Serological Survey of Aujeszky's Disease in Wild Boar from Southeastern France

Younes Laidoudi; Bernard Davoust; Stéphanie Watier-Grillot; Aurélie Oger; Marie-Frédérique Le Potier; Céline Deblanc

doi:10.3390/pathogens11101107

Serological Survey of Aujeszky's Disease in Wild Boar from Southeastern France

Pathogens. 2022 Sep 27;11(10):1107. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11101107.

Authors

Younes Laidoudi^{1

2}, Bernard Davoust^{1

2

3}, Stéphanie Watier-Grillot³, Aurélie Oger⁴, Marie-Frédérique Le Potier⁴, Céline Deblanc⁴

Affiliations

¹ Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, MEPHI, 13005 Marseille, France.
² IHU Méditerranée Infection, 13005 Marseille, France.
³ Animal Epidemiology Expert Group, French Military Health Service, 37076 Tours, France.
⁴ ANSES, Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort Laboratory, Swine Virology Immunology Unit, National Reference Laboratory and OIE Reference Laboratory for Aujeszky's Disease, 22440 Ploufragan, France.

Abstract

Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV), also known as pseudorabies virus, causes an important neurological infection with a major economic and health impact on animal husbandry. Here, we serologically screened muscle fluid from wild boar (Sus scrofa) for the presence of anti-ADV antibodies. Animals were caught during two hunting seasons (2019−2020 and 2021−2022) from three areas in southeastern France known to be endemic with wild boar populations. A total of 30.33% of the 399 tested animals scored positive for anti-glycoprotein B antibodies directed against ADV using a commercial competitive ELISA test. A significant effect (p-value < 0.0001) of the geographical location and animal age on ADV seroprevalence was observed. The results of this study confirmed the importance of wild boar in the epidemiology of ADV in southeastern France.

Keywords: Aujeszky’s disease virus; France; anti-gB antibodies; seroprevalence; wild boar.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the French Army Health Service, the ANSES (Ploufragan Laboratory), the OpenHealth Company, the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire (IHU) Méditerranée Infection, the National Research Agency under the program “Investissements d’avenir”, reference ANR-10-IAHU-03, and the Region Sud and European funding FEDER PRIMI.