biology Communication Leptospira fainei Detected in Testicles and Epididymis of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Giovanni Cilia , Fabrizio Bertelloni * , Domenico Cerri and Filippo Fratini Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy;
[email protected] (G.C.);
[email protected] (D.C.); fi
[email protected] (F.F.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Simple Summary: Genital leptospirosis is an important example of the neglected infectious zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira. The disease was just evaluated in bovine and domestic pig with important consequences for reproductive success. Recently, pathogenic Leptospira strains were also isolated and detected from reproductive system tissues collected from wild boar (Sus scrofa) free ranging in the Tuscany and Sardinia regions (Italy). This investigation aimed to understand this aspect in wild boar, describing the detection of intermediate Leptospira DNA belonging to Leptospira fainei for the first time in male reproductive organs of hunted wild boar. The obtained data shed significant light on this intermediate Leptospira species, because, other than circulating in wildlife, it can localize in testicles and epididymides of wild boar specimens. These findings add important information on genital leptospirosis epidemiology, especially among the wildlife that remains less investigated. Abstract: Leptospirosis is a re-emerging and worldwide diffused zoonosis. Recently, the high impor- tance of their epidemiology was explained by the intermediate Leptospira strains. Among these strains, Leptospira fainei was the first intermediate strain detected in domestic and wild swine. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) are well known as a reservoir, as well as all swine, for pathogenic Leptospira, but very little information is available concerning intermediate Leptospira infection.