Gortázar, ChristianTorres, María JoséVicente, JoaquínAcevedo, PelayoReglero, ManuelDe la Fuente, JoséNegro, Juan JoséAznar-Martín, Javier2014-07-032014-07-032008-07-23Gortázar C, Torres MJ, Vicente J, Acevedo P, Reglero M, de la Fuente J, et al. Bovine tuberculosis in Doñana Biosphere Reserve: the role of wild ungulates as disease reservoirs in the last Iberian lynx strongholds. PLoS ONE. 2008; 3(7):e2776http://hdl.handle.net/10668/1675Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't;Doñana National Park (DNP) in southern Spain is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where commercial hunting and wildlife artificial feeding do not take place and traditional cattle husbandry still exists. Herein, we hypothesized that Mycobacterium bovis infection prevalence in wild ungulates will depend on host ecology and that variation in prevalence will reflect variation in the interaction between hosts and environmental risk factors. Cattle bTB reactor rates increased in DNP despite compulsory testing and culling of infected animals. In this study, 124 European wild boar, 95 red deer, and 97 fallow deer were sampled from April 2006 to April 2007 and analyzed for M. bovis infection. Modelling and GIS were used to identify risk factors and intra and inter-species relationships. Infection with M. bovis was confirmed in 65 (52.4%) wild boar, 26 (27.4%) red deer and 18 (18.5%) fallow deer. In the absence of cattle, wild boar M. bovis prevalence reached 92.3% in the northern third of DNP. Wild boar showed more than twice prevalence than that in deer (p<0.001). Modelling revealed that M. bovis prevalence decreased from North to South in wild boar (p<0.001) and red deer (p<0.01), whereas no spatial pattern was evidenced for fallow deer. Infection risk in wild boar was dependent on wild boar M. bovis prevalence in the buffer area containing interacting individuals (p<0.01). The prevalence recorded in this study is among the highest reported in wildlife. Remarkably, this high prevalence occurs in the absence of wildlife artificial feeding, suggesting that a feeding ban alone would have a limited effect on wildlife M. bovis prevalence. In DNP, M. bovis transmission may occur predominantly at the intra-species level due to ecological, behavioural and epidemiological factors. The results of this study allow inferring conclusions on epidemiological bTB risk factors in Mediterranean habitats that are not managed for hunting purposes. Our results support the need to consider wildlife species for the control of bTB in cattle and strongly suggest that bTB may affect animal welfare and conservation.enAnimales SalvajesBovinosAnimalesConservación de los Recursos NaturalesCiervosReservorios de EnfermedadesGeografíaModelos BiológicosFactores de RiesgoEspañaEspecificidad de la EspecieAndaluciaMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Animal Population Groups::Animals, WildMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Artiodactyla::Ruminants::CattleMedical Subject Headings::Technology, Industry, Agriculture::Technology, Industry, and Agriculture::Conservation of Natural ResourcesMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Artiodactyla::Ruminants::DeerMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Environment and Public Health::Public Health::Disease ReservoirsMedical Subject Headings::Disciplines and Occupations::Natural Science Disciplines::Earth Sciences::GeographyMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Models, Theoretical::Models, BiologicalMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Bacteria::Gram-Positive Bacteria::Actinobacteria::Actinomycetales::Mycobacteriaceae::Mycobacterium::Mycobacterium bovisMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Probability::Risk::Risk FactorsMedical Subject Headings::Geographicals::Geographic Locations::Europe::SpainMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Biological Phenomena::Species SpecificityMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Bacterial Infections and Mycoses::Bacterial Infections::Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections::Actinomycetales Infections::Mycobacterium Infections::Tuberculosis::Tuberculosis, BovineMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animalsresearch article18648665open access10.1371/journal.pone.00027761932-6203PMC2464716