Serosurvey for Selected Disease Agents in White-tailed Deer from Mexico

Abstract

Serum samples from 350 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) collected in March 1994 from northeastern Mexico were tested for the prevalence of antibody activity against five infectious diseases of ruminants. The prevalence rate was 81% for bluetongue virus (BTV) of all serotypes, 72% for epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), 3% for Borrelia burgdorferi, 69% for Anaplasma marginale, and 0% for Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, and B. ovis. These are diseases that affect domestic ruminants, and deer may act as a reservoir of infection. In addition, if deer are translocated, they may introduce pathogens to formerly disease-free areas. The high seroprevalence of BTV and EHDV cannot be related to the presence of hemorrhagic disease in the deer in this region. This is the first report to indicate the presence of B. burgdorferi infection of deer in Mexico. Despite the high prevalence of A. marginale titers, it is uncertain that deer play a role in the epizootiology of cattle anaplasmosis in the region. Apparently, white-tailed deer are unimportant in the epizootiology of brucellosis of both cattle and goats in northeastern Mexico.

Prevalence of Infectious Agents in Free-ranging White-tailed Deer in Northeastern Mexico

“…This may due to the use of the same range by cattle and deer and the persistent contamination of the grass and water sources used by both species. No antibodies to B. abortus were detected in our study; similar negative results have been reported for 37 white-tailed deer from Texas (Boeer, 1980), white-tailed deer from six ranches in the northeastern Mexico (Martinez et al, 1999), and from deer sampled in Minnesota (Ingebrigtsen et al, 1986). These negative results may in part relate to B. abortus control measures; at present, the prevalence of brucellosis in cattle in this area is ,0.5%.…”

“…McCorquodale and DiGiacomo (1985) concluded that wild ungulates have little significance in transmitting brucellosis to cattle in the United States. In northeastern Mexico, 350 white-tailed deer were tested for the prevalence of antibodies against Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis; no positive animals were detected, suggesting that deer in this area are not important in the epizootiology of brucellosis (Martinez et al, 1999). Surveys of wild ruminants in North America have found a wide range in antibody prevalence estimates for BVDV (Kahrs et al, 1964;Barrett and Chalmers, 1975;Kocan et al, 1986;Aguirre et al, 1995).…”

Molecular detection of bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) in captured Culicoides spp. in the northeastern regions of Mexico

“…This result is in accordance with the high seropositivity recorded in previous serological studies in this region (Suzan et al, 1983;Teclaw et al, 1985;Martinez et al, 1999). These observations suggest that eventually the population of domestic and wild ruminants could be affected with the infection of one or both viruses (Sailleau et al, 2012;Toye et al, 2013).…”

“…The detection and monitoring of these midges are important for the control of the pathogens that they can potentially transmit (Maclachlan and Mayo, 2013). In the northeastern region of Mexico, serological evidence has been reported in wild and domestic ruminants for both BTV and EHDV (Suzan et al, 1983), (Teclaw et al, 1985;Martinez et al, 1999). On the other side, BTV has been isolated from cattle and sheep in this and other regions of Mexico (Stott et al, 1989).…”

“…In Mexico, serologic and virologic evidence has been reported for BTV in domestic ruminants (Hernandez et al, 1994), (Stott et al, 1989) (Suzan et al, 1983), (Mooehead-Jackson, 1981), (Teclaw et al, 1985). Particularly, in the northeastern region of Mexico, high rates of seropositivity against BTV and EHDV in populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) has been reported (Martínez et al, 1999). According to these data, favorable environment conditions for the presence and movement of the Culicoides vector in this area of the country are apparently Lozano-Rendón et al 2219…”