A survey of enteric disease agents in UK deer populations

Wild deer products have been linked to outbreaks of Escherichia coli 0157 in humans and bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in domestic cats, raising concerns around foodborne diseases from venison. This study investigated the prevalence of several enteric disease agents in UK deer populations, including foodborne pathogens and other diseases of import to livestock health. Intestinal samples were collected from slaughtered farmed deer (N = 211, eight farms), shot wild deer (N = 136) and ground faecal samples were collected from two farms (N = 90), six parks (N = 228) and five zoos (N = 67). DNA was extracted and multiplex qPCR assays were run to amplify targets of, C. perfringens toxins, Campylobacter spp., E. coli toxins, Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis (MAP), Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. The most commonly amplified targets were E. coli astA (61.2%) and Campylobacter spp. (43.3%), but the prevalence of C. coli and C. jejuni were ≤ 3.0% and Salmonella spp., MAP and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis also had low overall prevalences of 1.6%, 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively. However, notable targets included C. perfringens toxins α (20.4%) and β2 (16.9%); E. coli stx1 (14.6% overall, 28.0% in abattoir samples) and stx2 (17.8% overall, 31.6% in wild samples); and Yersinia enterocolitica (10.8% overall, 25% in wild samples). The low prevalence of some foodborne pathogens is reassuring for food safety; further investigations into the commonly found targets are needed to quantify the risk to public health and the possibility of wild deer acting as reservoirs of disease.