Wild Boar and Infectious Diseases: Evaluation of the Current Risk to Human and Domestic Animal Health in Switzerland: A Review

The Eurasian wild boar is widely distributed in Europe and hunting bags reveal a massive increase in the population. Since wild boar and domestic pigs are susceptible to the same pathogens and can infect each other, free-ranging wild boar populations are increasingly considered to be a threat to the pig industry. Switzerland has an outstanding veterinary health situation due to its official free-of-disease status for many diseases, and the role that wildlife could play as a source of infection for domestic animals is of particular concern. This article provides an overview of the current knowledge on wild boar health in Switzerland and discusses the health risk to domestic animals and humans currently posed by wild boar. It places the data in the context of the situation in neighbouring countries. The risk currently posed by wild boar within Switzerland is largely limited to swine brucellosis. The major threat coming from abroad originates from the expansion of African swine fever. To prevent pathogen introduction and transmission between wild boar and domestic pigs, it is essential to pursue efforts in 4 areas: disease surveillance in domestic pigs, biosecurity on pig farms, disease surveillance in wild boar, and sustainable wild boar management.