Wijburg Sara R, Montizaan Margriet G E, Broens Els M, Gröne Andrea, Sprong Hein, Maas Miriam
Dutch Wildlife Health Centre, Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, Yalelaan 1, Utrecht, 3584 CL, the Netherlands.
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control (CIb), Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, Bilthoven, 3720 BA, the Netherlands.
J Wildl Dis. 2025 Jul 1;61(3):642-653. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-24-00116.
Information on pathogens, including zoonotic agents, in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in the Netherlands is lacking. In this paper, we provide an overview of the most common pathogens found in hares in the Netherlands. Specifically, we assessed whether land use and climatic factors influence the occurrence of a frequently detected pathogen in hares, that is, Yersinia spp., and determined whether there are changes in the occurrence of pathogens in hares between the periods 1966-77 and 2009-21. Postmortem examinations were available for 513 hares from 2009 to 2021 and for 757 hares from 1966 to 1977. Descriptive analysis was performed on these data, assessing hare metadata, pathology, reasons for submission, land use surrounding the location of recovery, and seasonality. A logistic mixed modeling approach was used to identify predictors for the presence of Yersinia spp. In both periods, hares were identified as competent hosts for several pathogens, including zoonotic agents. Yersinia spp. was the most frequently identified pathogen (recent period, 12.1%; historic period, 25.1%). Between 2009 and 2021, Yersinia spp. presence was positively associated with the proportion of agricultural land use and negatively associated with the mean daily minimum temperature. The results presented herein provide a better understanding of pathogens circulating in free-ranging hares in the Netherlands and are relevant to hare health and public health and for wildlife managers and future surveillance strategies. Furthermore, the results emphasize the inherent difficulties associated with retrospective analyses of these types of data.
荷兰欧洲褐兔（Lepus europaeus）体内病原体（包括人畜共患病原体）的相关信息尚属空白。在本文中，我们概述了荷兰野兔体内最常见的病原体。具体而言，我们评估了土地利用和气候因素是否会影响野兔体内一种常见病原体——耶尔森菌属（Yersinia spp.）的出现，并确定了1966 - 1977年和2009 - 2021年期间野兔体内病原体的出现情况是否有变化。2009年至2021年有513只野兔的尸检数据，1966年至1977年有757只野兔的尸检数据。对这些数据进行了描述性分析，评估了野兔的元数据、病理学、送检原因、回收地点周围的土地利用情况以及季节性。采用逻辑混合建模方法来确定耶尔森菌属存在的预测因素。在这两个时期，野兔被确定为包括人畜共患病原体在内的几种病原体的适宜宿主。耶尔森菌属是最常被鉴定出的病原体（近期为12.1%；历史时期为25.1%）。2009年至2021年期间，耶尔森菌属的存在与农业用地比例呈正相关，与日平均最低温度呈负相关。本文呈现的结果有助于更好地了解荷兰自由放养野兔体内传播的病原体，与野兔健康和公共卫生相关，对野生动物管理者和未来的监测策略也具有重要意义。此外，结果强调了对这类数据进行回顾性分析所固有的困难。
