title: The occurrence of Bovine viral diarrhea virus in hunter-harvested white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the state of Georgia, southeastern United States.
abstract: The prevalence of Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in free-ranging white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus) in the state of Georgia was evaluated using ear notches collected from hunter-harvested deer during the hunting season of 2010-2011. From September to December 2010, 367 ear samples from WTD were collected from 37 counties in Georgia. The samples were from 178 (48.5%) female deer, 187 (51%) male deer, and 2 (0.5%) of unknown sex. The age of the animals varied from 6 months to 6.5 years. The age was not recorded in 34 animals (9.3%). Of the animals with known ages, 42% were under 2 years. Screening of 367 samples for BVDV using an antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AgELISA) resulted in 364 negative samples and 3 suspect samples. The 3 suspect samples were negative for BVDV reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), virus isolation, and immunohistochemistry. A subpopulation of samples (n = 89) selected from various geographical regions also tested negative for BVDV RT-PCR. In conclusion, although a few of the samples were suspect for the presence of BVDV by AgELISA, the presence of the virus within the deer population studied could not be confirmed further.
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigation Laboratory, Tifton, GA, USA. milha@uga.edu
authors.forename: Marcia R S
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ilha
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coarsey
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Whittington
authors.forename: Sreekumari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajeev
authors.forename: Sheela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramamoorthy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003670:Deer; D001908:Diarrhea Viruses, Bovine Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018182:Pestivirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology*; D013045:Species Specificity