Vector-borne diseases have a worldwide distribution and have a significant impact both on human health (some are important and severe zoonoses) and on the health status of pet animals and livestock. Their are of great interest and topic for animal health and public health both in temperate climate countries and in (sub-) tropical countries. The study of the complex mechanisms underlying the ecology and epidemiology of these diseases is an important prerequisite for the implementation of surveillance and control strategies. The objective of the research line is to assess health problems in animals and humans by studying the spatio-temporal distribution of vector arthropods and transmitted pathogens, the role of wild animals in the maintenance and transmission of micro-organisms, the effect of environmental factors on biological cycles, the usefulness of pets as sentinel of infection in humans by certain zoonotic agents. Molecular biology techniques are employed for pathogen research, phylogenetic analyses, application of statistical, mathematical and computational models, and space-time analysis. Pathogens transmitted by ticks (Borrelia spp., Rickettsiales, TBEV..), mosquitoes (WNV), Culicoides (BTV), fleas (Bartonella spp.) are investigated.

• Accordo di collaborazione per studi e ricerche riguardanti l'espansione geografica di zecche Ixodidae e di agenti patogeni trasmessi da zecche tra Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Cozie e Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie dell’Università degli Studi di Torino (2016-2022)
• Accordo di collaborazione per studi e ricerche riguardanti l'espansione geografica di zecche Ixodidae e di agenti patogeni trasmessi da zecche tra Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette del Po Torinese e Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie dell’Università degli Studi di Torino (2018-2020)
• Ricerca corrente IZS PLV anno 2016 (cod. Ministeriale: 15/16 RC): "Infezioni trasmesse da zecche e zanzare e "One Health": network interdisciplinare a tutela della Salute Pubblica”
• Progetto CRT IZS PLV anno 2018: “Patogeni trasmessi da zecche in Piemonte: quali rischi per la popolazione”
• Ricerca corrente IZS PLV anno 2011 (cod. Ministeriale: 04/11 RC): "Possibile introduzione di insetti vettori esotici in Italia: monitoraggio entomologico come strumento di prevenzione".

• Garcia-Vozmediano A., Krawczyk AI., Sprong H., Rossi L., Ramassa E., Tomassone L. - Ticks climb the mountains: Ixodid tick infestation and infection by tick-borne pathogens in the Western Alps - 2020 Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 11 (5); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101489
• Martello E., Mannelli A., Grego E., Ceballos LA., Ragagli C., Stella MC., Tomassone L. - Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and spotted fever group rickettsiae in small rodents and attached ticks in the Northern Apennines, Italy - 2019 Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 10(4):862-867. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.04.005.
• Tomassone L., Ceballos LA., Ragagli C., Martello E., De Sousa R., Stella MC., Mannelli A. - Importance of common wall lizards in the transmission dynamics of tick-borne pathogens in the Northern Apennine Mountains, Italy - Microb Ecol. 2017, 74(4):961-968. doi: 10.1007/s00248-017-0994-y.
• Tomassone L., D. De Meneghi, H. Adakal, P. Rodighiero, G. Pressi, E. Grego - Detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Rickettsia africae in ixodid ticks from Burkina Faso and Somali Region of Ethiopia by new real-time PCR assays - 2016 Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 7(6):1082-1088. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.09.005
• Llopis IV., Rossi L., Di Gennaro A., Mosca A., Teodori L., Tomassone L., Grego E., Monaco F., Lorusso A., Savini G. - Further circulation of West Nile and Usutu viruses in wild birds in Italy - 2015 Infect Genet Evol. 32:292-7. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.03.024.
• Grego E., Sossella M., Bisanzio D., Stella MC., Giordana G., Pignata L., Tomassone L. - Wild ungulates as sentinel of BTV-8 infection in piedmont areas - 2014 Vet Microbiol. 174(1-2): 93-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.09.015.
• Donal Bisanzio; Mario Giacobini; Luigi Bertolotti; Andrea Mosca; Luca Balbo; Uriel Kitron; Gonzalo M Vazquez Prokopec - Spatio-temporal patterns of distribution of West Nile virus vectors in eastern Piedmont Region, Italy - PARASITES & VECTORS (2011) 4:230: 1-11, DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-230
• Roberto Rosa;Giovanni Marini;Luca Bolzoni;Markus Neteler;Markus Metz;Luca Delucchi;Elizabeth A Chadwick;Luca Balbo;Andrea Mosca;Mario Giacobini;Luigi Bertolotti;Annapaola Rizzoli - Early warning of West Nile virus mosquito vector: climate and land use models successfully explain phenology and abundance of Culex pipiens mosquitoes in north-western Italy - PARASITES & VECTORS (2014) 7: 269, DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-7-269
• Grisenti M;Arnoldi D;Rizzolli F;Giacobini M;Bertolotti L;Rizzoli A. - Lack of identification of Flaviviruses in oral and cloacal swabs from long- and short-distance migratory birds in Trentino-Alto Adige (North-eastern Italy) - VIROLOGY JOURNAL (2013) 10: 1-9, DOI: 10.1186/1743-422X-10-306
• Cerutti F; Giacobini M; Mosca A; Grasso I; Rambozzi L; Rossi L; Bertolotti L. - Evidence of mosquito-transmitted flavivirus circulation in Piedmont, north-western Italy - PARASITES & VECTORS (2012) 22: 99-99, DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-99

• Dr. Elisa Ramassa - Ente di Gestione dei Parchi delle Alpi Cozie
• Dr. Fabrizio Nobili - Ente di Gestione delle Aree protette del Po Torinese
• Dr. Cristina Casalone - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte Liguria e Valle d'Aosta
• Dr. Annapaola Rizzoli - Fondazione Edmund Mach