Activities at the Field Parasitology Summer Schools

The summer school is dedicated to undergraduate and post-graduate students in biomedical sciences, veterinary medicine and biology which want to improve their skills in field parasitology. The complex ecosystem, the climatic conditions and the high biodiversity create an ideal model for teaching and researching parasitology.

The main activities consist in:

Sample collection

• Blood, feces, parasites from a broad range of domestic animals (horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, domestic fowl).

• Sample collection (blood, feces, ectoparasites) from wild animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, mollusks)

• Sample collection from the environment (mainly arthropod vectors such as ticks, mosquitoes, tabanids, etc.) using entomological traps

• Occasional necropsies of wild and domestic animals and collection of parasites blood-sucking arthropods) using traps

Sample examination in our two dedicate on-site labs:

• stained blood smears
• Knott's test for filariae
• advanced coproscopy
• morphological identification of parasites (ticks, mosquitoes, biting midges, tabanids, helminths, leeches, larval trematodes etc.)

Medical anthropology workshops

Wildlife sightseeing (mainly birdwatching)

Research projects individually designed for each small group of participants (4-5 people per group)