Summary Of Distribution and Interspecies Contact of Feral Swine and Cattle on

Rangeland in South Texas: Implications for Disease Transmission.

Summarized By: Tuppence Bailey
Biology 1615

Feral swine are undergoing rapid population growth in the United States. With this rapid
growth in their population, is the United States livestock industry at risk for potential disease
transmission; Especially foot and mouth disease?
The last documented outbreak of foot and mouth disease that occurred in the United
States was in 1929. Since that time, the amount of feral swine has expanded quite a bit,
especially in the southern part of the United States. In the year 2000, there were 30 states that
had feral swine in them (Bergman et al.,2002). By 2006, It was estimated that the swine
population had increased and they are now located in 44 out of 50 states (Hutton et al., 2006),
with the highest concentration in the states of California, Texas, and Florida (Mapston, 2004).
The spread of feral swine is a great concern because the possibility for disease transmission to
livestock by free ranging swine is increased (Seward et al., 2004). Feral swine can be infected
with at least 18 viral diseases, 10 bacterial diseases, and 37 parasites which can affect livestock
(Davidson and Nettles, 1997; Samuel et al., 2001; Williams and Barker, 2001).
Foot and Mouth disease was eradicated in 1929 and the United States has been disease
free since then. The reason scientists are concerned, is because foot and mouth disease is the
most costly of the livestock diseases in the world (Meyer and Knudsen, 2001). Unfortunately,
the risk of reintroduction of the disease remains. In 2001 there was an outbreak in the United
Kingdom. The financial loss was estimated at over $12 billion (Pearson et al.,2005). A
prediction has been made that a similar outbreak could happen in the United States costing an
estimate of $14 billion (Paarlberg et al., 2002). If an outbreak occurred it would be detrimental
to the livestock industry. Foot and mouth disease is the most contagious disease of cloven-
hoofed animals and transmission will occur mainly through contact with an infected animal
(Samuel and Knowles, 2001).
In the study that was conducted, scientists examined the seasonal habitat selection of feral
swine and cattle on rangeland in relation to features of the landscape, like zones offering shade,
water sources, and roads to identify areas of overlap between feral swine and livestock. The
areas that both species would overlap in would be the primary zones, and the potential areas for
pathogen transmission. Scientists also studied the rates of direct contact and indirect contact
between animals in the various landscape features. Knowing which areas the two species could
have contact will help to assist in the control of foot and mouth disease (Anderson et al., 1993;
Thompson et al.,2003)
The South Texas Plains Ecologic Region (Griffith, 2004) was selected as the study region
because of its international border with Mexico, which could make possible the entry of foreign
animal diseases. The study was conducted in Zavala County, the climate in the area is semiarid
with an annual precipitation of 55 cm (National Weather Service, 2005). The quantity of
precipitation each year can vary. The temperature can vary between 18.7 C and 6.1 C in the
month of January and 31.4 C to 22.0 C in the month of July (Stevens and Arriaga, 1985). The
area is pretty flat with some rolling hills and creeks, it also has various varieties of vegetation.
The main economy of this region is cattle. There were 8 pastures that were used in the study.
The population of feral swine in these areas is not known. All of the pastures that were studied
had access to water points. The rates of contact between both species were determined through
the use of GPS collars. The trials were conducted during the four seasons throughout the year
for a two year period of time. The goal was to obtain data from four cows, four sows and four
boars, and a different pasture was used in each of the trials. GPS units were placed on livestock
and swine, that were trapped using a specific method (Texas A&M University Laboratory
Animal Care and use Committee Animal Use Protocol 2002-380/2005-281). The GPS collars
were set to record the current location frequently so that they could determine the rates of contact
between both species. The cattle were restricted with the fences but the swine were not.
Because of a combination of GPS malfunctions and trapping success for feral swine, the
sample sizes varied from season to season. 99 days plus or minus 45 days were deemed reliable
data for the cattle, and 94 days plus or minus 58 were deemed reliable for the swine per each
trial. Throughout the entire study, location data was acquired from a total of 25 cows and 40
swine. Both species preferred to be near the water. Direct contact between the swine and cattle
only happened 12 times during the two year study. Therefore, indirect contact was the most
common contact between the two species and it happened within a 6 hour time period. If there
was direct interspecies contact between the two, it occurred mainly near a water source or a
cultivated field (Table 2). Water and areas that remain wet throughout the year are habitat
requirements for feral swine (Graves, 1984). Soils near stock ponds favor the survival of foot and
mouth disease and can be transferred to a susceptible host. Both species favor the pond areas
during the summer months. This study was able to identify water and cultivated fields as the
high risk areas for disease transfer between feral swine and cattle.
The only way to reduce the risk of this disease being transferred would be to secure the
fences against feral swine. This study focused on the transfer of foot and mouth disease between
swine and cattle. The information that has been collected can be used in predicting rates of
transmission for other diseases and parasite infections between these two species. This
information will also be able to provide a better prediction of when a foot and mouth disease
outbreak may happen, which will help those involved to be able to respond before the outbreak
could get out of hand.





















DISTRIBUTION AND INTERSPECIES CONTACT OF FERAL SWINE AND CATTLE
ON RANGELAND IN SOUTH TEXAS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DISEASE
TRANSMISSION

Susan M. Cooper, H. Morgan Scott, Guadalupe R. de la Garza, Aubrey L. Deck and James
C. Cathey. Journal of Wildlife diseases 46(1), 2010, PP. 152-164