Serologic Evidence of Various Arboviruses Detected in White Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the United States

Authors

Kerri Pedersen, USDA APHIS Wildlife ServicesFollow
Eryu Wang, University of Texas Medical Branch
Scott C. Weaver, University of Texas Medical Branch
Paul C. Wolf, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
Adam R. Randall, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
Kyle R. Van Why, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
Amelia P.A. Travassos da Rosa, University of Texas Medical Branch
Thomas Gidlewski, USDA APHIS Wildlife ServicesFollow

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 97(2), 2017, pp. 319–323, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.17-0180.

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are an abundant mammal with a wide geographic distribution in the United States, which make them good sentinels for monitoring arboviral activity across the country. Exposure to various arboviruses has been detected in white-tailed deer, typically in conjunction with another diagnostic finding. To better assess the exposure of white-tailed deer to seven arboviruses, wetested 1,508 sera collected from 2010 to 2016 for antibodies to eastern equine encephalitis (2.5%), Powassan (4.2%), St. Louis encephalitis, (3.7%), West Nile (6.0%), Maguari (19.4%), La Crosse (30.3%), and bluetongue (7.8%) viruses. At least one arbovirus was detected in 51.3%, and exposure to more than one arbovirus was identified in 17.6% of the white-tailed deer sampled.