ARS | Publication request: The Netherlands strain of BTV serotype 8 in white-tailed deer

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 8, 2010
Publication Date: July 15, 2011
Citation: Drolet, B.S., Reister, L.M., Mecham, J.O., Wilson, W.C., Nol, P., Vercauteren, K., Ruby, T., Van Rijn, P., Bowen, R. 2011. The Netherlands strain of BTV serotype 8 in white-tailed deer. Foreign and Emerging Diseases Committee of the annual meeting of the United States Animal Health Association, Minneapolis, MN, November 12-17, 2010: 256-257.

Technical Abstract: To determine the susceptibility of U.S. white-tailed deer to the European strain of BTV-8 (EU-BTV-8) isolated in The Netherlands, eight seronegative deer were injected subcutaneously in the neck and intradermally in the inner left leg. Two deer were sham inoculated to serve as uninfected controls and housed with infected animals to verify the inability of this virus to spread by direct contact transmission. Body temperatures and clinical signs were recorded daily. Periodic blood samples were analyzed for BTV RNA with qRT-PCR, for BTV serum antibodies by cELISA, and for infectious virus by plaque assay. At necropsy, tissue samples were taken for histopathological examination and tested by qRT-PCR for viral RNA. Deer developed moderate to severe clinical disease from 8 to 15 days post inoculation (dpi). Peak viremia by qRT-PCR was from 7-10 dpi with detectable titers seen as far out as 28 dpi in some deer. Antibody titers were detected by cELISA starting at day 6, peaked by day 10, and continued through day 28. These results suggest that if EU-BTV-8 is accidentally or intentionally introduced into the U.S., considerable disease would be expected in our white-tailed deer and they would serve as significant virus reservoirs.