Francisco Raquel, Hernandez Sonia M, Barton Ethan P, Kunkel Melanie R, Adcock Kayla G, Mead Daniel G, Ruder Mark G, Broadhurst Jillian R, Yabsley Michael J
Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 589 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 East Green Street, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2025 May 14. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-24-00155.
The susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) to SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in WTD being one of the most studied wildlife species during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, WTD specimen collections for SARS-CoV-2 research and surveillance have largely been opportunistic. Our objective was to evaluate the detection of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in WTD serum, plus two additional WTD biological sample types, using a blocking ELISA previously used for WTD serum. The two additional sample types evaluated were eluted Nobuto filter-paper strips (FPSs) from heparinized whole blood collected perimortem from 34 WTD and serosanguinous fluid collected postmortem from the thoracic cavity of 34 WTD. A true NAb prevalence of 88% was established from the serum samples. The FPS eluates performed most poorly (56% apparent prevalence; 57% sensitivity; 50% specificity), followed by serosanguinous fluid (88% apparent prevalence; 87% sensitivity; 0% specificity). Serosanguinous fluid appeared to better reflect the WTD population's true seroprevalence, although sensitivity decreased to <90% for both nonserum biological sample types. As studies are being developed to better understand the ecology of SARS-CoV-2 infections in WTD and other wildlife, it is important to consider the sample type being assessed, because sensitivity may vary greatly.
白尾鹿（WTD；弗吉尼亚鹿）对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）易感，这使得白尾鹿成为新冠疫情期间研究最多的野生动物物种之一。然而，用于SARS-CoV-2研究和监测的白尾鹿样本采集在很大程度上是机会性的。我们的目标是使用先前用于白尾鹿血清检测的阻断酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA），评估白尾鹿血清以及另外两种白尾鹿生物样本类型中SARS-CoV-2中和抗体（NAb）的检测情况。评估的另外两种样本类型是从34只白尾鹿濒死期采集的肝素化全血中洗脱得到的野本滤纸条（FPS），以及从34只白尾鹿胸腔死后采集的血清样液体。从血清样本中确定的真正NAb流行率为88%。FPS洗脱液的检测效果最差（表观流行率56%；灵敏度57%；特异性50%），其次是血清样液体（表观流行率88%；灵敏度87%；特异性0%）。血清样液体似乎能更好地反映白尾鹿种群的真实血清流行率，尽管两种非血清生物样本类型的灵敏度均降至<90%。随着人们开展研究以更好地了解SARS-CoV-2在白尾鹿和其他野生动物中的感染生态学，考虑所评估的样本类型很重要，因为灵敏度可能有很大差异。
