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Investigation of Brucella in wildlife
Project
Project code: BfR-BIOS-08-1322-619
Contract period: 01.03.2015
- 01.12.2016
Purpose of research: Inventory & Assessment
Brucellosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease particularly caused by the consumption of contaminated food (e.g. dairy products) and also partially by the exposure to infected animals. Germany has been officially free of bovine and ovine/caprine brucellosis for more than a decade. For maintaining this status numerous additional investigations in the diagnostic routine analyses of farm animals were implemented. Sporadically, porcine brucellosis occurs on pig rearing farms which is caused by Brucella suis biovar 2. How these pathogens are able to invade livestock often remains unexplained. Some presumptions deal with the direct transmission through the contact to wildlife. So far resilient epidemiological data for the prevalence of Brucella in wildlife are neither available nor adequately compiled. In cooperation with the FLI in 2011 a study was performed which analyzes the appearance of Brucella in various rodent populations in Germany. Clinical samples were molecularly investigated looking for two target sequences specific for Brucella. About 15% of the rodents were found to be positive in this survey. However, we were not able to isolate the pathogen so far. Our nationwide data proved that all rodent species under study can be infected. Therefore, the occurrence of brucellosis in rodents all over Germany has to be supposed. There are two major questions remaining: (I) which Brucella species is responsible for rodent infection? (II) can rodents or other wild animals be responsible for pathogen transmission to farm animals. To answer these questions samples of heterogeneous wild animal populations (e.g. foxes, raccoon dogs) should be analyzed for Brucella. In case of successful isolation of novel Brucella sp. detailed genotypic and phenotypic characterization will help to clarify the zoonotic potential of the pathogen. Wildlife monitoring will help to assess the risk of Brucella transmission to livestock and into the food chain.
Section overview
Subjects
- Agricultural Technology Animal Production
- Animal health
