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      Long-Term Determinants of the Seroprevalence of the Hepatitis E Virus in Wild Boar ( Sus scrofa)

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          Abstract

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          The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging multi-host pathogen whose main reservoir is suids, and the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis in humans. This study evaluates the main long-term drivers of the exposure to HEV are in the wild boar population from Doñana National Park (southwestern Spain) during a 13-year period (2005–2018). For this purpose, we assay sera from 700 wild boar in which anti-HEV antibodies are widely distributed (46.7 ± 3.8%, 327 out of 700 sampled). The observed marked interannual fluctuations could be explained by the variations in the population control of the wild boar during the study period and its impact on abundance rates. Several factors operating in the medium and long-term (individual, environmental, populational and stochastic) and their interplay explained the exposure to HEV in wild boar. The preferential use of certain areas by wild boar together with its abundance and the meteorological conditions may be behind the level of exposure. Wild boar population control remains a challenge at the international level, and an increase of shared pathogen-related conflicts associated with this species is expected, as exemplified by HEV.

          Abstract

          The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen whose main reservoir is suids. Most of the ecological and epidemiological aspects of its sylvatic cycle remain unknown. Thus, in this work, we study the drivers of HEV exposure in the wild boar population of Doñana National Park (DNP, southwest Spain) operating in the medium and long-term (2005–2018). Anti-HEV antibodies are widely distributed throughout the wild boar (46.7 ± 3.8%, 327 out of 700 sampled), showing a statistically significant age-increasing pattern. The temporal pattern displayed important interannual fluctuations. This could be mediated by marked variations in the population control of the wild boar, and subsequent changes in abundance rates, and its interplay with climatic conditions; as wet years together with a low abundance of wild boar led to the lowest seroprevalence. The fact that seroprevalence is high during conditions of high abundance, and not affected by rainfall level, is probably due to the increased interactions among the animals, and possibly, the subsequent higher environmental contamination with HEV particles. The proximity to the marshland (the main water body of the study area) is associated with a higher risk of testing positive, which is probably mediated by the preferential use of this area during the dry season and the favourable environmental conditions for the survival of HEV particles. A deeper understanding of the epidemiology of HEV in host communities deserves future research concerning other susceptible species. Most importantly, wild boar population control remains a challenge at the international level, and an increase of shared pathogen-related conflicts associated with this species is expected, as exemplified by HEV. Therefore, surveillance of wild boar diseases, including integrated population monitoring and sustainable population control programmes, will be essential to control the associated risks.

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          Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Usinglme4

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            A new look at the statistical model identification

            IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 19(6), 716-723
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              Wild boar populations up, numbers of hunters down? A review of trends and implications for Europe.

              Across Europe, wild boar numbers increased in the 1960s-1970s but stabilised in the 1980s; recent evidence suggests that the numbers and impact of wild boar has grown steadily since the 1980s. As hunting is the main cause of mortality for this species, we reviewed wild boar hunting bags and hunter population trends in 18 European countries from 1982 to 2012. Hunting statistics and numbers of hunters were used as indicators of animal numbers and hunting pressure. The results confirmed that wild boar increased consistently throughout Europe, while the number of hunters remained relatively stable or declined in most countries. We conclude that recreational hunting is insufficient to limit wild boar population growth and that the relative impact of hunting on wild boar mortality had decreased. Other factors, such as mild winters, reforestation, intensification of crop production, supplementary feeding and compensatory population responses of wild boar to hunting pressure might also explain population growth. As populations continue to grow, more human-wild boar conflicts are expected unless this trend is reversed. New interdisciplinary approaches are urgently required to mitigate human-wild boar conflicts, which are otherwise destined to grow further. © 2014 Crown copyright. Pest Management Science © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Academic Editor
                Role: Academic Editor
                Journal
                Animals (Basel)
                Animals (Basel)
                animals
                Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI
                MDPI
                2076-2615
                17 June 2021
                June 2021
                : 11
                : 6
                : 1805
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC) CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain; pbarrososgg@ 123456gmail.com (P.B.); pelayo.acevedo@ 123456uclm.es (P.A.); saul.jimenez.ruiz@ 123456gmail.com (S.J.-R.); vidal.montoro@ 123456uclm.es (V.M.); joaquin.vicente@ 123456uclm.es (J.V.)
                [2 ]Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), Departamento de Anatomía y Anatomía Patológica Comparadas, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain
                [3 ]Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Grupo de Virología Clínica y Zoonosis, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain; javiercaballero15@ 123456gmail.com (J.C.-G.); arjvet@ 123456gmail.com (A.R.-J.)
                [4 ]Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain; v62garbo@ 123456uco.es
                [5 ]VISAVET, Animal Health Department, Veterinary School, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; joseangel.barasona@ 123456gmail.com
                [6 ]Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, UCLM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: maria.risalde@ 123456uco.es
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2431-5029
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-2604
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3509-7696
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4066-8454
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2090-9353
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7975-669X
                Article
                animals-11-01805
                10.3390/ani11061805
                8235029
                34204315
                102722c9-0fe5-4f3d-ae1c-b62a7d5b91e5
                © 2021 by the authors.

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 29 April 2021
                : 15 June 2021
                Categories
                Article

                hepatitis e virus,long-term,public health,shared infection,wild boar,zoonosis

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