Obesity is one of the most prevalent health problems in the canine population. While haemostatic parameters and markers of endothelial function have been evaluated in various disease conditions in dogs, there are no studies of these markers in canine obesity. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of naturally gained weight excess and obesity on inflammatory, hemostatic and endothelial biomarkers in dogs. A total of 37 overweight and obese dogs were compared with 28 normal weight dogs. Overweight and obese dogs had significantly elevated concentrations of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Number of platelets, activity of factor X and factor VII were significantly higher, while activated partial thromboplastine time (aPTT) and soluble plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) were significantly decreased. Statistical analysis of high mobility group box – 1 protein (HMGB-1), soluble intercellular adhesive molecule -1 (sICAM-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) concentrations did not show significant differences between the total overweight and obese group and the normal weight group of dogs. Analytical changes in the dogs in our study reflects that weight excess in dogs can be associated with a chronic low degree of inflammation and a hypercoagulable state, where primary and secondary hemostasis are both affected. However obesity is not associated with impairment of endothelial function in dogs.

Noble pen shells (Pinna nobilis) along the Eastern Adriatic coast were affected by mass mortalities similarly to the populations across the Mediterranean basin. Samples of live animals and organs originating from sites on Mljet Island on the south and the Istrian peninsula on the north of the Croatian Adriatic coast were analyzed using histology and molecular techniques to detect the presence of the previously described Haplosporidium pinnae and Mycobacterium spp. as possible causes of these mortalities. To obtain more information on the pattern of the spread of the mortalities, a study was undertaken in Mljet National Park, an area with a dense population of noble pen shells. The results of the diagnostic analysis and the velocity of the spread of the mortalities showed a significant correlation between increases in water temperature and the onset of mortality. Moderate to heavy lesions of the digestive glands were observed in specimens infected with H. pinnae. A phylogenetic analysis of the detected Haplosporidium pinnae showed an identity of 99.7 to 99.8% with isolates from other Mediterranean areas, while isolated Mycobacterium spp. showed a higher heterogeneity among isolates across the Mediterranean. The presence of Mycobacterium spp. in clinically healthy animals a few months before the onset of mortality imposes the need for further clarification of its role in mortality events.

Rotaviruses (RV), especially Rotavirus A (RVA), are globally recognized as pathogens causing neonatal diarrhea, but they also affect intensive animal farming. However, the knowledge on their significance in wildlife is rather limited. The aim of the study was to unveil the prevalence, molecular epidemiology, and genetic diversity of RVA strains circulating in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in Croatia. From 2018 to 2019, 370 fecal samples from fox carcasses hunted for rabies monitoring were collected. All samples were first tested using a VP2 real-time RT-PCR; in the subsequent course, positives were subjected to VP7 and VP4 genotyping. The results revealed an RVA prevalence of 14.9%, while the circulating RVA strains showed a remarkable genetic diversity in terms of 11 G and nine P genotypes, among which one G and three P were tentatively identified as novel. In total, eight genotype combinations were detected: G8P[14], G9P[3], G9P[23], G10P[11], G10P[3], G11P[13], G15P[21], and G?P[?]. The results suggest a complex background of previous interspecies transmission events, shedding new light on the potential influence of foxes in RVA epidemiology. Their role as potential reservoirs of broad range of RVA genotypes, usually considered typical solely of domestic animals and humans, cannot be dismissed.