Seroprevalence to Brucella spp. in wild boars of Campania region during the 2016-2017 hunting season

Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by members of the Brucella genus, undergoing to specific eradication plans worldwide in domestic ruminants. However, Brucellosis is frequently reported among wildlife populations in Europe and particularly in the Eurasian wild boar which population is in a progressive expansion throughout Europe in the last decades, raising concerns regarding the control of diseases in this species. Thus, in the present study we carried out a cross-sectional survey in wild boars in Campania region to assess the sero-prevalence against Brucella and to provide information on associated risk factors using both Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) on 513 sera from hunter-killed wild boar sampled between 2016 and 2017 in Campania region, southern Italy. Out results demonstrated an apparent prevalence of 11,31% (95% CI 2,61-20,00%). Prevalence was significantly affected by the region of sampling but not by age or by sex of the animals. The relative sensitivity of the RBT versus the cELISA was 8.6% while the relative specificity was 96%. Results of the present study indicates a moderate sero-prevalence in wild boar, and then a wide exposure risk to Brucella spp in Campania region. Brucella presence in agroecosystem may have important implications not only for biodiversity conservation practice but also, and principally, for animal and human health, finally could represent a growing risk of spillback to outdoor-farmed pig herds. However, further investigations are needed using bacterial isolation as well as PCR, to better characterize the responsible Brucella serotypes involved.