La Libia vista da Edoardo Zavattari

Libya as seen by Edoardo Zavattari. The authors propose a synthesis of the researches carried out in Libya by Edoardo Zavattari between 1927 and 1935, a period in which the scientist was active at the University of Pavia in the role of director of the Istituto and Museo di Anatomia e Fisiologia comparate. The campaigns, organized to study human and animal parasitology, were conducted in the Cyrenaica and Fezzan regions. These studies enabled also the collection of over 200 species of invertebrates and vertebrates whose research, carried on by various zoologists, revealed several new species among which eight were dedicated to him. The parasitological studies dealt especially with the digenetic trematode Schistosoma haematobium, a major agent of schistosomiasis. Zavattari confirmed the presence of this species for Cyrenaica and was the first one to report it for Fezzan, finding out also its distribution and frequency. With the collaboration of Vittorio Erspamer he was able to provide an initial overview on the hematology of this parasitic disease. He studied also malaria in Fezzan, finding that Plasmodium vivax was responsible for most of the cases, but had limited distribution and could be easily kept under control.