BACKGROUND Our aim is to detect the infection by Toscana virus (TOSV) and other Phleboviruses in the sera and cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) of patients with meningitis in Tunisia. We examined various species of phlebotomus present in Tunisia to determine whether or not a direct relationship exists between cases of meningitis and the viruses circulating in the insect vectors. METHODS Patients wit...

Human noroviruses (NoVs) cause epidemic and endemic acute gastroenteritis in children and adults. To study the prevalence and genetic diversity of NoV in children in Tunisia, a total of 788 fecal samples were collected during a 4-year period in the region of Monastir, from children 12 years of age or younger, hospitalized or presenting in dispensaries with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. NoV...

Since 1928, Henri Gauthier has been the only zoologist to describe the extant non-marine ostracod fauna of Tunisia. In 2010, new samples of living non-marine ostracods were collected from central and southern Tunisia. A complete list of the 41 non-marine ostracods of Tunisia is presented, including the species of Gauthier's work, published Holocene records, and new results from our field study....

Bullying, especially in developing countries, has not been much examined, especially the influence of parents on the risk of being bullied. The aim of this study was to determine whether active parenting is associated with reduced peer victimization among middle-school students in North Africa. A secondary analysis of data from more than 13,000 middle-school students who participated in the Glo...

An epidemiological study of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) was carried out in nine districts of Sfax, in the southern central part of Tunisia. Sera from 250 dogs were tested by two serological methods: the indirect immunofluorescence antibody test and the counter-immunoelectrophoresis. Seven to eight months later, before the next season of transmission, seropositive dogs from the first test were r...

Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) caused by Leishmania (L.) major parasites represents a major health problem with a large spectrum of clinical manifestations. Psammomys (P.) obesus and Meriones (M.) shawi represent the most important host reservoirs of these parasites in Tunisia. We already reported that infection prevalence is different between these two rodent species. We aimed in this ...

Chromidina spp. are enigmatic apostome ciliates (Oligohymenophorea, Opalinopsidae) that parasitise the renal and pancreatic appendages of cephalopods. Only four species have been described, among which only three have been formally named. No DNA sequence has been reported so far. To investigate Chromidina spp. diversity, we sampled cephalopods in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunis, Tunisia, and id...

The classical biological control program for exotic saltcedars (various Tamarix species and hybrids) has involved the assessment of different populations of the leaf beetle Diorhabda elongata (Brullé) s.l. that are promising for release in areas of North America that are located south of 37 degrees N latitude. We report here the overwintering survival, phenology, and voltinism of four D. elonga...

In this study we introduce a few examples intended to illustrate the wide variety of objec­tive correlations that have been established between psyche and muscle tone. These exam­ples illustrate how muscle tone may cause the induction of certain effective or emotional be­haviour patterns, and vice versa.

The December 2010 self-immolation of 26-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi, a desperate response to the debilitating lack of economic opportunities for Tunisia’s youth and the pervasive sense of humiliation engendered by the state’s corrupt and degrading treatment of its citizens, tapped into deep popular frustration in Tunisia and throughout the Middle East. It sparked a series of uprisings th...