Incidence of Ocular Zoonoses referred to the Inflammatory and Autoimmune Ocular Diseases Service of the University of Parma - Italy

118 I In nt te er rn na at ti io on na al l J Jo ou ur rn na al l o of f M Me ed di ic ca al l S Sc ci ie en nc ce es s Parma is a city located in the western part of the region Emilia Romagna (Figure 1), about 100 km far from Milan. The province of Parma is approximately 3.445 km 2 wide. The mountains of the Appennine range divide Parma Province from Tuscany and from Ligury, and Po river flows through its territory. The territory of Parma Province presents two types of environment: mountains with woods in the South and floody plains in the North. The Po river runs through a fertile plain where world famous food and wines are produced. Green is undoubtedly one of the dominant colours in the territory of Parma and a series of Nature Reserves in the province of Parma as well as parks, wildlife sanctuaries, state forests are all protected areas. The total population is about 420.000 residents. The principal activities include the raising of farm animals and the transformation of raw products into food (cheese, meat, cured meats, etc). Indeed, the province of Parma is known also as " the food valley ". The characteristics of the environment, the presence of woods and the habit of consuming sausages and raw meat make Parma Province an endemic area for both arthropod-and food-borne zoonoses. Approximately 20% of cases of zoonotic disease in Italy are reported from the Emilia Romagna Region. In Europe there is no obligation to register Lyme cases and therefore the real incidence of Lyme disease is unknown. In Italy, Lyme disease has been subject to mandatory notification since 1990, but there is likely an underestimation of the real prevalence. There are 400-900 new cases/year in Italy and Emilia Romagna is an endemic area with 831 new cases from 1996 to 2007. The global incidence of toxoplasmosis is extremely variable: from 3% to 70% of adults are sero-positive for Toxoplasma. Climate, hygienic conditions and eating habits are all responsible for this variability. The eating of raw meat, such as " carpaccio " , Parma's ham, sausages, and pork increases the incidence of toxoplasmosis. The Inflammatory and Autoimmune Ocular Diseases Service of Parma University Hospital is a reference Centre for the Parma area. Therefore, almost all cases of infectious diseases with …