Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, USAMV Cluj-Napoca

21/11/2022

18/07/2022

20/05/2022

Le dorim astazi succes studentilor nostri care isi prezinta rezultatele cercetarilor in cadrul simpozionului studentesc. Ioana Mitrea, Miruna Matei, Alexandru Felea, Rabei Stefan, Andrada-Silvia Carstolovean.

💙💚👩‍🎓 Start Simpozionul Studențesc 2022, ediția a XX-a!
💙💚👩‍🎓 Mult succes studenților participanți la ediția din acest an, care se desfășoară pe tot parcursul zilei de vineri, 20 mai, în campusul nostru.
💙💚👩‍🎓 Tot vineri, la Institutul pentru Științele Vieții ”Regele Mihai I al României”, va avea loc runda de alegeri pentru desemnarea Prefectului studenților. Candidați: Ștefan Florin Bonchiș, student Facultatea de Agricultura USAMV Cluj-Napoca, și Adrian Bogdan Boldianu, student Facultatea de Medicină Veterinară.
Mult succes! 💙💚👩‍🎓🙂👏🧑‍🏫

14/05/2022

Two top-level guest next week in our Department. All lectures are open to all veterinary students, PhD students and interns.

22/04/2022

We love ticks! Ticks bring us joy!

There are 7 days left to register and submit an abstract to the
10th Tick and Tick-Borne Pathogen Conference to take place between 29 August and 2 September 2022 in Murighiol, Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Romania.

To register: https://form.jotform.com/213562039907357

To submit your abstract: https://form.jotform.com/213561983212353

All info on our official website: www.zooparaz.net/ttp10

Highlights and quick links:
Preliminary program: http://www.zooparaz.net/ttp10/program.html

An exceptional list of plenary and keynote speakers:
http://www.zooparaz.net/ttp10/keynote.html

State-of-the-art symposia:
http://www.zooparaz.net/ttp10/symposia.html

Amazing nature and birding opportunities:
http://www.zooparaz.net/ttp10/birdwatching.html

06/04/2022

Thrilled to announce that we opened the call for applications to the Field Parasitology Summer School, Chilia Veche, Danube Delta. The summer school will take place between 13 and 21 July 2022.

This is a unique experience in one of the most well-preserved and pristine wilderness of Europe, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.

We expect applications from undergraduate or postgraduate students with a background in veterinary medicine, biology, ecology and related fields.

More information here:
http://zooparaz.net/fieldparasitology

To register, fill-in this form not later than 31 May 2022:
https://form.jotform.com/220793294910358

The faster you apply, the more chances to be selected, as we have only a very limited number of places available:

22/03/2022

On Feb. 11, the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) presented Bowman with a lifetime achievement award at a virtual ceremony — honoring him for outstanding achievements in the field of parasitology and recognizing his vast contributions to veterinary research and education.

Dr. Dwight Bowman has dedicated his life to helping companion animals by to studying the parasites and diseases that affect them. A professor of parasitology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, his influence extends far beyond the Ithaca campus. On Feb. 11, the Companion Animal Parasit...

09/03/2022

We are proud that Oana Balmoș, PhD student in our Department is one of the three winners of the three most-liked videos submitted to The ONE Conference video contest!

The award ceremony will take place on June 21, and the winners will have the opportunity to deliver their live pitch to the conference audience.

Congratulations Oana!

https://www.one2022.eu/multimedia/youtube-video-contest

Youtube Video Contest The ONE Conference video contest is now closed. The videos of the abstract authors are available below and on EFSA’s YouTube channel. The authors of the three most-liked videos are Martina Rega, Oana-Maria Balmos and Fernando Rivero Pino. The award ceremony will take place on...

08/03/2022

Happy International Women's Day! We of course hope that you enjoy this comic about the hermaphroditic Fasciola hepatica

21/02/2022

Our department started a new project in Northern Africa. At this time, our PhD student Noureddine Mechouk and Dr. Georgiana Deak are in the field, collecting samples at a dog shelter, Algeria Billy for Compassion, Humanity and Empathy - BCHE

The study is part of a larger project aiming to understand the diversity of lungworms and vector-borne pathogens in domestic and wild carnivores from Algeria.

18/02/2022

The Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases is looking for volunteers for a conservation medicine project to be implemented in Galapagos Islands during the summer of 2022 (estimated mid-July to mid-September).

Project title: Dirofilaria immitis: yet another threat for the endangered Galápagos sea lion?

