Abstract

The European wild boar populations are growing and spreading to new areas, which might constitute a threat to public health, since wild boar can harbour pathogens with the potential to cause serious illness in humans. Tonsils, ileocaecal lymph nodes and faecal samples were collected from 88 Swedish wild boars and analysed for the presence of the zoonotic pathogens Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC). A combination of cultivation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was used and overall, 20% of sampled individuals tested positive for Y. enterocolitica, 20% for Y. pseudotuberculosis and 10% for Salmonella spp. A total of 41% of sampled individuals tested positive for one or more of these three pathogens. No EHEC were detected. Samples PCR-positive for Salmonella spp. were cultivated further and six isolates were obtained, belonging to Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica and subspecies diarizone. The pathogens were most commonly detected in tonsil samples.

Keywords

Foodborne zoonoses; Salmonella; Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli; Yersinia enterocolitica; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Published in

Epidemiology and Infection
2014, Volume: 142, number: 12, pages: 2542-2547

SLU Authors

• Sannö, Axel

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • National Veterinary Institute (SVA)

• Jacobson, Magdalena

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268814000119

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/66559