Serologic survey of wild cervids for potential disease agents in selected national parks in the United States

Abstract

A total of 589 serum specimens were collected from mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus) (133) and wapiti ( Cervus elaphus) (456) in eight national parks and/or adjacent lands in the western USA. Thirty two percent of the samples were collected from immobilized animals and 68% from hunter-killed animals in or near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Bryce Canyon National Park (NP), and Zion NP, Utah; Yosemite NP, California; Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado; Upper Yellowstone NP, Montana, and Grand Teton NP, Wyoming. Serum specimens were tested for the presence of antibodies against selected disease agents. Overall seroprevalences for mule deer were 77 133 (58%) for parainfluenza-3 virus (PI-3), 42 133 (32%) for bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), 79 133 (59%) for bovine virus diarrhea virus (BVD), 73 133 (55%) for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), 14 133 (11%) for bluetongue virus (BT), 18 133 (14%) for epizootic hemorrhagic disease vims (EHD), 3 133 (2%) for Borrelia burgdorferi, and 1 133 (1%) for Francisella tularensis. None of the deer sera presented antibodies for Leptospira spp., Brucella abortus and Anaplasma marginale. For wapiti, overall prevalences were 262 456 (57%) for PI-3, 211 456 (46%) for BHV-1, 251 456 (55%) for BVD, 247 456 (54%) for RSV, 1 456 (< 1%) for BT, 16 456 (4%) for Leptospira pomona, 13 456 (3%) for Leptospira hardjo, and 8 456 (2%) for B. abortus. No antibody titers were detected for EHD, A. marginale, and other Leptospira serotypes. This survey documents seroprevalence of selected park cervid populations to domestic livestock pathogens. Further research on the epidemiology of these potential pathogens in wild ungulates in national parks is recommended.