engleski

Dynamics of wild boar population and its influence on epidemiology of African Swine Fever

Wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) is autochthonous game species in Croatia. Currently the wild boar inhabits most of the Croatian territory, but also represents one of the most widely distributed mammal. It is observed that wild boar population numbers are increasing in Europe over the last four decades, resulting in increased human – wild boar conflicts. From the perspective of veterinary public health, this increasing wild boar population along with the permanent urbanization are resulting in more frequent contacts on human - wild boar – domestic animals interface, posing a potential threat to human and domestic animals health. African swine fever (ASF) is one of the diseases where wild suids populations can play an important epidemiological role. The original vertebrate reservoir of ASF virus in the wild is a common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) which together with the soft tick vector Ornithodoros porcinus, forms the main part of the sylvatic cycle of this disease in Africa. The previous incursion of ASF to Iberian Peninsula and other parts of Europe, and recent one to Georgia and Eastern Europe have emphasized the role of other suids, namely Eurasian wild boar in maintaining the ASF. Opposite to tick vectors, the role of different wild suids in epidemiology of ASF is still quite unknown. The Eurasian wild boar is highly susceptible to ASF with high lethality during the initial introduction of the disease. However, the epidemiological role of wild boar in spreading and maintaining of ASF is rather complex. In the case of high population density and potential contact with domestic pigs, wild boar can represent an important factor in transmission of disease. On the other hand, in the case when there is no infected domestic pigs it seems that infection in wild boar disappears over the time, suggesting potential attenuation of the virus and the fact that wild boar are not that efficient in transmission and maintaining of the ASF virus within its population. Therefore, the role of wild boar in epidemiology of ASF largely depends on the population density and the presence of free- ranging domestic pigs. The absence of permanent resting place reduces the potential role of soft tick vectors. All mentioned implicates the potential control measures: reduce the population before introduction of ASF, separate the domestic pigs from wild boar, ban of keeping free-ranging pigs, carcass utilization and active monitoring.

wild boar, Sus scrofa, African swine fever, epidemiology

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