SEROLOGIC EVIDENCE OF WEST NILE VIRUS EXPOSURE IN NORTH AMERICAN MESOPREDATORS

Authors

Kevin T. Bentler, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service/Wildlife ServicesFollow
Jeffrey S. Hall, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service/Wildlife ServicesFollow
J . Jeffrey Root, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Kaci Klenk
Brandon S. Schmit, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Bradley F. Blackwell, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Paul C. Ramey
Larry Clark, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow

Date of this Version

January 2007

Comments

Published in Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 76(1), 2007, pp. 173–179.

Abstract

Sera from 936 mammalian mesopredators (Virginia opossums, gray foxes, striped skunks, hooded skunks, raccoons, a bobcat, and a red fox) were collected during 2003 and 2004 in California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, and Wyoming and screened for flavivirus-specific antibodies by an epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosobent assay (blocking ELISA). Serum samples positive for antibodies against flaviviruses were screened for West Nile virus (WNV)– specific antibodies by blocking ELISA and selectively confirmed with plaque-reduction neutralization tests. High prevalence rates were observed in raccoons (45.6%) and striped skunks (62.9%). The high WNV antibody prevalence noted in mesopredators, their peridomestic tendencies, and their overall pervasiveness make these species potentially useful sentinels for monitoring flaviviruses in defined areas.