Lungworms ( spp.) and intestinal parasitic stages of two separated Swiss wild boar populations north and south of the Alps: Similar parasite spectrum with regional idiosyncrasies.

sp. is a lungworm with worldwide distribution in wild boars and other suids. In Switzerland, two wild boar populations are geographically divided by the Alps. We investigated 84 wild boars, 52 from north and 32 from south of the Alps, different in sex and age (juveniles, subadults, adults), shot between September and December 2018. The lungs were macroscopically examined and dissected for the detection of specimens. Additionally, faecal samples were obtained from 55 animals and analysed by sedimentation/flotation and the mini-FLOTAC® method. Overall, 12'774 sp. specimens were isolated: prevalence was 77.4% and mean burden 196.5 (range: 1-2589), with no significant differences between north (80.8%, 218.0) and south (71.9%, 157.4) nor between sexes and age groups. Macroscopically, dense nodular lesions associated with sp. were present in 19 out of 65 (33.9%) positive lungs. Five sp. were detected: (67.9%), (63.1%), (56%), (44%) and (17.9%), with a significant difference ( = 0.012) between north (32.7%) and south (62.5%) for . The lungworm population was female biased. The number of sp. eggs in faecal samples did not correlate with worm burdens. Furthermore, the following endoparasites were detected: / sp. (74.5%), (27.3%%), (20.0%), sp. (18.2%), sp. (9.1%), sp. (7.3%), (3.6%) sp. (3.6%) and (1.8%), with significant differences for (north 36.1% > south 10.5%) and sp. (only south, 26.3%). Although geographically separated, both Swiss wild boar populations share similar parasite spectra, while also showing some regional idiosyncrasies partially explained by ecological and climatic factors. Despite their clinical relevance being unknown, accurate knowledge concerning the distribution of endoparasites in the wildlife reservoir is relevant to better understand risk factors for the domestic pig population.