Warthogs: Unlikely Allies Of Livestock Farmers

New research has revealed a surprising benefit that warthogs may hold for livestock producers. according to two scientists involved in the study, these animals may act as sentinels for disease transmission in livestock. Byron Latham reports.

- Byron Latham

Warthogs sleep in communal burrows, move in and out of fenced areas, and are known to interact with humans, wildlife and livestock. In light of this behaviour, a new study published in the January 2021 issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases suggests that warthogs may act as sentinels for the spread of disease.

In a retrospective study, 100 blood samples taken from May 1999 to August 2016 were examined for antibodies against infectious diseases in warthogs. Using samples from five locations, including Skukuza and Marloth Park in Mpumalanga and Mkuze in KwaZulu-Natal, the study looked for African swine fever virus, avian influenza virus, Brucella spp, foot-and-mouth disease virus, Leptospira spp, Mycobacterium bovis, and Rift Valley fever virus.

The results showed that warthogs can be “used as a model for investigating disease transmission at the human, wildlife and livestock interface”. This was because the warthog, as an omnivore and scavenger, “moves freely between natural ecotypes, farmland and human communities and is susceptible to diseases of zoonotic, agricultural and conservation concern”.