The world is home to more than 1 billion pigs, which produce large quantities of feces. We know that some organisms in pig feces can cause human disease, and now we might have another to add to the list. Little is known about where the common intestinal parasite Dientamoeba fragilis comes from and how it is spread. However, recent molecular analysis confirmed that the organism found in pigs is indeed the same as the one found in humans. Therefore, pigs (or their feces) might be a source of this parasitic infection in humans.

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Microbiologia M e d i c a 321 INTRODUZIONE Dientamoeba fragilis, protozoo flagellato di recente rivalutazione (5), è attualmente una delle cause più frequenti di infezione intestinale umana protozoaria, quantomeno nei Paesi svi-luppati (8), Italia compresa (3). Nell'uomo tale flagellato atipico, di cui non si conosce la fase cistica ma soltanto lo stadio di trofozoite (9), è causa di disturbi intestinali non specifici, di diar-rea acuta e protratta, ma può altresì albergare l'intestino umano senza causare danno, quanto-meno apparente (2). La individuazione di tale protozoo necessita di un approccio diagnostico tempestivo, data la sua "fragilità" al di fuori del-l'ospite abituale (4), che prevede necessariamen-te colorazioni specifiche permanenti, quali la colorazione di Giemsa o altre, per la sua sicura identificazione (1). Non si conosce al momento altro ospite al di fuori dell'uomo per D. fragilis, sebbene sia stato ipotizzato potersi transitoriamente reperire anche in altri mammiferi, in particolare nel macaco, nel babbuino e nelle pecore (8, 10). La delicata e fragile vitalità di tale protozoo non aiuta a comprenderne le vie di trasmissione, seb-bene studi recenti sembrano individuare la pos-sibilità di una trasmissione da soggetto a sogget-to all'interno di uova di elminti, non soltanto strettamente umani come Enterobius vermicula-ris, ma anche elminti agenti di zoonosi o comun-que geoelminti come Ascaris spp. e Trichuris spp. (1, 6, 9). Da tali premesse è stato impostato uno studio per verificare il ruolo del suino quale potenziale ser-batoio di tali protozoi, sulla base della conside-razione che tali mammiferi, per certi versi molto affini all'uomo, albergano o possono albergare svariati agenti, batterici e parassitari, responsa-bili sovente di infezione intestinale umana. PRESENTAZIONE DELLO STUDIO Nel corso del 2006 sono stati raccolti 121 cam-pioni fecali suini, in parte di suini all'ingrasso ed in parte di suini riproduttori; tali campioni sono stati raccolti sia in allevamenti a ciclo chiuso sia in allevamenti a ciclo aperto; parte dei campioni provenivano dal suolo poco dopo la loro elimi-nazione e parte erano stati prelevati direttamente dall'ampolla rettale. Tutti i campioni sono stati quanto prima analizzati in laboratorio, utilizzan-do la colorazione permanente di Giemsa (solu-zione di Giemsa al 10% in acqua per 30 minuti) previa fissazione per 1-2 minuti in metanolo (3). La lettura è stata eseguita al microscopio ottico al 100x10 in immersione. Una parte dei campioni congelata a-80°C per future indagini biomolecolari, sia di conferma che di tipizzazione epidemiologica (7, 11). D. fragilis è stata reperita in 53 campioni fecali, pari al 43.8% dei casi; essa si presentava come DIENTAMOEBA FRAGILIS NEL SUINO Dientamoeba fragilis in swine population: a preliminary investigation SUMMARY Dientamoeba fragilis is a worldwide distributed protozoon which is now estimated responsible of enteric diseases in humans. A wide spectrum of intestinal symptoms has been described: diarrhoea (acute or prolonged), f...

Antibiotic use in food-producing animals has considerable impact on public health, especially with respect to the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. Pigs represent one of the main species in which antibiotics are frequently used for different purposes. Surveillance of antibiotic consumption and dose appropriateness, through novel approaches based on defined daily doses, is strongly needed to assess farms’ antibiotic risk, in terms of spread of antibiotic resistance and possibile presence of residues in meat. In this study, antibiotic consumption was monitored in 14 swine reproduction farms, together with managerial, structural, and health aspects. Most of the controlled farms (65%) were classified as at medium antibiotic risk, 21% at high antibiotic risk, and 14% at low antibiotic risk. Critical aspects of antibiotic administration concerned treatments for suckling and weaner piglets, oral antibiotic administration, treatment and diagnosis of gastroenteric infections, and use of critically important antimicrobials for human medicine, especially colistin. These aspects could be considered critical aspects of antibiotic use in from-farrow-to-wean/finish swine farms in the Umbria region and must be controlled to minimize risks. Even though a small number of farms in Umbria region are at high antibiotic risk, the risk of antibiotic resistance should be minimized, and management and biosecurity of the farms should be improved by extending the use of antimicrobial susceptibility tests and optimizing the diagnostic methods for infectious diseases. Furthermore, farmers’ and veterinarians’ knowledge of antibiotic resistance should be improved and the prudent use of antibiotics encouraged to prevent the development and spread of resistant microorganisms.

The aim of this paper was to provide a longitudinal evaluation of the effects of physical enrichments on the behaviour and physiology of intensive stock-farming pigs. Twenty-eight crossbred pigs of both sexes, were exposed to four types of enrichments (hemp ropes, steel chains, plastic balls, rubber hoses) over a period of eleven weeks. This investigation was based on specific abnormal behaviours and physiological indicators, including hematologic parameters. For behavioural score, focal sampling was used with recording of abnormal behaviours (body-, tail-and ear-biting), belly nosing, running, and interaction with objects (for Enriched pigs). The presence of skin injuries was also recorded. In general, the frequency of abnormal behaviours was significantly reduced in the Enriched group. A timerelated profile appeared in the use of the enrichments. Males showed higher occurrence of skin injuries than females. Physiological measurements, such as levels of complement system, white blood cells and neutrophils, were lower in pigs from the Enriched group.Enriched pigs, as a whole, presented much lower levels of serum DHEA-S concentration over two weeks. The findings of this study show the successful provision of appropriate enrichments to encourage behaviours which may result in satisfactory animal oral interaction with the enriching objects, preventing them biting pen-mates. In this respect, the objects proposed were strongly effective in producing changes in behaviour which could mitigate inadequate conditions, such as the relationship between animal body weight and the available space allowance.