First molecular and serological detection of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease virus in white tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) from Tamaulipas, Mexico

J.O Merino,A.P De León,J Burnes,Ni De La Cruz,G Galvan

doi:10.1590/1678-4162-9987

Abstract

ABSTRACT Epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses (EHDV) are dsRNA arboviruses transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides that cause disease in domestic and wild ruminants. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is considered the most important infectious disease of white tailed deer (WTD) in North America, some studies in Northeast Mexico reported EHDV-seropositive WTD and EHDV-infected Culicoides vectors. The increasing population of WTD that share habitat with livestock in Northeast México highlights the importance of EHD for the livestock industry in the transboundary region with the U.S. One hundred and twenty two samples from WTD in Tamaulipas state, Mexico were tested by ELISA and RT-PCR for EHDV antibodies and nucleic acid, respectively. Twelve animals were seropositive to ELISA and eleven animals were positive by RT-PCR. This is the first report of EHDV nucleic acid detection in WTD from Mexico. It is hypothesized that applying the transboundary disease approach to interdisciplinary research will help fill knowledge gaps, which could help develop countermeasures to mitigate the threat of EHDV infection in wildlife and livestock along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Highlights

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses (EHDV) are dsRNA orbiviruses transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides that cause disease in domestic and wild ruminants (Savini (Temizel et al, 2009; Kedmi et al, 2011; Toye et al, 2013; Cêtre-Sossah et al, 2014)
Antibodies against EHDV were detected in 9.8% (12/122) of the white tailed deer (WTD) tested
Results reported in this study documented for the first time the detection of EHDV RNA in deer from the northeast area of Mexico

Summary

Introduction

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses (EHDV) are dsRNA orbiviruses transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides that cause disease in domestic and wild ruminants (Savini (Temizel et al, 2009; Kedmi et al, 2011; Toye et al, 2013; Cêtre-Sossah et al, 2014). There are seven EHDV serotypes recognized worldwide (Ruder et al, 2015a), and EHD is considered one of the most important infectious diseases of WTD (Stallknecht et al, 2015). The significance of the emergence of EHDV-6 to livestock and wild ruminant population remains to be determined (Stallknecht et al, 2015). Culicoides-host-EHDV interactions and environmental factors influencing EHD outbreaks remain to be fully understood in some parts of North America (Pfannenstiel et al, 2015), including the transboundary region encompassing the Mexico-US border

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Conclusion