The prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica in game animals in Poland

Abstract

Natural reservoirs of Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica comprise different animal species, but little is known about the role of wild animals in the epidemiology of yersiniosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of Y. enterocolitica among game animals in Poland. The bio-serotypes and the pathogenicity markers of the analyzed isolates were determined. The experimental material comprised rectal swabs from 857 free-living animals hunter-harvested over a period of 2 years (2013–2014) in hunting districts across Poland. The isolates from bacteriological studies were confirmed by PCR and bio-serotyped based on the results of biochemical and agglutination tests. In the group of the 218 analyzed isolates of Y. enterocolitica, 133 were derived from wild boars, 70 from red deer, 11 from roe deer and 4 from fallow deer, and they accounted for 61.0%, 32.1%, 5.1% and 1.8% of all isolates, respectively. Bio-serotyping assays revealed that 91.7% of the examined isolates belonged to biotype 1A (200/218). The remaining 18 isolates belonged to bio-serotypes 1B/NI (3/218, 1.4%), 1B/O:8 (1/218, 0.5%), 2/NI (6/218, 2.8%), 2/O:27 (1/218, 0.5%), 2/O:3 (1/218, 0.5%), 2/O:9 (2/218, 0.9%), 3/NI (2/218, 0.9%), 4/O:3 (1/218, 0.5%) and 4/O:9 (1/218, 0.5%). The ail gene, a suggestive virulence gene for Y. enterocolitica, has been found in 30 isolates from 20 wild boars, in 6 isolates from red deer, and in 1 isolate from roe deer. Our study demonstrated that Y. enterocolitica is frequently isolated from game animals in Poland, which poses a risk of spreading these infectious agents to other animal species and humans.

Genetic Diversity and Distribution of Virulence-Associated Genes in Y. enterocolitica and Y. enterocolitica-Like Isolates from Humans and Animals in Poland

“…The Y. enterocolitica occurrence in wild boars in Poland has so far been confirmed by Morka K. et al in western Poland in 2018 [ 27 ], Syczyło et al in 2016 [ 28 ] during 2011–2014 hunting seasons mainly in North-Eastern Poland, Syczyło et al in 2018 [ 29 ] in 12 out of 16 Polish districts across Poland during the hunting seasons of 2013–2014, Bancerz-Kisiel et al in 2015 [ 30 ] in North-East Poland during the 2013 hunting season and Bancerz-Kisiel et al in 2015 [ 31 ] in two voivodeships of northern Poland, one voivodeship of central Poland and from two voivodeships of southern Poland. Only one paper, a published dissertation, indicated the endemic or alluvial origin of Y. enterocolitica strains isolated from people in the years 1996–2008 [ 32 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, data on the number of cases can be underestimated due to low reportability and lack of bioserotyping as a part of routine diagnostics. In Poland prevalence of Y. enterocolitica and other species within Yersinia genus among animals was only studied in Northeast Poland [ 26 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 35 ]. High prevalence of Y. enterocolitica in the world, high pathogenicity of the 1B biotype, unusual psychrotrophic features and not much information on the occurrence of Yersinia sp.…”

All Yersinia Are Not Created Equal: Phenotypic Adaptation to Distinct Niches Within Mammalian Tissues

“…The disease progression for enteric Yersinia appears to be very similar, however, Y. enterocolitica is a relatively common cause of gastroenteritis, whereas patients rarely present with Y. pseudotuberculosis infection. This may be because Y. enterocolitica commonly colonizes many different species of livestock and wild game animals, which could lead to increased exposure rates within human populations, or because Y. enterocolitica may elicit a heightened inflammatory response resulting in more severe disease (Dube et al, 2001 ; Chlebicz and Slizewska, 2018 ; Syczylo et al, 2018 ).…”

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis: Cultivation, Storage, and Methods for Introducing DNA

“…Yptb is an enteric pathogen that occasionally causes outbreaks of human infection through contaminated produce, although human infection typically results in non-life-threatening, self-limiting gastroenteritis or mesenteric adenitis (Hubbert, Petenyi, Glasgow, Uyeda, & Creighton, 1971;Knapp, 1958;Paff, Triplett, & Saari, 1976). Yptb is a natural pathogen of rodents and is commonly associated with livestock and different wild animal populations (Chlebicz & Slizewska, 2018;Syczylo et al, 2018). Because it is a natural rodent pathogen, mouse models of Yptb infection recapitulate human disease and have taught us a great deal about host-pathogen interactions in the context of a natural infection (Heesemann, Gaede, & Autenrieth, 1993).…”