The wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) is a migratory species in the western Mediterranean wintering in the Gulf of Guinea region, West Africa. In autumn and spring, this species, along with the populations breeding in Ireland and Britain, uses the Italian peninsula as its main axis of migration. From the data of captured birds at several ringing stations in the western Mediterranean (Balea...

The ability to discriminate all species is the ultimate target in barcoding. The Mediterranean basin is a center of origin for legumes and thus they have played a key role in feeding the Mediterranean population. It is also a region with important protected designation of origin and protected geographical indication legumes that provide income in rural areas. We evaluated the use of two ch...

Previous genetic analyses have demonstrated that two phonic types of one of the most common European bats, the Common pipistrelle, belong to distinct species, although they are almost identical morphologically (45 kHz Pipistrellus pipistrellus and 55 kHz Pipistrellus pygmaeus). To reconstruct the history of the species complex and explain the codistribution of both forms in Europe and the Medit...

The presence of the pathogenic protist Labyrinthula sp., the causative agent of seagrass wasting disease and mass mortality events, was assessed in 18 seagrass meadows in the Balearic region (western Mediterranean). This protist was found in 70% of seagrass meadows investigated and in all seagrass species present in the region (i.e., Posidonia oceanica, Cymodocea nodosa, and Zostera noltii). La...

[1] In this study, seasonal and interannual variability of the main atmospheric moisture sources over eight regions in the Mediterranean basin were investigated along a 21 year period. The Lagrangian dispersion model FLEXPART, developed by Stohl and James [2004, 2005], was applied to identify the contribution of humidity to the moisture budget of each region. This methodology is used to compute...

In October 2016, the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean Region granted me the great honour of being nominated to be the new Regional Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (1). In January 2017, the WHO Executive Board endorsed the Regional Committee recommendation and confirmed my appointment for a five-year period beginning 1 February 2017 (2). I have begun my new role...

The incidence of ESBL-producing bacteria is increasing worldwide, which represents a challenge for the healthcare systems. More recently, the emergence of the CTX-M group has been frequently reported as being associated with both nosocomial and community acquired infections. CTX-M-15 was identified as being the most prevalent in a large geographic area including Europe and the Middle East, sugg...

Executive summary The aim of this technical paper is to assist the Member States in acquiring a perspective of health system priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, identify the current challenges and carve out appropriate strategies. A fundamental theme that underlies health system priority-setting in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is the primary health care approach and the reiterat...

Gelatinous zooplankton outbreaks have increased globally owing to a number of human-mediated factors, including food web alterations and species introductions. The invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi entered the Black Sea in the early 1980s. The invasion was followed by the Azov, Caspian, Baltic and North Seas, and, most recently, the Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies identified two distinc...

Background Determinants of health or health production function in health economics literature constitute noticeable issues in health promotion. This study aimed at estimating a health production function for East Mediterranean Region (EMR) based on the Grossman theoretical model.   Methods This ecological study was performed using the econometric methods. The panel data model was used in order...