Brucellosis and Aujeszky's disease in a wild boar enclose. Case report

In wild boars kept in a paddock of approximately 1.7 square miles Brucella suis biotype 2 was isolated and Aujeszky's disease was diagnosed by serological tests. To clear the paddock, the wild boars were lured by offered food and caught using specially built smaller pens. They were then transported to a location far off their original surroundings and euthanized. Of a total of 297 wild boars kept in the paddock, 71% were caught and 28% shot. Three wild boars (= 1%) were found trapped. The described method could also be used in case of epidemics to catch wild boars living outside existing paddocks. In order to avoid killing the boars which stayed in separate quarantine enclosures, a darting gun was used to anaesthetize the animals with tiletamine/zolazepam. Achieved sedation levels were deep enough to allow for blood samples to be taken from the jugular vein without any problems, i.e. without any defence reactions of the boars. The origin of infection could not be identified.