article · Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Investigating interactions between wild pigs and domestic pigs is essential for understanding the transmission of shared infectious diseases like African swine fever. At the wildlife-livestock interface of Murchison Falls National Park in northern Uganda, survey data from 233 pig farmers and 11 participatory rural appraisals examined these dynamics alongside farming practices. Farmers reported no direct contact between wild and domestic pigs. However, indirect interactions were noted by over a third of respondents, occurring most frequently at water sources during the dry season. A small proportion of farmers also fed raw hunting remains from wild pigs to their herds. Statistical analysis indicated possible links between reported African swine fever outbreaks and indirect wild-domestic contact, free-range farming, dry seasons, and proximity to warthog burrows within three kilometres. Gathering this local knowledge helps identify transmission risks and informs future field studies.
African swine fever severely impacts pig farming, food security, and rural livelihoods across Africa. Pinpointing where and how domestic herds come into indirect contact with wild hosts, such as warthogs and bushpigs, allows veterinary authorities and farming communities to target biosecurity measures. Recognising high-risk periods and practices, including dry-season water sharing and free-range grazing, can help reduce outbreaks and protect livestock herds.
The abstract outlines early-stage epidemiological research that does not offer an immediate commercial product. Instead, the findings can assist veterinary extension services, policymakers, and livestock development organisations in designing targeted farm biosecurity protocols and seasonal management interventions. Practical implementation remains distant from the market, as the research primarily serves to address knowledge gaps and guide the design of future observational studies on pathogen transmission.
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Bushpigs (BPs) (Potamochoerus larvatus) and warthogs (WHs) (Phacochoerus africanus), which are widely distributed in Eastern Africa, are likely to cohabitate in the same environment with domestic pigs (DPs), facilitating the transmission of shared pathogens. However, potential interactions between BP, WH, and DP, and the resulting potential circulation of infectious diseases have rarely been investigated in Africa to date. In order to understand the dynamics of such interactions and the potential influence of human behavior and husbandry practices on them, individual interviews (n = 233) and participatory rural appraisals (n = 11) were carried out among Ugandan pig farmers at the edge of Murchison Falls National Park, northern Uganda. In addition, as an example of possible implications of wild and DP interactions, non-linear multivariate analysis (multiple correspondence analyses) was used to investigate the potential association between the aforementioned factors (interactions and human behavior and practices) and farmer reported African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks. No direct interactions between wild pigs (WPs) and DP were reported in our study area. However, indirect interactions were described by 83 (35.6%) of the participants and were identified to be more common at water sources during the dry season. Equally, eight (3.4%) farmers declared exposing their DP to raw hunting leftovers of WPs. The exploratory analysis performed suggested possible associations between the farmer reported ASF outbreaks and indirect interactions, free-range housing systems, dry season, and having a WH burrow less than 3 km from the household. Our study was useful to gather local knowledge and to identify knowledge gaps about potential interactions between wild and DP in this area. This information could be useful to facilitate the design of future observational studies to better understand the potential transmission of pathogens between wild and DPs.
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DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00031
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