title: Seroprevalence of tick-borne-encephalitis virus in wild game in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (north-eastern Germany).
abstract: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a federal state in the north east of Germany, has never been a risk area for TBEV infection, but a few autochthonous cases, along with TBEV-RNA detection in ticks, have shown a low level of activity in natural foci of the virus in the past. As wild game and domestic animals have been shown to be useful sentinels for TBEV we examined sera from wild game shot in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the prevalence of TBEV antibodies. A total of 359 sera from wild game were investigated. All animals were shot in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2012. Thirteen of 359 sera tested positive or borderline for anti-TBEV-IgG with ELISA and four samples tested positive using NT. The four TBEV-positive sera confirmed by NT constitute the first detection of TBEV-antibodies in sera of wild game in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 1986-1989. This underlines that the serological examination of wild game can be a useful tool in defining areas of possible TBEV infection, especially in areas of low TBEV-endemicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Nephrology, University of Rostock Medical School, 18055 Rostock, Germany. Electronic address: silvius.frimmel@med.uni-rostock.de.
authors.forename: Silvius
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frimmel
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Nephrology, University of Rostock Medical School, 18055 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leister
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Nephrology, University of Rostock Medical School, 18055 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Micha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Löbermann
authors.affiliation: State Institute for Agriculture, Food Safety and Fisheries Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, D-18059 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Frerk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feldhusen
authors.affiliation: State Institute for Agriculture, Food Safety and Fisheries Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, D-18059 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seelmann
authors.affiliation: Tick Information Center, D-07646 Lippersdorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Süss
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Nephrology, University of Rostock Medical School, 18055 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Emil Christian
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Reisinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003670:Deer / Q000821:virology*; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000821:virology*
keywords: Deer; Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania; Tick borne encephalitis; Tick borne encephalitis virus; Wild boar; Wild game