Lesions Consistent with Tuberculous Spondylitis in Domestic and Wild Swine and Their Potential Use as a Model for Pott Disease in Humans

During a routine abattoir inspection of pig carcasses and control activities of hunted wildlife in 2013, 118 large white pigs Sus scrofa domesticus, 474 Nebrodi black pigs and 135 wild boars Sus scrofa scrofa were submitted to anatomopathological examination to evaluate the presence of tuberculosis-like lesions. Localized and generalized granulomatous lesions were detected with a prevalence of about 25% in large white pigs, 13% in Nebrodi black pigs and 8.15% in wild boars. Localized lesions involved mainly the submandibular lymph nodes, but when the disease was spread throughout the body, the inner organs and, also, in some cases, udders and/or bones were injured. The highest prevalence of generalized lesions (15/30) was observed in large white pigs, the only ones in which tuberculous granuloma affected also the spine. The bovine tuberculous spondylitis cases observed showed some similarities with Pott disease in humans regarding aspect and localization of lesions and age of the affected animals.