Comparative Bacteriological Study of Two Wild Boar Populations in Sierra Morena (Ja, Spain)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of various bacterial species in the wild boar populations of Lugar Nuevo and Selladores-Contadero woodlands from Sierra Morena (Spain). Bacteriological analyses were carried out on a total of 229 wild boar individuals hunted in the period 2000-2003 in eleven experimental plots which are representative for the different biotopes of the area. The following species were detected: Brucella ovis, Clostridium sp., Corynebacterium sp., Streptococcus pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Chlamydophila psittaci, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus sp. and the bacterial prevalence was estimated for each of them. The results provide useful indications of the health status of wild boar in both locations and highlight the potential of the wild boar populations to act as biological reservoirs of certain microorganisms that can be passed onto other vertebrate wild animals and humans.