Abstract
BackgroundIn parallel to the increase of wild boar abundance in the past decades, an increase of exposure to the Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) has been reported in wild boar in several parts of Europe. Since high animal densities have been proposed to be one of the major factors influencing ADV seroprevalence in wild boar populations and wild boar abundance has increased in Switzerland, too, a re-evaluation of the ADV status was required in wild boar in Switzerland. We tested wild boar sera collected from 2008–2013 with a commercial ELISA for antibodies against ADV. To set our data in the European context, we reviewed scientific publications on ADV serosurveys in Europe for two time periods (1995–2007 and 2008–2014).ResultsSeven out of 1,228 wild boar sera were positive for antibodies against ADV, resulting in an estimated seroprevalence of 0.57 % (95 % confidence interval CI: 0.32–0.96 %). This is significantly lower than the prevalence of a previous survey in 2004–2005. The literature review revealed that high to very high ADV seroprevalences are reported from Mediterranean and Central-eastern countries. By contrast, an “island” of low to medium seroprevalences is observed in the centre of Europe with few isolated foci of high seroprevalences. We were unable to identify a general temporal trend of ADV seroprevalence at European scale.ConclusionsThe seroprevalence of ADV in wild boar in Switzerland belongs among the lowest documented in Europe. Considering the disparity of seroprevalences in wild boar in Europe, the fact that seroprevalences in Switzerland and other countries have decreased despite increasing wild boar densities and the knowledge that stress leads to the reactivation of latent ADV with subsequent excretion and transmission, we hypothesize that not only animal density but a range of factors leading to stress - such as management - might play a crucial role in the dynamics of ADV infections.
Highlights
In parallel to the increase of wild boar abundance in the past decades, an increase of exposure to the Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) has been reported in wild boar in several parts of Europe
Serosurvey in Switzerland Seven of 1,228 wild boar blood samples tested by enzyme linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) had antibodies against ADV, and the result of eight serum samples remained doubtful despite repeated testing
Review on AD in wild boar in Europe ADV seroprevalences in wild boar populations strongly vary among European regions, ranging from 0 to 100 % [17, 33] (Fig. 2)
Summary
In parallel to the increase of wild boar abundance in the past decades, an increase of exposure to the Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) has been reported in wild boar in several parts of Europe. Characterized isolates of ADV from wild boar mostly belong to the genotype I and are of low virulence, whereas those from domestic swine mostly belong to the genotype II [11]. In agreement with these observations, a study conducted in Spain suggested that ADV seroprevalences in domestic pigs are not directly linked to ADV seroprevalences of wild boar in the same region [12]. In the past decades an increase of ADV seroprevalences has been observed in European wild boar [1, 3], locally reaching very high levels (e.g. 100 % in Spain) [17]. The dramatic increase of wild boar abundance in Europe during the same period [18] may have contributed to this process because high ADV seroprevalences seem to be associated with high wild boar population densities [19] and wild boar aggregation [20]
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