Wildlife visits to farm facilities assessed by camera traps in a bovine tuberculosis-infected area in France

Abstract

When bovine tuberculosis (bTB) circulates in a multi-host system, it is paramount to characterize the interactions between wildlife and livestock as they may lead to interspecific transmission. To that purpose, we undertook a 1-year survey in 25 farms located in an infected area in the Burgundy region (east central France). We used camera traps deployed on 101 water and food access points located in pastures and farm buildings considered as attractive points for red deer, wild boar, and badgers. For each species, we analyzed the duration of each visit, the number of individuals, their behavior, and the frequency of visits. Wild boar was the most frequent species, with 5.0 visits/100 nights, and their visits occurred most frequently around water sources and in summer. The frequency of visits from red deer was highest at salt licks and in summer. Badger was more frequent in winter and on pasture feed troughs. These results highlight the wide variation in the patterns of contact at the wildlife-cattle interface among the different bTB-susceptible species. Combined with other epidemiological data, these data could be used both to assess the risk of bTB transmission in Burgundy and to implement biosecurity measures.