Prevalence of IgG against hepatitis E virus, Salmonella spp., and Toxoplasma gondii in meat juice samples from wild boars hunted in Southern Italy

Free-ranging wild boars can represent a reservoir for zoonotic foodborne pathogens. They pose a threat to public health not only under food safety aspects through consumption of undercooked game meat, but also on an epidemiological level through transmission of diseases from wildlife to livestock. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) against hepatitis E virus (HEV), Salmonella spp., and Toxoplasma (T.) gondii in meat juices samples of wild boars in Southern Italy using commercial ELISA assays. We detected IgG prevalence rates of 58 %, for HEV (tested with Priocheck (R) HEV Ab porcine), 65 % (tested with Salmotype (R) pig screen) and 7 % (tested with Priocheck (R) Salmonella Ab porcine) for Salmonella spp., and 14 % for T gondii (tested with Priocheck (R) Toxoplasma Ab porcine). The high prevalence data in muscle juice samples underline the impact of wild boars as an important reservoir for zoonotic agents also in Southern Italy.