The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Rehovot , Israel.
Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) , Jerusalem , Israel.
Front Vet Sci. 2016 Apr 25;3:32. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00032. eCollection 2016.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemics recur in Israel almost every year. Wild even-toed ungulates are seldom affected during these epidemics. The seroprevalence of FMD in wild ungulates during 2000 and 2005-2013 was estimated using anti-non-structural proteins ELISA. Overall, 209 samples were tested, comprising sera of 120 wild boar (Sus scrofa lybicus), 64 mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella gazella), 6 water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), and 19 Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica). None of the tested animals presented clinical signs of FMD during blood collection. Sixteen samples [7.7% (95% confidence interval (CI95%) = 4.4-12.1%)] were found to be seropositive. Fifteen out of 120 samples (12.5%) from wild boar were seropositive, compared with only 1 out of 89 samples (1.1%) from all other species combined (Fisher's exact test: p = 0.003). Most of the positive samples obtained from wild boar [13/15 (86.7%)] were collected during 2007, and analysis was restricted to that year and species only. The seroprevalence of FMD in this species during 2007 was estimated at 54.2% (CI95% = 32.8-74.5%; n = 24). A significant infection cluster, comprising nine seropositive samples collected in three different locations, was identified in the north-eastern part of Israel. These findings indicate that wild boar was affected during the 2007 FMD epidemic, even though wild boar presenting FMD typical clinical signs were not observed during that year. The actual role of wild boar in the spread of FMD virus in this epidemic, however, could not be determined. The negligible seroprevalence of FMD found for all other surveillance years indicates that ongoing circulation of FMD among wildlife in Israel is unlikely. It is concluded that while the role of wildlife species in the dynamics of FMD in Israel is usually limited, there might be occasions, in which wildlife plays a part in the spread of the virus.
口蹄疫（FMD）在以色列几乎每年都会爆发。在这些疫情中，偶蹄野生动物很少受到影响。2000 年和 2005-2013 年期间，使用抗非结构蛋白 ELISA 估计了野生有蹄类动物中 FMD 的血清流行率。总共测试了 209 个样本，包括 120 头野猪（Sus scrofa lybicus）、64 只山瞪羚（Gazella gazella gazella）、6 头水牛（Bubalus bubalis）和 19 头波斯黇鹿（Dama dama mesopotamica）的血清。在采血过程中，没有发现被检测动物出现口蹄疫临床症状。16 个样本[7.7%（95%置信区间（CI95%）=4.4-12.1%）]呈血清阳性。120 份野猪样本中有 15 份（12.5%）呈血清阳性，而所有其他物种组合的 89 份样本中只有 1 份（1.1%）呈阳性（Fisher 确切检验：p=0.003）。从野猪中获得的大多数阳性样本[13/15（86.7%）]是在 2007 年采集的，仅对该年和该物种进行了分析。该物种 2007 年 FMD 的血清流行率估计为 54.2%（95%置信区间为 32.8-74.5%；n=24）。在以色列东北部地区发现了一个包含 9 个阳性样本的显著感染群，这些样本来自三个不同的地点。这些发现表明，2007 年 FMD 疫情期间野猪受到了影响，尽管当年没有观察到出现 FMD 典型临床症状的野猪。然而，无法确定野猪在该次疫情中 FMD 病毒传播中的实际作用。其他所有监测年份的 FMD 血清流行率均较低，表明在以色列野生动物中，FMD 病毒的持续传播不太可能。因此，可以得出结论，尽管野生动物在以色列 FMD 动态中的作用通常有限，但在某些情况下，野生动物可能会在病毒传播中发挥作用。
