RT Journal Article
T1 Blastocystis occurrence and subtype diversity in European wild boar (Sus scrofa) from the Iberian Peninsula
A1 Köster, Pamela C.
A1 Figueiredo, Ana M.
A1 Maloney, Jenny G.
A1 Dashti, Alejandro
A1 Bailo, Begoña
A1 Torres, Rita T.
A1 Fonseca, Carlos
A1 Mysterud, Atle
A1 Habela, Miguel Á.
A1 Rivero Juarez, Antonio
A1 Vicente, Joaquín
A1 Serrano, Emmanuel
A1 Arnal, Maria C.
A1 de Luco, Daniel Fernández
A1 Armenteros, José A.
A1 Balseiro, Ana
A1 Cardona, Guillermo A.
A1 Carvalho, João
A1 Hipólito, Dário
A1 Fernandes, Joana
A1 Palmeira, Josman D.
A1 Calero Bernal, Rafael
A1 González Barrio, David
A1 Santin, Monica
A1 Carmena, David
AB The ongoing increase in wild boar populations across Europe has fostered human-wildlife conflicts, including the transmission of emerging pathogens with zoonotic importance. Blastocystis is a ubiquitous, faecal-oral transmitted protist that can cause gastrointestinal illnesses and is observed in humans and animals worldwide. The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of Blastocystis is insufficiently understood. Thus, we investigated the occurrence and subtype diversity of Blastocystis in free-ranging wild boars from the Iberian Peninsula using conventional PCR and next-generation amplicon sequencing of a fragment of the ssu RNA gene. A total of 459 wild boar faecal samples were collected across Spain (n = 360) and Portugal (n = 99) between 2014 and 2021. Blastocystis was present in 15.3% (70/459; 95% CI 12.1-18.9) of the wild boars analysed, and its occurrence was significantly higher in Portugal (34.3%, 34/99; 95% CI 25.1-44.6) than in Spain (10.0%, 36/360; 95% CI 7.1-13.6). Seven Blastocystis subtypes (ST5, ST10b, ST13-ST15, ST24b, and ST43) were detected among the surveyed wild boar populations, with greater variability detected in Portuguese samples. ST5 was identified in all the Blastocystis-positive animals, whereas 14.3% of them harboured ST mixed colonisations. Our results demonstrate that Blastocystis ST5 is particularly adapted to infect wild boars. The additional identification of zoonotic STs reinforces the role of wild boars as spreaders of zoonotic infections with public health significance
PB BioMed Central
SN 0928-4249
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122321
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122321
LA eng
NO Köster, P. C., Figueiredo, A. M., Maloney, J. G., Dashti, A., Bailo, B., Torres, R. T., Fonseca, C., Mysterud, A., Habela, M. Á., Rivero-Juarez, A., Vicente, J., Serrano, E., Arnal, M. C., de Luco, D. F., Armenteros, J. A., Balseiro, A., Cardona, G. A., Carvalho, J., Hipólito, D., Fernandes, J., … Carmena, D. (2024). Blastocystis occurrence and subtype diversity in European wild boar (Sus scrofa) from the Iberian Peninsula. Veterinary research, 55(1), 133. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13567-024-01385-9
NO Authors’ contributions: AMF, MAH, ARJ, JV, MCA, DFL, PM, JAA, AB, GAC, RCB, JC, DH, JF, JDP, DGB and ES (on behalf of the WE&H group) collected the samples. AD, AMF, PCK, BB and JGM carried out the laboratory experiments. DGB, MS and DC designed and supervised the experiments. PCK, AMF, DGB, MS and DC wrote the original draft. RTT, CF, AM, ARJ, AB, RCB, ES, DGB, MS and DC writing—review and edit  ing. The fnal version was read and approved by all the authors.
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ( España))
NO Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia ( Portugal)
NO European Commission
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades ( España)
NO Instituto de Salud Carlos III
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 jul 2025