AUTHOR=Žele Vengušt Diana , Krt Brane , Blagus Rok , Vengušt Gorazd , Bandelj Petra 

TITLE=Seroprevalence of infectious pathogens of zoonotic and veterinary importance in wild ruminants from Slovenia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1415304

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2024.1415304

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Wildlife represents an increasingly important source of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance. Surveillance in wildlife offers an insight on current epidemiological status of selected pathogens and help to prevent spillovers to humans and livestock.</p></sec><sec><title>Material and methods</title><p>Our study included 312 wild ruminants belonging to five species: Roe deer (<italic>n</italic> = 134), red deer (<italic>n</italic> = 113), Alpine chamois (<italic>n</italic> = 53), European mouflon (<italic>n</italic> = 10) and Alpine ibex (<italic>n</italic> = 2). Seven pathogens that may have profound effect on human/livestock health and economic viability of the farms were tested using serological methods.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Antibodies against <italic>Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Coxiella burnetii, Brucella</italic> spp., <italic>Chlamydophila abortus, Mycobacterium avium</italic> subsp. <italic>paratuberculosis</italic> (MAP) and <italic>Mycobacterium bovis</italic> were detected in 34.62% (108/312), 0.96% (3/312), 2.24% (7/312), 0, 0.96% (3/312), 0, 0.64% (2/312) of animals tested, respectively. Because of low prevalences, risk factors were assessed only for <italic>T. gondii</italic>. Sex (female&gt;male) and species (roe deer&gt;red deer, roe deer&gt;Alpine chamois) were significantly associated with the <italic>T. gondii</italic> positive outcome, while age was not.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>Adult males had the lowest <italic>T. gondii</italic> prevalence which offers future research opportunities. The lower seroprevalence of most investigated pathogens suggests game meat, if properly cooked, as being relatively safe for human consumption. This is the first study investigating the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of selected pathogens in wild ruminants in Slovenia.</p></sec>