Evidence of Aujeszky’s disease in wild boar in Serbia

Abstract

BackgroundAujeszky’s disease is a viral disease of suids caused by Suid Herpesvirus 1. The disease has worldwide distribution with significant economic impact. In Serbia, there is neither an Aujeszky’s disease eradication nor national vaccination programme of domestic pigs.Since clinical symptoms of Aujeszky’s disease are not specific, it is important to establish a link between clinical signs and presence of ADV active infection in wild boars. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of active infection within wild boar showing signs of ADV and also to examine relationship between isolates from domestic pigs and wild boar. Having in mind that virus has not been previously isolated from wild boars in Serbia, we report the first isolation of Suid Herpesvirus 1 from this species in Serbia.ResultsTissue and serum samples from 40 wild boars from eastern Serbia were examined for evidence of Aujeszky’s disease (AD). Suid Herpesvirus 1 (SHV1), the cause of AD was isolated on PK15 cell line from three tissue samples, inducing cytopathic effect (CPE) with syncytia forming, and viral genome was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in eight samples. Genetic analysis of us4, us9 and ul49.5 partial sequences showed high homology between ADV isolates from wild boars and between isolates from wild boars and domestic animals. Neutralizing antibodies were not detected by virus neutralisation test (VNT) in sera from four out of eight PCR positive wild boars suggesting recent infection in those animals.ConclusionsThis is the first demonstration of Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) in the wild boar population in Serbia although seroconversion has been detected previously.

Genetic Diversity among Pseudorabies Viruses Isolated from Dogs in France from 2006 to 2018

“…It is well known that PRV strains can spill over from the wild boar population to the domestic pig population and vice versa. Such bidirectional transmissions have been experimentally demonstrated [31,32], and phylogenetic analyses have confirmed that strains related to wild boars can cluster with those related to domestic pigs [11,33,34]. This is indeed the case here, with two French strains isolated from hunting dogs belonging to I-A Group 1 clustering with strains isolated from domestic pigs in other countries.…”

Risk assessment of African swine fever in the south‐eastern countries of Europe

“…The presence of free-ranging pigs in some areas in the region may contribute to the possible spread of ASF in the ROC. This has been demonstrated in the past for other diseases, such as Aujeszky's disease or brucellosis in the ROC (Duvnjak et al, 2015;Milicevic et al, 2016;Zutic et al, 2017). Free-ranging pig farming is a traditional husbandry practice in most countries in the ROC.…”

“…). In Serbia, WB and DP also share similar Suid Herpesvirus 1 strains (Aujeszky's disease; Milicevic et al., ). Further, farmed wild boar are present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the purpose of training hunting dogs (Zahirovic et al., ) and Marinou et al.…”

“…Other B. suis surveys suggested introduction of wild boar from central-Eastern Europe to Italy for hunting purposes (Di Sabatino et al 2017). In Serbia, WB and DP also share similar Suid Herpesvirus 1 strains (Aujeszky's disease; Milicevic et al, 2016). Further, farmed wild boar are present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the purpose of training hunting dogs (Zahirovic et al, 2013) and Marinou et al (2015) mention 'extensively farmed' (fenced) WB in Greece.…”

Whole-Genome Sequence of a Suid Herpesvirus-1 Strain Isolated from the Brain of a Hunting Dog in Italy

“…The disease is controlled by containment of infected herds and by the use of vaccines or removal of latently infected animals (2). However, SHV-1 is being continuously reported in the wild boar population across Europe and in hunting dogs (3). …”