Application form: https://form.jotform.com/220300894820348

Description:

Volunteers are expected to assist our researchers and actively participate in the sample collection in the field. The expected duration of the stay in Galapagos is ca. 2 months. The main activities and duties we expect from the volunteers are:
- collection of blood from dogs, setting up mosquito traps around sea lion colonies and around human settlements, basic laboratory processing of samples
_ there will be plenty of free time available when volunteers can enjoy the unique landscapes, fauna and flora or this amazing place. Other activities available which could be organized in the free time include: snorkelling, scuba diving, trekking etc.
- two volunteers will be selected

Costs:
- the volunteers should cover all their costs for the travel and during the stay (international and domestic flights, local transportation, accommodation, insurance, visa, meals etc.)
additionally, volunteers will pay a participation fee of 600 EUR. This must be paid soon after the candidate is selected, as a confirmation for the participation. In the case of cancellation by the selected participant, this fee will not be refunded (except force majeur)

Selection criteria:
- excellent/very good level or Spanish ( mandatory )
- very good/good level of English
- motivation letter
- basic veterinary skills are required

Additional details:
- the application form must be submitted not later than 20 March 2022
- selection results will be published not later than 31 March 2022.

For any further questions you might have, please contact Prof. Andrei Daniel Mihalca, DVM, Dipl ECZM (amihalca@usamvcluj.ro)

17/02/2022

Today it is about PARASTES OF PARASITES!

A special case of parasitism—and even more understudied—is hyperparasitism, the phenomenon of parasites exploiting other parasite species.

Here, we studied traits that may influence the presence and prevalence of Laboulbeniales fungi on nycteribiid flies in southeastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania). Traits studied included bat roosting habits, fly intensity on a given bat, fly population dynamics, and host specificity. We analyzed a dataset of bat flies collected from different bat species and diverse bat-roost environments and over different seasons (pre- and post-breeding).

Read the full paper here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.795020/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Ecology_and_Evolution&id=795020

The tritrophic association of bats, bat flies, and Laboulbeniales microfungi is a remarkably understudied system that may reveal patterns applicable to community ecology theory of (hyper)parasites. Laboulbeniales are biotrophic microfungi, exclusively associated with arthropods, with several species...

16/02/2022

Another study with the involvement of people from our department. Congratulations!

Rickettsiaceae in two reptile-associated tick species, Amblyomma exornatum and Africaniella transversale: First evidence of Occidentia massiliensis in hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

These results show that A. transversale might carry O. massiliensis which (unless having a symbiotic nature in ticks) may originate either from the reptile host of this hard tick species or the rodent prey of reptiles. This is also the first detection of the reptile tick-associated Rickettsia sp. Ae-8 (phylogenetically aligning with R. tamurae, R. monacensis) in Africa, i.e. within the original geographical range of A. exornatum.

Read the full paper here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X21001837

All species of hard ticks associated with reptiles as hosts throughout their life cycle, are currently assigned to genera including Amblyomma and Afri…

15/02/2022

Another study with the involvement of people from our department. Congratulations!

Investigation on haplotypes of ixodid ticks and retrospective finding of Borrelia miyamotoi in bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in Switzerland

From Switzerland, this is the first report of tick haplotypes that are phylogenetically closely related to I. inopinatus. However, based on their morphology, both specimens are considered as I. ricinus. These results highlight the importance that the identification of I. inopinatus should be based on coherent morphologic and molecular properties. This is also the first report of rodent-borne B. miyamotoi in Switzerland. Taking into account the year of collection (2005), in a chronological order this might be the first indication of B. miyamotoi in any rodent species in Europe.

Read the full paper here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X21002181

09/02/2022

Pe vremea când eram în lockdown, ne-am gândit să facem un chestionar. Ne-am întrebat dacă acest lockdown, prin restricționarea mișcării oamenilor, a influențat în vreun fel riscul de contactare a căpușelor.

Pentru cine este curios de rezultate, articolul este disponibil mai jos.

Read the full paper here:
https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-021-04944-7

08/02/2022

The Presence of Ehrlichia Canis in Rhipicephalus Bursa Ticks Collected from Ungulates in Continental Eastern Europe

This study addressed the knowledge gap and aimed to screen for the presence of Anaplasmataceae and spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia species in R. bursa ticks collected from domestic animals in Romania, Eastern Europe

Read the full paper here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8643095/

07/02/2022

Un eveniment dedicat problemelor medicale ale unei rase foarte indragite, organizat de colegele noastre Mira Dumitrache Adriana Györke si Viorica Mircean cu sprijinul USAMV Cluj-Napoca Cluj.

04/02/2022

Have you ever wondered how many blood donors from Romania have antibodies against the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi?

Find out in our new paper below

Read the full paper here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8645117/