Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA
Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis and has been recognized as a re-emerging infectious disease in humans and a variety of wild and domestic animal species. In order to understand the prevalence and diversity of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in feral pig populations of Alabama, we trapped 31...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Pathogens |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/9/10/857 |
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| author | Anil Poudel Md Monirul Hoque Steven Madere Sara Bolds Stuart Price Subarna Barua Folasade Adekanmbi Anwar Kalalah Steven Kitchens Vienna Brown Chengming Wang B. Graeme Lockaby |
| author_facet | Anil Poudel Md Monirul Hoque Steven Madere Sara Bolds Stuart Price Subarna Barua Folasade Adekanmbi Anwar Kalalah Steven Kitchens Vienna Brown Chengming Wang B. Graeme Lockaby |
| author_sort | Anil Poudel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis and has been recognized as a re-emerging infectious disease in humans and a variety of wild and domestic animal species. In order to understand the prevalence and diversity of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in feral pig populations of Alabama, we trapped 315 feral pigs in Bullock County east-central Alabama, and collected 97 environmental samples from riparian areas in Bullock County and Macon County east-central Alabama. Two previously published PCRs followed by DNA sequencing and BLASTn were performed to identify pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> species in the kidney of feral pigs (3.2%, 10/315) as well as environmental samples collected from the habitats of feral pigs (2.1%, 2/97), but not in the whole blood samples (n = 276) or spleen (n = 51). An ELISA determined that 44.2% of serum samples (122/276) were antibody-positive for <i>Leptospira</i>. The identification of two pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> species from environmental samples and the high sero-positivity in feral pigs suggests potential pathogen shedding from feral pigs to environments, and to humans and domestic animals. In order to better understand the risk to human health associated with feral swine presence, further studies are warranted to explore the interrelationship between <i>Leptospira</i> spp. shedding in the urine of feral pigs and bacterial culture to explore pathogenicity. Multi-locus sequencing typing (MLST) and microscopic agglutination tests (MAT) should be performed in future studies to make a definite determination of pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> in feral pigs in Alabama. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:28:38Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:28:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-74338f5fa3794ee88584ed1e88bfb2ea2023-11-20T17:52:27ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172020-10-0191085710.3390/pathogens9100857Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USAAnil Poudel0Md Monirul Hoque1Steven Madere2Sara Bolds3Stuart Price4Subarna Barua5Folasade Adekanmbi6Anwar Kalalah7Steven Kitchens8Vienna Brown9Chengming Wang10B. Graeme Lockaby11College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USASchool of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36830, USASchool of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36830, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USAUSDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services, National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USACollege of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USASchool of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36830, USALeptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis and has been recognized as a re-emerging infectious disease in humans and a variety of wild and domestic animal species. In order to understand the prevalence and diversity of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in feral pig populations of Alabama, we trapped 315 feral pigs in Bullock County east-central Alabama, and collected 97 environmental samples from riparian areas in Bullock County and Macon County east-central Alabama. Two previously published PCRs followed by DNA sequencing and BLASTn were performed to identify pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> species in the kidney of feral pigs (3.2%, 10/315) as well as environmental samples collected from the habitats of feral pigs (2.1%, 2/97), but not in the whole blood samples (n = 276) or spleen (n = 51). An ELISA determined that 44.2% of serum samples (122/276) were antibody-positive for <i>Leptospira</i>. The identification of two pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> species from environmental samples and the high sero-positivity in feral pigs suggests potential pathogen shedding from feral pigs to environments, and to humans and domestic animals. In order to better understand the risk to human health associated with feral swine presence, further studies are warranted to explore the interrelationship between <i>Leptospira</i> spp. shedding in the urine of feral pigs and bacterial culture to explore pathogenicity. Multi-locus sequencing typing (MLST) and microscopic agglutination tests (MAT) should be performed in future studies to make a definite determination of pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> in feral pigs in Alabama.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/9/10/857pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i>feral pigsPCRELISAUSA |
| spellingShingle | Anil Poudel Md Monirul Hoque Steven Madere Sara Bolds Stuart Price Subarna Barua Folasade Adekanmbi Anwar Kalalah Steven Kitchens Vienna Brown Chengming Wang B. Graeme Lockaby Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA Pathogens pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> feral pigs PCR ELISA USA |
| title | Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA |
| title_full | Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA |
| title_fullStr | Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA |
| title_short | Molecular and Serological Prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in Feral Pigs (<i>Sus scrofa</i>) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA |
| title_sort | molecular and serological prevalence of i leptospira i spp in feral pigs i sus scrofa i and their habitats in alabama usa |
| topic | pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> feral pigs PCR ELISA USA |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/9/10/857 |
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