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. 2022 Oct 17;9(10):575.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci9100575.

First Report of Brucella Seroprevalence in Wild Boar Population in Serbia

Zorana Zurovac Sapundzic  1 , Jadranka Zutic  1 , Natasa Stevic  2 , Vesna Milicevic  1 , Marina Radojicic  3 , Slavoljub Stanojevic  4 , Sonja Radojicic  2
Affiliations

First Report of Brucella Seroprevalence in Wild Boar Population in Serbia

Zorana Zurovac Sapundzic et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Brucellosis is one of the most important bacterial zoonotic diseases worldwide, characterized in domestic animals by long-term reproductive disorders. As known, wild boars (Sus scrofa) are natural hosts for Brucella suis biovar 2, in which the infection passes in inapparent form, increasing the pathogen transmission risk to domestic pigs, other domestic animals and humans. So far, no studies regarding brucellosis in wild boars in Serbia have been published. During the hunting season 2020/2021, 480 sera of wild boars living in Serbia were collected and tested for the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies. For the serological survey, the Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) were used. Of the 480 sera, 45 sera tested positive, indicating the acquired Brucella seroprevalence in wild boars of 9.4%. The greatest numbers of Brucella seropositive animals were detected in the eastern parts of the country and in one of the central districts, i.e., Pomoravski, Branicevski, Borski and Juznobanatski. This study provides the first data regarding brucellosis in the wild boar population in Serbia, revealing the seroprevalence of Brucella, thus indicating that wild boars as natural hosts and/or vectors of Brucella likely present a risk for the infection of other animals.

Keywords: Brucella; ELISA; Rose Bengal Test; Serbia; seroprevalence; wild boar.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Administrative districts in Serbia where the tested wild boar sera were collected (purple areas).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of the total tested wild boars, the number of Brucella seropositive individuals and the determined seroprevalence of brucellosis in different age groups of wild boars.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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