Serological survey of Schmallenberg virus in wild boar ...

The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of Schmallenberg virus in free-ranging wild boar in the southern provinces of Poland. The most recent paper on this subject used samples collected more than a decade ago. In our study tissue fluid samples were obtained post-mortem from 129 wild boar culled during the 2023/2024 hunting season in the following Polish voivodeships: swietokrzyskie (n = 38), malopolskie (n = 35), lubelskie (n = 32), opolskie (n = 16), and dolnoslaskie (n = 8). The samples were then subjected to serological testing using a commercially available ID Screen Schmallenberg virus Competition Multi-species cELISA kit. Positive and doubtful results were retested using an indirect ELISA kit. A positive test result was obtained for 2 out of 129 (1.6%) tissue fluids. A further three samples were positive in the screening test but were not confirmed. These results are consistent with similar studies conducted in other European countries, as well as with previous Polish works on this subject, and suggest a low-level presence of SBV among Polish wild boar, and thus their relatively limited role in the transmission and circulation of Schmallenberg virus.