BACKGROUND To obtain robust epidemiological information regarding tuberculosis (TB) in wildlife species, appropriate diagnostic methods need to be used. Wild boar (Sus scrofa) recently emerged as a major maintenance host for TB in some European countries. Nevertheless, no data is available to evaluate TB post-mortem diagnostic methods in hunter-harvested wild boar. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDI...

Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), a deficiency in enamel formation visible on mammal tooth crowns, can be used as a retrospective indicator of physiological stress and developmental health in humans and animals. In this first study, for north-western Europe, the condition has been recorded from prehistoric (mesolithic) and recent populations of wild boar, and from domestic pigs belonging to early...

Classical swine fever (CSF) is of increasing concern in Europe where wild boar appear to play an important epidemiological role. In most parts of the continent, demographic trends are on the increase, due to improvement in game management. As a result of higher densities, populations become more susceptible to various infectious diseases, among which CSF is cause for particular concern. Wild bo...

Wild boars are important disease reservoirs. It is well known that abundance estimates are needed in wildlife epidemiology, but the expense and effort required to obtain them is prohibitive. We evaluated a simple method based on the frequency of faecal droppings found on transects (FBII), and developed a spatial aggregation index, based on the runs test statistic. Estimates were compared with h...

Foci of tick-borne pathogens occur at fine spatial scales, and depend upon a complex arrangement of factors involving climate, host abundance and landscape composition. It has been proposed that the presence of hosts that support tick feeding but not pathogen multiplication may dilute the transmission of the pathogen. However, models need to consider the spatial component to adequately explain ...

Crop damages to wildlife is a frequent form of human-wildlife conflict. Identifying areas where the risk of crop damages is highest is pivotal to set up preventive measures and reduce conflict. Species distribution models are routinely used to predict species distribution in response of environmental changes. The aim of this paper was assessing whether species distribution models can allow to i...

Serum samples from 1,011 wild boars hunted in 2012 were collected for serological surveillance for 4 subtypes (pandemic A (H1N1) 2009 and classical H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2) of swine influenza virus (SIV). Samples from 12 of the boars were identified as positive for SIV (pandemic A (H1N1) 2009, n=9; classical H1N1, n=2; and H1N2, n=1) by a hemagglutination inhibition test (HI test) and a nucleoprote...

The domestic pig originates from the Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa). We have sequenced mitochondrial DNA and nuclear genes from wild and domestic pigs from Asia and Europe. Clear evidence was obtained for domestication to have occurred independently from wild boar subspecies in Europe and Asia. The time since divergence of the ancestral forms was estimated at approximately 500,000 years, well ...

Abstract The benefits and costs of wildlife are contingent on the spatial overlap animal populations with economic recreational human activities. By using a production function approach dynamic panel data models, we analyze effects hunting carnivore predation pressure value ungulate game harvests. results show evidence dependence in harvests roe deer wild boar, but not those moose, which is lik...

In wild boar, Sus scrofa, from Europe, domestic pig-typical ancestry is traced at varying levels. We hypothesised boar with gene pool characteristics, i.e., “introgression”, congregate more in peri-urban habitats, because of less shyness and better adaptation to anthropogenic stress. used 16 microsatellites study introgression levels 375 Vienna, Austria, rural regions comparison commercial slau...