Italian woman ticked off at ferry treatment
Scott McPherson
in influenza and infectious diseases
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5 Comments
I had no idea how widespread the threat of tick infestation is on Italian transports such as trains and ferries, but this article is downright scary. From Tropical Medical Bureau:
Complaint as Italian ferry cabin infested with ticks
News about: ITALY
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:11:05 +0200 (METDST)
ROME, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - An Italian woman is suing a ferry company after waking up in a first-class cabin "covered in ticks from head to toe", newspapers reported Tuesday. Cristina Sassudelli, 41, was making a night crossing at the weekend from the northern city of Genoa to the port of Olbia on the southern Italian island of Sardinia. "At six thirty in the morning I was wakened by the itching on one arm and I realised I was covered with ticks from head to toe," she said, according to accounts in several Italian dailies. "I have always had dogs and I saw immediately that these weren't any kind of insect. There were hundreds of them," she added.
Staff on the ferry, run by a company called La Tirrenia, took her infested clothes and gave her new ones that were far too big, she said. Once they had arrived at Olbia a member of the crew accompanied her to a shop where she was able to buy new clothes. But the company did not reimburse her for her first-class ticket, she said. La Tirrenia told La Stampa newspaper: "This episode happened at a period of heavy traffic and hot, humid conditions. It is the first time, after many years of navigation, that it has happened." It added that the contaminated zone had been sealed off and was being disinfected. Sassudelli said she was taking action against the company to make sure no one else had to go through the same "nightmare." In recent years, there have been several cases of infections from ticks or fleas on Italian transport, particularly on trains.
Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Date: 29/7/2008
Reader Comments (5)
Italian trasportation system is neglected by national authorities. Notwithstanding, in this case the presence of ticks was subsequently discounted by health officials inspection. Ticks were in the past recovered in train cars that were decommissioned for weeks until the disinfections completed. In the latest case of Tirrenia ship, fleas has been identified.
No surprises here. Travelling by train in Italy is an adventure in itself.
My brother and his wife had booked themselves on to an overnight sleeper going to Rome. My brother liked fresh air and had one of the windows in the cabin slightly ajar. During the night my brother was woken by a stranger in the room, my brother staggered to the door and locked the door after the stranger had disappeared, and then he staggered back to bed and passed out.
The next morning, my brother and his wife awoke to find that their passports were missing, as was the thick gold hoops from my sister in laws ears. Both of them suffered from severe headaches for the next two days.
Apparently there are mafia teams that gas trains at night, with sleeping gas. The teams then come in wearing gas masks, robbing their victims as they go. If my brother had no woken, they would have taken the money belts that they were wearing on their waists.
Don't bother going to the Italian Police, they are about as useful as a fart in a thunderstorm.
The general rule of thumb when travelling in Italy or anywhere else is to travel very light (no jewelery or visible money), have personal bug repellent, a means of escape and carry your own sheets and a warm travel blanket.
Ps. Please excuse the above punctuation errors, it is very early in the morning.
Victoria, our vision of my country is so bad that Italy seems to be already in the Third World - I think. Yes. Railroad system is derelict in some parts, but it is safe and workers highly committed in their job - sometimes very hard and with poor wages.
Maffia? Real world mafia is well afar from train passengers robbery... Mafia is one of the most powerful ''company'' on Europe with an illicit business of billions of Euros...
Ironorehopper,
You may be right.
I only mentioned the mafia, because the Italian Police put the blame at their door. If it was not the mafia, could it be rouge Italian Police?
I wish Italy was the country of my dreams....... It appears, there are two things wrong with Italy - the politics and the mafia. Everything else - the fashion, the food, the history, the art, the music, the scenery is both sublime and fantastic at the same time.
My Italian sister-in-law and her entire extended family made the regrettably hard decision to leave Italy for Australia about 20 years ago. It broke her father's heart to leave, but he wanted to get away from the corruption of local government etc. My sister-in-law's parents have found it difficult to acclimatize to a new country (learning a new language; new customs, loneliness etc), but their children have all married, and have thrived and made very good lives for themselves.