ARS | Publication request: Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus in captive bison, elk, white-tailed deer, cattle, and goats from Colorado

Submitted to: Wildlife Disease Association Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: May 9, 2008
Publication Date: August 4, 2008
Citation: Nol, P., Reeves, W.K., Rhyan, J.C. 2008. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus in captive bison, elk, white-tailed deer, cattle, and goats from Colorado. Wildlife Disease Association Annual Meeting.

Technical Abstract: A captive wildlife research facility in Fort Collins, Colorado experienced mortality in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) due to epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) infection in late summer and early fall of 2007. RNA from EHDV was amplified by RT-PCR from the spleen and lung tissues of 2 white-tailed deer with >99% similarity to previously sequenced isolates of EHDV-2. In addition, EHDV was isolated on CPAE cells from the spleens of these 2 deer. Pre- and postoutbreak sera from other species maintained in the same facility, including bison (Bison bison), elk (Cervus elaphus), domestic cattle (Bos taurus), and domestic goats (Capra hircus), as well as postoutbreak sera from the surviving deer were assayed by virus neutralization. Preoutbreak sera from 3 elk and 1 cow and postoutbreak sera from 7 goats, 1 deer, 2 elk, 3 bison, and 2 cattle neutralized EHDV-2 in all four-virus neutralization replicates. Two elk lost neutralizing antibodies over the time course. No clinical signs were noted in the bison, cattle, or goats during the outbreak. One elk did become clinically ill but etiology could not be established. Natural infections by EHDV in North America have not been previously reported in bison or elk. There are currently no published data on viremia in goats, bison or elk, and their roles in the epidemiology of EHDV in North America are unknown.