Seroprevalence of Powassan virus in New England deer, 1979-2010

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Jun;88(6):1159-62. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0586. Epub 2013 Apr 8.

Abstract

Powassan virus and its subtype, deer tick virus, are closely related tick-borne flaviviruses that circulate in North America. The incidence of human infection by these agents appears to have increased in recent years. To define exposure patterns among white-tailed deer, potentially useful sentinels that are frequently parasitized by ticks, we screened serum samples collected during 1979-2010 in Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont for neutralizing antibody by using a novel recombinant deer tick virus-West Nile virus chimeric virus. Evidence of exposure was detected in all three states. Overall our results demonstrate that seroprevalence is variable in time and space, suggesting that risk of exposure to Powassan virus is similarly variable.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Connecticut / epidemiology
  • Deer / virology*
  • Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / isolation & purification*
  • Flavivirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Flavivirus Infections / transmission
  • Flavivirus Infections / veterinary*
  • Insect Vectors / virology*
  • Ixodes / virology*
  • Maine / epidemiology
  • Neutralization Tests
  • Prevalence
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Vermont / epidemiology
  • West Nile virus / isolation & purification