Serological and molecular survey of spp. infections in wild boars and red foxes from Southeastern France.

Background And Aim: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease. Information on the recent prevalence of in hunted wild animals is limited, particularly in southeastern France. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the prevalence and diversity of spp. among wild boars () and red foxes () from two military camps in Southeastern France.

Materials And Methods: Serological analyses were performed using microscopic agglutination tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to demonstrate spp. infection from boar kidney DNA extracts.

Results: According to the species, the positive sera were obtained from 18% of 358 boars and 6 % of 64 foxes tested. The prevalence rate is significantly higher (p≤0.02) in boars than in foxes. In wild boar, Australis represents the most recorded serogroup (15.9%), followed by Sejroe (2.8%) and icterohaemorhagiae (2.8%). In red fox, icterohaemorhagiae represents the most recorded serogroup (6.25%), followed by Sejroe (1.57%) and Hebdomadis (1.57%). PCR-based detection of DNA was positive in 6/62 (9.6%) of the wild boars tested.

Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed the importance of wild boar in the epidemiology of leptospirosis among wildlife in Southeastern France. Due to their predatory behavior and their varied diet, mainly composed of small mammals, red foxes could be considered sentinel animals of environmental contamination with leptospires.