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Roundworm infection in a wild boar was linked to lesions in several organs

Research · Disease, parasites & microbiology

A postmortem examination of a female wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the Masinagudi Forest range in Tamil Nadu, India, revealed four Ascaris suum roundworms in the small intestine. The worms—two males and two females—were identified from their physical features. The animal’s death was reported on 6 September 2025.

Ascaris suum is a nematode, or roundworm, that infects pigs. After pigs ingest infective eggs, the larvae migrate through the body before maturing into adults in the intestine. This life cycle helps explain why the authors interpreted the lesions in this case as reflecting both migratory and intestinal stages of the parasite; the examination did not directly establish the cause of every lesion.

The intestine contained adult worms and showed catarrhal enteritis, an inflammation of the intestinal lining associated with mucus, along with inflammatory-cell infiltrates. The liver was markedly congested. The lungs were congested and haemorrhagic, with frothy material and adhesions involving the pleura, the membrane around the lungs.

The report also noted haemorrhage on the heart’s outer surface, congestion in the spleen and stomach, and pinpoint haemorrhages in the kidneys. Taken together, the findings document lesions beyond the intestine, where the adult worms were found. But a single case cannot show how often this infection occurs in wild boar, whether the same lesions are typical, or whether the infection caused this animal’s death.

Sources and image credit

  1. Ascaris suum infection in a free-range female wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) and its associated pathology: a case reportPrimary journal article. The supplied fact packet reports that the full eight-page text was inspected, including the case details, postmortem findings, interpretation and publication information.

Image: A young wild boar (Sus scrofa) looks out from among leaves and vegetation on the forest floor. Photo: Sander van der Wel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Representative photograph. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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