The Role of Wild Boars in the Circulation of Tick-Borne Pathogens: The First Evidence of Rickettsia monacensis Presence

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 1743
• Main Authors: Matei, Ioana Adriana, Kalmár, Zsuzsa, Balea, Anamaria, Mihaiu, Marian, Sándor, Attila D, Cocian, Adrian, Crăciun, Smaranda, Bouari, Cosmina, Briciu, Violeta Tincuța, Fiț, Nicodim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.05.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Abundance; African swine fever; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasma spp; Animals; Annealing; Arachnids; Blood; Body size; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Epidemiology; Feeding behavior; Geographical distribution; Health risks; Hogs; Home range; Hunting; Infectious diseases; Life expectancy; Life span; Livestock; Mammals; Microorganisms; Mortality; Parasitic diseases; Pathogens; Rickettsia; Rickettsia spp; Romania; sentinel species; Social behavior; spotted fever; Sus scrofa; Ticks; Urban areas; Wildlife; Zoonoses; Italy; North Africa; Romania; Asia; Europe; spotted fever; Romania; sentinel species; Sus scrofa; Anaplasma spp; Rickettsia spp
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13111743

Most wild mammals can serve as hosts both for tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) and for the ticks themselves. Among these, wild boars, due to their large body size, habitat and life span, show high exposure to ticks and TBPs. These species are now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suid. Despite the fact that certain local populations have been decimated by African swine fever (ASF), wild boars are still considered overabundant in most parts of the world, including Europe. Altogether, their long-life expectancy, large home ranges including migration, feeding and social behaviors, wide distribution, overabundance and increased chances of interactions with livestock or humans make them suitable sentinel species for general health threats, such as antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms, pollution and ASF geographical distribution, as well as for the distribution and abundance of hard ticks and also for certain TBPs, such as . The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of rickettsial agents in wild boars from two counties in Romania. Among 203 blood samples of wild boars ( ssp. ) collected during 3 (2019-2022) hunting seasons (September-February), 15 were found positive for tick-borne pathogen DNA. Six wild boars were positive for DNA presence and nine for spp. The identified rickettsial species were (six) and (three). No animal was positive either for spp., spp. or spp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of in European wild boars, thus adding the third species from the SFG in the epidemiology of which this wild species may have a role as a reservoir host.