Occurrence of Mycoplasma suis in wild boars (Sus scrofa L.).

Porcine infectious anemia is a well-known disease that occurs worldwide and is caused by the uncultivable hemotrophic bacterium Mycoplasma suis. In this study the occurrence of M. suis in wild boars was investigated by employing a quantitative real-time LightCycler PCR. M. suis infections were detected in 36 out of 359 wild boars (10.03%). Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and subsequent phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of two genetically distinct M. suis subtypes in the wild boar population: one subtype was >99.0% identical to known American and European M. suis isolates, and the second subtype showed the highest homology to known Chinese isolates. In summary, this is the first detection of M. suis in wild boars. The role of M. suis as pathogen in wild boars has yet to be established, but the present findings revealed a possible wildlife reservoir for these bacteria.