A review of viral diseases of the European wild boar: Effects of population dynamics and reservoir role

March 24, 2008 — Francisco Ruiz-Fons, Joaquim Segal?s and Christian Gort?zar

There has been a worldwide increase in the number and geographical spread of wild boar populations in recent decades leading to an increase in both the circulation of disease agents and greater contact with domestic animals and humans. Diseases affect the population dynamics of wildlife but the effects of most viral diseases on the European wild boar are largely unknown. Many viral diseases present in domestic pig populations are also present in wild boars where they can provide a disease reservoir, as is clearly the case with classical swine fever, but little is known about other viral diseases such as porcine circovirus diseases or hepatitis E. This review considers the current scientific knowledge of the effects of viral diseases on wild boar populations and their rôle as potential disease reservoirs. The focus is on those viral diseases of domestic swine and wild boars that are included as notifiable by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).

Francisco Ruiz-Fons, Joaquim Segalés and Christian Gortázar, A review of viral diseases of the European wild boar: Effects of population dynamics and reservoir role, The Veterinary Journal, Volume 176, Issue 2, May 2008, Pages 158-169.

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Francisco Ruiz-Fons^a, Joaquim Segal?s^b and Christian Gort?zar^a
aInstituto de Investigaci?n en Recursos Cineg?ticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
^bCentre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Departament de Sanitat i d?Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain