WHITE-TAILED DEER AS A POTENTIAL RESERVOIR OF EHRLICHIA SPP.

1 April 1994

journal article
Published by Wildlife Disease Association in Journal of Wildlife Diseases

Vol. 30 (2) , 162-168
https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-30.2.162

Abstract

We determined the antibody prevalence to Ehrlichia spp., in white-tailed deer (Odo- coileus virginianus) and the geographic distribution of seropositive animals in 84 counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Vir- ginia (USA). Using an indirect fluorescent antibody test we detected antibodies (� 1:128) to this bacterium in 544 (43%) of 1269 deer. Presence of antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. was related to a southerly latitude, low elevation, and resulting milder climatic conditions. It appears that white- tailed deer were naturally infected with Ehrlichia spp.; the infection was widely distributed throughout the southeastern United States. Based on these data, we propose that white-tailed deer play a role in the natural history of Ehrlichia spp. infection in the United States.

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