Background

The circulation of West Nile virus and Usutu virus was detected in the Emilia-Romagna region in 2008 and 2009. To evaluate the extent of circulation of both viruses, environmental surveillance, based on bird and mosquito testing, was conducted in 2008 and gradually improved over the years.

Methods

In February–March 2009–2011, 5,993 hibernating mosquitoes were manually sampled, out of which 80.1% were Culex pipiens; none tested positive for the viruses. From 2008 to 2011, 946,213 mosquitoes, sampled between May and October, were tested; 86.5% were Cx. pipiens. West Nile virus was detected in 32 Cx. pipiens pools, and Usutu virus was detected in 229 mosquito pools (217 Cx. pipiens, 10 Aedes albopictus, one Anopheles maculipennis s.l., and one Aedes caspius). From 2009 to 2011, of 4,546 birds collected, 42 tested positive for West Nile virus and 48 for Usutu virus. West Nile virus and Usutu virus showed different patterns of activity during the 2008–2011 surveillance period. West Nile virus was detected in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but not in 2011. Usutu virus, however, was continuously active throughout 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Conclusions

The data strongly suggest that both viruses overwinter in the surveyed area rather than being continually reintroduced every season. The lack of hibernating mosquitoes testing positive for the viruses and the presence of positive birds sampled early in the season support the hypothesis that the viruses overwinter in birds rather than in mosquitoes. Herd immunity in key bird species could explain the decline of West Nile virus observed in 2011, while the persistence of Usutu virus may be explained by not yet identified reservoirs. Reported results are comparable with a peri-Mediterranean circulation of the West Nile virus lineage 1 related strain, which became undetectable in the environment after two to three years of obvious circulation.

The project focuses on two main topics:
1 - the use of pollinators to carry to the target crop
flowers beneficial microorganisms that act as an-
tagonists of plant pathogens that penetrate through
the flowers;
2 - the improvement of the pollination of organic hor-
ticultural and fruit crops.
The Italian working group, Agen.Ter., is the leader
partner of the Work Package on the study of Landscape
Management initiatives to support pollination and Bene-
ficial Control Agents (BCA) dissemination. The main
objectives are to determine the impact of pres-
ence/absence of key ecological infrastructures (pollen
and nectar food, nesting sites) on the colonisation effi-
cacy of managed solitary bees in the target crop system,
as well as their impact on the abundance of wild pollina-
tors; establish the role of vegetation management using
‘push-pull’ strategy on enhancing managed and wild
pollinator activity in strawberry fields; assess the bene-
fits to fruit pollination of managing solitary bee popula-
tions.
In 2012 two studies were carried out: the first study
focused on the efficacy of the efficient pear pollinator
Osmia cornuta (Hymenoptera Megachilidae) in carrying
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a preliminary step necessary
to develop a pollinator-mediated biocontrol programme
against Erwinia amylovora on pear; the second study
focused on the efficacy of Apis mellifera to protect or-
ganic strawberry cultivation from its most important
disease, the grey mould, Botrytis cinerea, dispersing its
antagonist Gliocladium catenulatum.

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Catalogo della mostra itinerante AQUAE realizzato con il patrocinio dell’Istituto per i beni culturali della Regione Emilia-Romagna.

La guida ripropone i diversi punti nodali del percorso espositivo itinerante curato dal Consorzio della Bonifica Burana e dal Museo Archeologico Ambientale di San Giovanni in Persiceto (Bologna), arricchendoli di alcuni approfondimenti che un tema così complesso e suscettibile di molteplici chiavi di lettura, come quello del governo delle acque, richiede.
Il volume approfondisce la storia delle acque nel territorio santagatese dall'età del Bronzo ad oggi. Particolare attenzione è volta all'organizzazione del territorio dalle origini, attraverso i dati forniti dalle fonti archeologiche, fino all'evoluzione nel governo e gestione delle acque/bonifiche dei giorni nostri. La pubblicazione si conclude con il ruolo e i compiti del Consorzio di Bonifica Burana oggi.

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