Combination with Annual Deworming Treatments Does Not Enhance the Effects of PCV2 Vaccination on the Development of TB in Wild Boar Populations

Javier Galapero; Alfonso Ramos; José Manuel Benítez-Medina; Remigio Martínez; Alfredo García; Javier Hermoso de Mendoza; Rocío Holgado-Martín; David Risco; Luis Gómez

doi:10.3390/ani13243833

Combination with Annual Deworming Treatments Does Not Enhance the Effects of PCV2 Vaccination on the Development of TB in Wild Boar Populations

Animals (Basel). 2023 Dec 13;13(24):3833. doi: 10.3390/ani13243833.

Authors

Javier Galapero¹, Alfonso Ramos², José Manuel Benítez-Medina³, Remigio Martínez⁴, Alfredo García⁵, Javier Hermoso de Mendoza³, Rocío Holgado-Martín¹, David Risco¹, Luis Gómez¹

Affiliations

¹ Anatomy and Pathological Anatomy Area, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain.
² Area Statistics and Operations Research Area, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain.
³ Infectious Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain.
⁴ Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba (ROR code 05yc77b46), 14014 Córdoba, Spain.
⁵ Animal Production Area, CICYTEX-La Orden, 06187 Badajoz, Spain.

Abstract

Vaccination against PCV2 has been proven to be an effective measure to reduce the severity of TB in wild boar. The combination of this measure with strategies focused on treating other key concomitant pathogens, such as nematodes, could be a useful strategy. This study assesses whether a combination of deworming treatments and PCV2 vaccination may reduce the prevalence and severity of TB in wild boar. The study was conducted on five game estates in mid-western Spain where four groups of wild boar were produced: control, vaccinated, dewormed and vaccinated-dewormed. Wild boars from all groups were hunted between 2017 and 2020, and all of them received a TB diagnosis based on pathological and microbiological tests. Generalised linear models were used to explore the effect of deworming and PCV2 vaccination on TB prevalence and severity. PCV2-vaccinated animals showed lower probabilities of suffering severe TB lesions. However, no differences regarding TB severity were found between dewormed and non-dewormed wild boar. PCV2 vaccination reduces TB severity in wild boar. However, annual deworming does not produce a long-term parasitological reduction that can influence the development of TB in wild boar, nor does it improve the effect of PCV2 vaccination on TB.

Keywords: deworming; porcine circovirus; tuberculosis; vaccination; wild boar.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital, Junta de Extremadura, grant number IB20027. RMP was supported by a postdoctoral contract at the University of Córdoba (ROR code 05yc77b46) from the de la Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades de la Junta de Andalucía (ROR code 01jem9c82) Regional Government (Andalucía, Spain).