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Korean Survey Found M. bovis Antibodies in 5.9% and M. avium in 7.7% of Wild Boar

Wild boar walking beside a path in Kraków, Poland
Research · Disease, parasites & microbiology

A nationwide serological survey of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the Republic of Korea found antibodies to Mycobacterium bovis in 69 of 1,168 animals and antibodies to Mycobacterium avium in 90. These results corresponded to apparent seroprevalence estimates of 5.9% and 7.7%, respectively.

M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis, while M. avium belongs to a group of environmental, non-tuberculous mycobacteria that can infect animals and people. Monitoring both therefore helps show how mycobacterial exposure is distributed across the livestock–wildlife interface.

Samples were collected between February 2023 and November 2024 across nine administrative provinces. The same study also tested 1,366 domestic sows, allowing the researchers to compare mycobacterial exposure at the livestock–wildlife interface. Among wild boar, provincial estimates ranged from 4% to 9.2% for M. bovis and from 6.1% to 11.3% for M. avium, but there were no clear province-level differences in the wild-boar sample.

Map of South Korea showing provincial Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium seroprevalence in wild boars and domestic sows
Provincial apparent seroprevalence of M. bovis and M. avium antibodies in domestic sows and wild boar in South Korea. Figure 1 from Moon et al. (2026), CC BY 4.0.

Antibodies indicated exposure, not active infection

The ELISA tests measured antibodies, so the results indicate exposure rather than active infection. The authors therefore describe the percentages as apparent seroprevalence and note that serology alone cannot establish whether an animal was carrying viable mycobacteria when sampled.

The researchers present the survey as the first nationwide serological assessment of M. bovis and M. avium exposure in Korean domestic pigs and wild boar. They argue that the findings provide a baseline for following mycobacterial exposure across the livestock–wildlife interface and for combining serology with other diagnostic approaches in future surveillance.

Sources and image credit

  1. Moon, S. J., Bae, D.-Y., Cho, Y.-C., Yoo, D. S., Oh, Y., & Cho, H.-S. (2026). Nationwide seroprevalence of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium in domestic sows and wild boars in Korea under a one health framework. Frontiers in Microbiology, 17, 1773768. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1773768Primary open-access research article published 26 February 2026 under CC BY. Serum from 1,168 wild boar across nine South Korean provinces was tested by ELISA: 69 were positive for M. bovis antibodies (apparent seroprevalence 5.91%) and 90 for M. avium antibodies (7.71%). No significant province-level heterogeneity was detected in wild boar. The authors state that ELISA serology reflects exposure rather than active infection.

Image: Jakub Hałun / Wikimedia Commons — wild boar (Sus scrofa) on a walking path near Czerwone Maki Street in Kraków, Poland, photographed 27 November 2024; representative species image, not an animal from the South Korean survey · CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · Source

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