Analysis of Serum and Whole Blood Values in Relation to Helminth and Ectoparasite Infections of Feral Pigs in Texas

Abstract

In the summers of 1996 and 1997, 60 wild pigs (Sus scrofa) were necropsied from three sites in south Texas (USA) to test the hypothesis that serum and whole blood parameters vary significantly (P Յ 0.05) with the prevalence and intensity of parasites infecting wild pigs. We found ten parasite species: five nematodes (Metastrongylus salmi, Metastrongylus pudentotectus, Stephanurus dentatus, Oesophagostomum dentatum, and Physocephalus sexalatus); four ixodid ticks (Amblyomma cajennense, Amblyomma maculatum, Amblyomma americanum, and Dermacentor variabilis); and one trematode (Fascioloides magna). Among juvenile pigs, the intensity of the four species of ticks, collectively, was negatively correlated (P Յ 0.05) with whole blood principal component number one (PC-1); this factor was positively associated with lymphocytes and eosinophils. Lungworm intensity (Metastrongylus spp.) among adult pigs was negatively correlated (P Յ 0.05) with whole blood PC-2; this factor was negatively associated with segmented neutrophils and monocytes. There were no significant correlations found between parasite prevalences and either serum or whole blood principal component factors. The correlations observed between parasite intensities and serum and whole blood parameters generally were weak. Thus, we found no strong evidence that serum and whole blood parameters provided good predictive information on parasite infections in wild pigs for most practical management decisions.

Effects of parasitic helminths and ivermectin treatment on clinical parameters in the European wild boar (Sus scrofa)

“…However, this relationship has not been demonstrated in the European wild boar in spite of previously conducted studies (Zajicek et al 1976;Wolkers et al 1994a;Shender et al 2002).…”

“…Both in domestic and wild animals, including the European wild boar, antiparasitic treatments have been proven to decrease parasitic burden and ameliorate body condition and productivity of the treated populations (Reina et al 2000;Rajkovic-Janje et al 2004). Wild boar parasitology is currently a matter of concern, as well as the effectiveness of different drugs to reduce parasitic burden in this species, as shown by a number of previous studies carried out on this subject (Kutzer et al 1974;Kutzer and Prosl 1979;De la Muela et al 2001;Shender et al 2002;Fernández de Mera et al 2003Rajkovic-Janje et al 2004).…”

“…In addition, physiological parameters have been proposed as a means to assess the effect of parasite infections and the effectiveness of antiparasitic treatment in wild boars, but few correlations have been found between blood parameters and parasitic burden in this species (Zajicek et al 1976;Wolkers et al 1994a;Shender et al 2002).…”

VALORES DE REFERÊNCIA DE URÉIA E CREATININA PARA JAVALI (Sus scrofa scrofa, LINNAEUS, 1758) EM CATIVEIRO.

“…Foi neste sentido que Shender et al (2002) Este trabalho se propôs a determinar os parâmetros fisiológicos para uréia e creatinina séricas em javalis da espécie scrofa (Sus scrofa scrofa) de ambos os sexos, entre 180 e 300 dias de idade.…”

Parasitic helminths of the digestive system of wild boars bred in captivity

“…Studies on the gastrointestinal helminth fauna of wild Sus scrofa scrofa have been carried out in several European countries (HUMBERT;HENRY, 1989;DE-LA-MUELA et al, 2001;RAJKOVIĆ-JANJE et al, 2002;FERNANDEZ-DE-MERA et al, 2003;JÄRVIS et al, 2007;SENLIK et al, 2011), in Asia (ESLAMI;FARSAD-HAMDI, 1992;SATO et al, 2008) and in North America (SHENDER et al, 2002). However there are only a few studies relating to identification of gastrointestinal parasites in wild boars from commercial farms, and these were conducted in Poland (POPIOŁEK et al, 2010) and in southeastern Brazil (MUNDIM et al, 2004;GOMES et al, 2005).…”