Investigation published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

February 23^rd, 2023

Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious chronic disease due to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) bacteria. Monitoring
of wildlife, especially potential reservoirs, is important for detecting changes in disease occurrence and assessing the impact of interventions. Here, we examined whether wild boar (Sus scrofa) may contribute to the re-emergence of TB in Asturias (10,604 km2
), northern Spain. Although this province was declared free of TB in cattle in November 2021, MTC bacteria remain prevalent in several
“hotspots,” with the European badger (Meles meles) suggested as a TB potential wild reservoir. Drawing on data from the Spanish National Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program and the Government of the Principality of Asturias covering the period 2014–2020, we analyzed the prevalence of TB in cattle and wild boar in this region. In hotspots (592 km2), we also investigated the ranging behavior and habitat use of fve cows that belonged to farms with a history of TB and six trapped sympatric wild boar. During the observation period, TB prevalence was 0.14% among cattle overall and 0.13–0.41% in hotspots, which was much lower than the prevalence in wild boar, which was 3.15% overall and 5.23–5.96% in hotspots. Infected cattle and infected wild boar in hotspots shared the same strains of M. bovis, and GPS tracking showed spatiotemporal overlap between the species, mainly around pastures during sunrise (06:00–07:00 h) and sunset (19:00–20:00 h). Our results suggest that in addition to cattle and badgers, wild boar possibly help maintain TB in northern Spain, increasing the host richness that infuences TB transmission risk in the area, which should be taken into account in monitoring and eradication eforts

Herrero-Garcia G., Acevedo P., Quiros P., Prieto M., Romero B., Amado J., Queipo MA., Gortazar C. and Balseiro A.

Tuberculosis Epidemiology and Spatial Ecology at the Cattle-Wild Boar Interface in Northern Spain

	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de León.
	Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio). Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (UCLM). Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM).
	Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA). Gobierno del Principado de Asturias.
	Servicio de Micobacterias (MYC). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).