U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Date of this Version
2015
Citation
Epidemiol. Infect., (2015), 143, 2131–2136; doi:10.1017/S0950268814003148
Abstract
As feral swine continue to expand their geographical range and distribution across the United States, their involvement in crop damage, livestock predation, and pathogen transmission is likely to increase. Despite the relatively recent discovery of feral swine involvement in the aetiology of a variety of pathogens, their propensity to transmit and carry a wide variety of pathogens is disconcerting. We examined sera from 2055 feral swine for antibody presence to six serovars of Leptospira that can also infect humans, livestock or domestic animals. About 13% of all samples tested positive for at least one serovar, suggesting that Leptospira infection is common in feral swine. Further studies to identify the proportion of actively infected animals are needed to more fully understand the risk they pose.
Included in
Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, Life Sciences Commons, Other Veterinary Medicine Commons, Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons, Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons, Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health Commons
Comments
U.S. government work.