SEROLOGIC SURVEY OF WILD CERVIDS FOR POTENTIAL DISEASE AGENTS IN SELECTED NATIONAL-PARKS IN THE UNITED-STATES

A total of 589 serum specimens were collected from mule deer ( Odocoil eus hemionus) (133) and wapiti (Cervus elaphus) (456) in eight nationa l parks and/or adjacent lands in the western USA. Thirty two percent o f the samples were collected from immobilized animals and 68% from hun ter-killed animals in or near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Br yce Canyon National Park (NP), and Zion NP, Utah; Yosemite NP, Califor nia; Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado; Upper Yellowstone NP, Montana, and G rand Teton NP, Wyoming. Serum specimens were tested for the presence o f antibodies against selected disease agents. Overall seroprevalences for mule deer were 77/133 (58%) for parainfluenza-3 virus (PI-3), 42/1 33 (32%) for bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), 79/133 (59%) for bovine vir us diarrhea virus (BVD), 73/133 (55%) for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), 14/133 (11%) for bluetongue virus (BT), 18/133 (14%) for epizoo tic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHD), 3/133 (2%) for Borrelia burgdorfe ri, and 1/133 (1%) for Francisella tularensis. None of the deer sera p resented antibodies for Leptospira spp., Brucella abortus and Anaplasm a marginale. For wapiti, overall prevalences were 262/456 (57%) for PI -3, 211/456 (46%) fdr BHV-1, 251/456 (55%) for BVD, 247/456 (54%) for RSV, 1/456 (< 1%) for BT, 16/456 (4%) for Leptospira pomona, 13/456 (3 %) for Leptospira hardjo, and 8/456 (2%) for B. abortus. No antibody t iters were detected for EHD, A. marginale, and other Leptospira seroty pes. This survey documents seroprevalence of selected park cervid popu lations to domestic livestock pathogens. Further research on the epide miology of these potential pathogens in wild ungulates in national par ks is recommended.