Identification of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in wild cervids (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus and Capreolus capreolus) from North-Western Italy

Seventy-seven red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus), 40 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from the Northwestern (NW) Alps (Turin Province, NW Italy) and 29 roe deer from the NW Apennines (Alessandria province, NW Italy) were examined for the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) by culture, IS900 nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and IS1311 PCR restriction endonuclease analysis for strain characterisation. MAP identification (nested PCR and/or culture) allowed us to detect 32.9% MAP-infected red deer and 22.5% infected roe deer in the NW Alps and 41.4% MAP infected roe deer in the NW Apennines. On the basis of the polymorphism present in the IS1311 sequence, all MAP isolates were characterised as cattle strains. Our results show that MAP circulates widely among populations of wild cervids in NW Italy.