High Exposure to Livestock Pathogens in Southern Pudu (Pudu puda) from Chile.

Simple Summary: Livestock diseases can affect the health of wild ruminants, and some of them are zoonotic, affecting the human health, and additionally, wildlife can act as excellent sentinels for infectious disease, since they have limited home ranges. To gain a better understanding of the disease epidemiology of livestock and zoonotic pathogens, we examined the prevalence of antibodies against Brucella abortus, Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii, seven pathogenic serovars of Leptospira interrogans (Bratislava, Ballun, Grippotyphosa, Pomona, Canicola, Hardjo and Coppehageni), Mycobacterium bovis, Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, SARS-CoV-2, Hepatitis E Virus, Pestivirus, Bovine Herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (EHDV), and Bluetongue Virus in 164 wild and under-human-care pudus from central and southern Chile using several serological tests. We detected high seroprevalences for Leptospira interrogans Harjo and Pestivirus in wild pudus, suggesting a livestock transmission in the template forest, and for T. gondii in under-human-care animals. A Pestivirus outbreak is the most strongly suspected as the cause of abortions in a zoo in the past. This study presents the first evidence of Chlamydia abortus in wildlife in South America and exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, Leptospira interrogans, and Neopora caninum in wild ungulate species in Chile, and further research will be necessary to understand their impact in the health and conservation of pudu. A significant gap in exposure data for most livestock and zoonotic pathogens is common for several Latin America deer species. This study examined the seroprevalence against 13 pathogens in 164 wild and captive southern pudu from Chile between 2011 and 2023. Livestock and zoonotic pathogen antibodies were detected in 22 of 109 wild pudus (20.18%; 95% CI: 13.34–29.18) and 17 of 55 captive pudus (30.91%; 95% CI: 19.52–44.96), including five Leptospira interrogans serovars (15.38% and 10.71%), Toxoplasma gondii (8.57% and 37.50%), Chlamydia abortus (3.03% and 12.82%), Neospora caninum (0.00% and 9.52%), and Pestivirus (8.00% and 6.67%). Risk factors were detected for Leptospira spp., showing that fawn pudu have statistically significantly higher risk of positivity than adults. In the case of T. gondii, pudu living in "free-range" have a lower risk of being positive for this parasite. In under-human-care pudu, a Pestivirus outbreak is the most strongly suspected as the cause of abortions in a zoo in the past. This study presents the first evidence of Chlamydia abortus in wildlife in South America and exposure to T. gondii, L. interrogans, and N. caninum in wild ungulate species in Chile. High seroprevalence of livestock pathogens such as Pestivirus and Leptospira Hardjo in wild animals suggests a livestock transmission in Chilean template forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]