title: First overall report of Leptospira infections in wild boars in Poland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently an increase in the population of wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Europe has been observed. This is important from a zoonotic perspective because it influences directly on the spread of many diseases. For the first time, an extensive survey on the prevalence of Leptospira infections in Polish wild boars was performed. During the hunting season 2012-2014, 3621 blood samples from wild boars were collected. The animals originated from different geographical areas across Poland. Serum samples were tested by a microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for the presence of specific antibodies to the following Leptospira serovars: Icterohaemorrhagiae, Grippotyphosa, Sejroe, Tarassovi, Pomona, Canicola, Bratislava, Autumnalis, Hardjo and Ballum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antibody titers to all Leptospira serovars except serovar Ballum were found in 377 serum samples (10.4 %). The highest number of seropositive wild boars was found in the south-eastern part of Poland and in highly urbanized areas such as Silesia and Łódź.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relatively high prevalence of Leptospira infections in wild boars may constitute a threat to hunters and people having contact with forest lakes or marshlands. The results also indicate that an increasing population of wild boar living close to borders of cities may create additional risk for inhabitants in large urban areas.
authors.affiliation: Swine Diseases Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. jaca@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Żmudzki
authors.affiliation: Swine Diseases Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. artur.jablonski@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jabłoński
authors.affiliation: Swine Diseases Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. agnieszka.nowak@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Swine Diseases Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. sylwia.zebek@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Sylwia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zębek
authors.affiliation: OIE Leptospira Reference Laboratory, Veterinary Sciences Division, AFBI, Stoney Road, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT43SD, UK. zbigniew.arent@afbini.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arent
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. lukasz.bocian@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Bocian
authors.affiliation: Swine Diseases Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100, Pulawy, Poland. zpejsak@piwet.pulawy.pl.
authors.forename: Zygmunt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pejsak
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D007919:Leptospira / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D065288:Serogroup; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial