[Prevalence of anti-Yersinia antibodies in European brown hares in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany].

Yersinia (Y.) pseudotuberculosis infections may lead to significant lethality in European brown hare (Lepus europaeus, Pallas) populations especially during the cold and wet seasons. In recent decades, also Y. enterocolitica was isolated from hares found dead. Consequently, a Western-blot technique proved to be valuable for the detection of antibodies against all pathogenic Yersinia isolates was applied to monitor the prevalence of antibodies in hare populations in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. A total of 89.6% of the 230 animals tested was seropositive. Further investigations should be performed to elucidate the role of subclinical yersiniosis in the decline of European brown hare populations in Germany.