| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In many regions of the world, wild mammals act as reservoir of <it>Mycobacterium bovis</it>, a situation that prevents the eradication of bovine tuberculosis. In order to observe whether a strain isolated from a wild boar, previously tested as highly virulent in a mice model, is also virulent in cattle, we performed cattle experimental inoculation with this strain</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Groups of Friesian calves were either infected with the wild boar strain <it>M. bovis </it>04-303 or with the bovine strain NCTC10772 as a control. We found that antigen-specific IFN-γ release in whole blood samples occurred earlier in animals infected with <it>M. bovis </it>04-303. Both <it>M. bovis </it>strains resulted in a positive skin test, with animals infected with the wild boar isolate showing a stronger response. These results and the presence of more severe organ lesions, with granuloma and pneumonic areas in cattle demonstrate that the wild boar isolate is more virulent than the NCTC10772 strain. Additionally, we tested the infectivity of the <it>M. bovis </it>strains in guinea pigs and found that <it>M. bovis </it>04-303 had the highest pathogenicity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>M. bovis </it>strains isolated from wild boars may be pathogenic for cattle, producing TB lesions.</p>
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