S19 VETERINARSKI ARHIV 76 (Suppl.), S19-S26, 2006 Paratuberculosis in wild ruminants in the Czech Republic from 1997 to 2004 Marketa Kopecna 1 , Jiri Lamka 1,2 , Ilona Parmova 3 , Ivo Trcka 1 , Petra Svastova 1 , Milan Bartos 1 , and Ivo Pavlik 1 * 1 Veterinary Research Institute, Brno 2 Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hradec Kralove 3 State Veterinary Institute, Prague KOPECNA, M., J. LAMKA, I. PARMOVA, I. TRCKA, P. SVASTOVA, M. BARTOS, I. PAVLIK: Paratuberculosis in wild ruminants in the Czech Republic during the years 1997-2004. Vet. arhiv 76, S19-S26, 2006. ABSTRACT Paratuberculosis, a disease caused by the Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, produces chronic lymphogranulomatous enterocolitis. This worldwide infection affects different domestic and wild animal species. Due to the spread of paratuberculosis on cattle and sheep farms after frequent importation since 1989, the occurrence of paratuberculosis was monitored in seven species of wild ruminants over an eight-year period. A total of 6 935 animals of wild ruminant species were involved: 1 692 red deer (Cervus elaphus), 1 534 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), 1 905 fallow deer (Dama dama), 125 sika deer (Cervus nippon), 1 518 moufons (Ovis musimon), 27 bezoars (Capra aegagrus), and 134 chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). These animals were bred in the wild, game parks and on farms. Paratuberculosis was diagnosed in the gastrointestinal tract and/ or faeces of 288 animals (4.2% of examined animals). The most infected were red deer (n=206), which are considered more susceptible to this disease than cattle. With respect to the origin of wild ruminants, the highest prevalence of infection was found in deer and moufon farms (n=250). By RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) analysis 182 M. a. paratuberculosis isolates were classifed to eight different RFLP types: B- C1, B-C5, B-C9, B-C16, B-C32, D-C12, M-C16, and R-I4, which we found in domestic ruminants in Europe. Key words: paratuberculosis, economic losses, molecular epidemiology Introduction Paratuberculosis is a serious chronic bacterial disease of domestic and wild * Contact address: Dr. Ivo Pavlik, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, 621 32 Brno, Czech Republic, Phone.: +420 5 3333 1624; Fax: +420 5 4121 1229, E-mail: pavlik@vri.cz ISSN 0372-5480 Printed in Croatia