Seroprevalence of Brucellosis, Tularemia, and Yersiniosis in Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) from North-Eastern Germany

Summary Brucellosis and tularemia are classical zoonotic diseases transmitted from an animal reservoir to humans. Both, wildlife and domestic animals, contribute to the spreading of these zoonoses. The surveillance of the animal health status is strictly regulated for domestic animals, whereas syste...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of veterinary medicine. Series B 2005-12, Vol.52 (10), p.444-455
Main Authors: Al Dahouk, S., Nöckler, K., Tomaso, H., Splettstoesser, W. D., Jungersen, G., Riber, U., Petry, T., Hoffmann, D., Scholz, H. C., Hensel, A., Neubauer, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animals
Antibodies, Bacterial - blood
Brucella - immunology
Brucella suis
Brucellosis
Brucellosis - blood
Brucellosis - epidemiology
Brucellosis - transmission
Brucellosis - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
Disease transmission
Female
Francisella
Francisella tularensis - immunology
Germany - epidemiology
Hogs
Infections
Male
Public Health
Quantitative genetics
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Sus scrofa
Swine Diseases - blood
Swine Diseases - epidemiology
Swine Diseases - transmission
Tularemia - blood
Tularemia - epidemiology
Tularemia - transmission
Tularemia - veterinary
Yersinia - immunology
Yersinia enterocolitica
Yersinia Infections - blood
Yersinia Infections - epidemiology
Yersinia Infections - transmission
Yersinia Infections - veterinary
Zoonoses
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary Brucellosis and tularemia are classical zoonotic diseases transmitted from an animal reservoir to humans. Both, wildlife and domestic animals, contribute to the spreading of these zoonoses. The surveillance of the animal health status is strictly regulated for domestic animals, whereas systematic disease monitoring in wildlife does not exist. The aim of the present study was to provide data on the prevalence of anti‐Brucella, anti‐Francisella and anti‐Yersinia antibodies in wild boars from North‐Eastern Germany to assess public health risks. A total of 763 sera of wild boars from Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania hunted in 1995/1996 were tested using a commercially available Brucella suis ELISA, an in‐house lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐based Francisella ELISA, and commercially available Western blot kits for the detection of anti‐Francisella and anti‐Yersinia antibodies. The Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 LPS is able to induce serological cross‐reactions indistinguishable from brucellosis due to a similar immunodominant epitope in the Brucella O‐polysaccharide. The Yersinia Western blot assay was, therefore, based on five recombinant Yersinia outer proteins which have been proved to be specific for the serodiagnosis of yersiniosis. Anti‐Brucella, anti‐Francisella and anti‐Yersinia antibodies were detected in 22.0%, 3.1%, and 62.6% of the wild boars, respectively. The high seroprevalence of tularemia and brucellosis in wild boars indicates that natural foci of these zoonoses are present in wildlife in Germany. However, the impact of transmission of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife to livestock is unknown. Only careful and systematic monitoring will help to prevent the (re)emergence of these zoonotic diseases in domestic animals and consequently human infection.
ISSN:0931-1793
1863-1959
1439-0450
1863-2378
DOI:10.1111/j.1439-0450.2005.00898.x