Ricerc@Sapienza

Trichuris is one of the most important parasitic helminths in public health worldwide, an estimated 800 million people are infected with whipworms, and since it is also reported in non-human primates (NHP) it becomes necessary to distinguish and determine the Trichuris species circulating in human and NHP, and thus, to infer the potential risk of zoonotic transmission involving NHP. This project aims to explore the taxonomy, genetic variation, and evolutionary relationships of Trichuris infecting captive Macaca fuscata living in the zoological garden of Rome Bioparco and wild animals refugia. Starting from adult Trichuris specimens already collected during necropsies of captive M. fuscata, the objectives of this study will be i) to evaluate morphological/morphometric variation in adults Trichuris spp., ii) to characterize Trichuris spp. at molecular level and iii) to estimate genetic diversity, network analyses, and evolutionary relationships of Trichuris spp., in order to infer possible intra and interspecific transmission pathways, and to assess the related zoonotic potential.