Serological survey of influenza A viruses in domestic and wild Suidae in Corsica (France), a Mediterranean island environment

Publication date: Available online 19 June 2018 Source:Preventive Veterinary Medicine Author(s): Sébastien Grech-Angelini, Séverine Hervé, Nicolas Rose, Nicolas Barbier, François Casabianca, Oscar Maestrini, Alessandra Falchi, Gaëlle Simon Corsica is a mountainous French island in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. It is a rural area, where pig farming is a major economic activity. Although no acute respiratory outbreaks due to swine influenza A viruses (swIAVs) have ever been reported in this free-ranging pig breeding system, influenza A viruses (IAVs) could be circulating within this pig population. A serological study was conducted as a first approach to domestic pigs and wild boars. Serum samples from 543 pigs raised on 91 different farms were collected during the 2013-2014 slaughtering season, and 279 sera from wild boars were obtained over four hunting seasons (between 2009 and 2014). They were first analysed by ELISA and then IAV positive and doubtful sera were subjected to haemagglutination inhibition tests using antigens representative of the four major enzootic swIAV lineages in Europe, i.e. avian-like swine H1N1 (H1avN1), pandemic-like swine H1N1 (H1N1pdm), H1N2 and H3N2. According to the ELISA results, 26.4% (CI95%: 17.7–36.7%) of herds had at least one positive animal (positive or doubtful by ELISA) and 12.4% (CI95%: 7.8–19.8%) of the pigs tested positive. Using the test characteristics (sensitivity and specificity), the true seroprevalence a...
Source: Preventive Veterinary Medicine - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research