The Canary Database
Yale Occupational and
Environmental Medicine Program
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New Haven, CT, USA
06510-2283
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Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 May;72(5):622-30.
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Serologic evidence of exposure of wild mammals to flaviviruses in the central and eastern United States.
Root JJ, Hall JS, McLean RG, Marlenee NL, Beaty BJ, Gansowski J, Clark L
National Wildlife Research Center, USDA/APHIS/WS, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA. jeff.root@aphis.usda.gov
Article type: Curated - Canary ID: 3342
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Serosurveys were conducted to obtain flavivirus and West Nile virus (WNV) seroprevalence data from mammals. Sera from 513 small- and medium-sized mammals collected during late summer and fall 2003 from Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania were screened for flavivirus-specific antibodies. Sera samples containing antibody to flaviviruses were screened for WNV-specific antibodies by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and confirmed with plaque reduction neutralization tests. Prevalence of WNV antibodies among study sites ranged from 0% to 42.8% among the mammal communities sampled. High prevalence rates for WNV were noted among raccoons (100%, with a very small sample size, N = 2), Virginia opossums (50.0%), fox squirrels (49.1%), and eastern gray squirrels (48.3%). The high WNV antibody prevalence noted for tree squirrels, the peri-domestic tendencies of several of these species, and their ease of observation could make these species useful sentinels for monitoring WNV activity within urban communities.
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