Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD), Arboviral Diseases Branch (ADB), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 3150 Rampart Road, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.
Surveillance Epidemiology Program, Infectious Disease Surveillance Section, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, 29 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03301-6504, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2022 Jan 12;59(1):49-55. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjab133.
Vertebrate surveillance for eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) activity usually focuses on three types of vertebrates: horses, passerine birds, and sentinel chicken flocks. However, there is a variety of wild vertebrates that are exposed to EEEV infections and can be used to track EEEV activity. In 2009, we initiated a pilot study in northern New England, United States, to evaluate the effectiveness of using wild cervids (free-ranging white-tailed deer and moose) as spatial sentinels for EEEV activity. In Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont during 2009-2017, we collected blood samples from hunter-harvested cervids at tagging stations and obtained harvest location information from hunters. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention processed the samples for EEEV antibodies using plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNTs). We detected EEEV antibodies in 6 to 17% of cervid samples in the different states and mapped cervid EEEV seropositivity in northern New England. EEEV antibody-positive cervids were the first detections of EEEV activity in the state of Vermont, in northern Maine, and northern New Hampshire. Our key result was the detection of the antibodies in areas far outside the extent of documented wild bird, mosquito, human case, or veterinary case reports of EEEV activity in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. These findings showed that cervid (deer and moose) serosurveys can be used to characterize the geographic extent of EEEV activity, especially in areas with low EEEV activity or with little or no EEEV surveillance. Cervid EEEV serosurveys can be a useful tool for mapping EEEV activity in areas of North America in addition to northern New England.
脊椎动物监测东部马脑炎病毒（EEEV）活动通常集中在三种脊椎动物上：马、雀形目鸟类和哨兵鸡群。然而，有各种各样的野生动物暴露于 EEEV 感染，可用于跟踪 EEEV 活动。2009 年，我们在美国新英格兰北部启动了一项试点研究，以评估使用野生鹿类（自由放养的白尾鹿和驼鹿）作为 EEEV 活动空间哨兵的有效性。在 2009 年至 2017 年期间，我们在缅因州、新罕布什尔州和佛蒙特州从标记站收集猎捕鹿的血液样本，并从猎人那里获得猎捕地点信息。美国疾病控制与预防中心使用蚀斑减少中和试验（PRNTs）处理样本以检测 EEEV 抗体。我们在不同州的鹿样本中检测到 6%至 17%的 EEEV 抗体，并在新英格兰北部绘制了鹿 EEEV 血清阳性率图。在佛蒙特州、缅因州北部和新罕布什尔州北部，EEEV 抗体阳性的鹿是该州首次发现 EEEV 活动。我们的主要结果是在缅因州、新罕布什尔州和佛蒙特州，远远超出有记录的野生鸟类、蚊子、人类病例或兽医 EEEV 活动报告的范围，检测到了抗体。这些发现表明，鹿（鹿和驼鹿）血清学调查可用于描述 EEEV 活动的地理范围，尤其是在 EEEV 活动水平较低或 EEEV 监测很少或没有的地区。除新英格兰北部外，鹿 EEEV 血清学调查还可以成为在北美地区绘制 EEEV 活动图的有用工具。
