Serological monitoring of brucellosis among wild boars in Ukraine during 2019–2020

Abstract

The key to the successful development of animalhusbandry is the epizootic welfare of the country. Forimplementation the set of preventive measures it is requiresa perfect system for diagnosing infectious diseases, includingbrucellosis. Despite the fact that Ukraine is consideredofficially free from this zoonosis among farm animals, thesituation regarding it in the wild fauna of our country remainsinsufficiently studied.This article presents the results of serological studies of548 sera samples of wild boars from 16 regions of Ukraine,collected during 2019 – 2020. The research was conductedon the basis of the State Scientific and Research Institute ofLaboratory Diagnostics and Veterinary and Sanitary Expertise(SSRILDVSE, Kyiv, Ukraine) by using the complementfixation test (CFT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). In addition, all positive samples were further testedon yersiniosis with differential purposes.The systematization of obtained results show thatantibodies to Brucella spp. in sera samples from wild boarsin Ukraine were detected by CFT in 57 samples (10.4 % ofthe total number), by ELISA – in 83 (15.1 %). In general,antibodies to these pathogens were diagnosed in samplesfrom 13 regions (most often from Zhytomyr, Lviv andChernihiv).Positive samples by CFT and/or ELISA werefurther tested for the presence of antibodies to Yersiniaenterocolitica because, according to the literature andguidelines for diagnostic kits, possibility of crossreactions between brucellosis and yersiniosis. As a resultof differential studies, from the 83 positive on brucellosissamples, 42 also showed antibodies to Y. enterocolitica.Taking into account the cross-reactions between tests forbrucellosis and yersiniosis, antibodies to Brucella spp.during the analyzed period were found in 7.5 % of animals(in 41 of 548 samples).The prospect of this work is to further studies of theepizootic situation regarding brucellosis in the wild faunaof Ukraine. The obtained results indicate the circulationof antibodies to this zoonosis among wild boars in ourcountry.

Keywords

• brucella spp.
• yersinia enterocolitica
• zoonosis
• serological studies
• cft
• elisa
• wild fauna.