| Summary: | Pulmonary protostrongylosis in a mountain hare from north-eastern Italy. Diffuse nodular lesions ofverminous pneumonia, affecting approximately 20% of parenchyma, were observed in an adult male mountain hare(Lepus timidus L.), shot on the slopes of Mount Civetta (Eastern Alps), Veneto, north-eastern Italy. Adult helminthswere collected and male specimens identified as Protostrongylus pulmonalis. Histologically, the most relevant features of the affected area were nodules with interstitial pneumonia. This is the first recorded case of protostrongylosisin italian mountain hares and from an alpine population. Further investigations, in terms of prevalence estimation and extension of lesions in the affected individuals could be an additional tool in assessing whether micro- or macro-parasites could be involved in the decline of the alpine population of mountain hare.[.]
|
|---|