Prevalence of Emphasis Type="Italic"Lawsonia int

Authors: Gerald Reiner Melina Winkelmann Hermann Willems

Publish Date: 2010/10/12

Volume: 57, Issue: 3, Pages: 443-448

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Abstract

Lawsonia intracellularis Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Brachyspira pilosicoli are important pathogens in domestic pig production responsible for porcine intestinal adenomatosis swine dysentery and porcine intestinal spirochetosis respectively They are widely distributed among pigproducing units around the world and transmission is accomplished by relatively weak immunity long shedding intervals sequential shedding and actual environmental survival Little information is available on occurrence prevalence and quantity of these pathogens in freeranging wild boars The aim of the present study was to evaluate L intracellularis B hyodysenteriae and B pilosicoli infections in wild boars in Germany Tissue samples from ileocaecal mucosa of 165 wild boars from 18 hunting grounds situated in 14 of the 16 federal states of Germany were examined by conventional PCR and quantified by multiplex realtime PCR None of the wild boars did show any gross pathological signs of enteritis The overall prevalence for L intracellularis B hyodysenteriae and B pilosicoli was 206 24 and 121 respectively None of the three agents was detected in 685 of the wild boars and in 111 of the hunting grounds Numbers of bacteria per sample were below the limit of quantification 100 cells/PCR reaction This is the first study on L intracellularis and Brachyspira spp in freeranging wild boars The study revealed colonised animals without signs of disease The meaning of these findings remains unclear and we do not know whether and to what extent these three pathogens are exchanged between wild boars and domestic pigs Further research is needed to get insight into the epidemiological impact of the results

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