southern Italy and to study the seasonal trend of larval infection, 212 native horses were necropsied in two slaughterhouses in the Apulia region (site A) from January to November 2003, and 120 native horses and two donkeys in one slaughterhouse in Sicily (site B) from January to October 2003. Thirteen of 212 and 5 of 120 horses examined from sites A and B, respectively, were infected by nasal bot fly larvae. Both donkeys examined were positive. Two hundred and thirteen larvae, representing all stages, were collected from the throat region, the turbinates and beyond the lamina cribrosa of the ethmoid bone, in the cerebral cavity. Third larval stages were retrieved from April to September with the highest mean burden in site A in May and in July in site B. The simultaneous presence all three larval stages at site B suggests the existence of two or more overlapping generations. Larvae were identified on the basis of peritreme structures and arrangement of the spines on the dorsal surface of the third segment. Some L3 collected from sites A and B presented morphological characteristics of both R. usbekistanicus and R. purpureus. The presence of mixed features on the L3 of Rhinoestrus collected from the same animals may be explained by the existence of a single species of Rhinoestrus presenting different morphotypes or of two species of Rhinoestrus which are both present in southern Italy since this area is midway between eastern and African countries where these two species have been reported.