Veterinary Archives, Vol. 80 No. 2, 2010.
Original scientific paper
Detection of Leptospira spp. serovars in wild boars (Sus scrofa) from continental Croatia
Alen Slavica
orcid.org/0000-0002-4282-9752
; Department for Game Biology, Pathology and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Željko Cvetnić
; Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Dean Konjević
; Department for Game Biology, Pathology and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Zdravko Janicki
; Department for Game Biology, Pathology and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Krešimir Severin
; Department for Game Biology, Pathology and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Danko Dežđek
; Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Vilim Starešina
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Magda Sindičić
; Department for Game Biology, Pathology and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Jelena Antić
; Veterinary practitioner, Rijeka , Croatia
Abstract
Over a period of five years (2002-2007) a total of 351 wild boar (Sus scrofa) serum samples were collected during regular hunting procedures. All samples were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for the presence of specific antibodies (AB) to 12 Leptospira spp. serovars. At different sera dilutions (ranging from 100 to 3200) 112 samples (31.9%) were found positive to at least one pathogenic serovar, and AB to nine Leptospira spp. serovars were detected: Australis, Pomona, Tarassovi, Sejroe, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Ballum, Saxkoebing, and Bataviae. In total we recorded 147 positive reactions of which the majority (N = 101; 68.7%) were found positive at basic dilution (BD = 100), whereas 31.3% (N = 46) reactions were detected positive at higher dilutions. The most frequent serovar was Australis (33.3%), followed by the serovars Pomona (21.8%) and Tarassovi (14.3%), whilst the serovars Australis and Pomona recorded the highest AB titer (3200) and showed statistically significant frequency in cross-reactions (recorded in 23.8% cases). We found significant differences between AB prevalence in different age groups, with the highest distinction between detected positive samples in piglets (21.5%) and adult specimens (50.8%). According to the aerial distribution, the highest percentage of positive wild boar samples originated from lowland habitats in regions of Posavina (Novska - 46.8%, Kutina - 45.3%) and Slavonija and Baranja (Tikveš - 43.6%). Considering the fact that the wild boar population in Croatia is showing a constant tendency to grow, further research is indispensable to clarify the role of wild boar in the transmission of leptospirosis to other wild and domestic species.
Keywords
Leptospira spp.; wild boar; Sus scrofa; serology; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
56500
URI
Publication date:
26.4.2010.
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