Foxes as indicators for TBE endemicity — a comparative serological investigation

Besides humans, many animals can be infected by the tick-borne encephaltitis virus (TBEV) — with or without developing clinical signs of inflammable neurological disorder — and thus, they may serve as indicators for TBE endemicity. Game animals like deer, wild boar, and the fox are usually strongly...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie 1999-12, Vol.289 (5), p.610-618
Main Authors: Rieger, Monika A., Nübling, Matthias, Müller, Werner, Hasselhorn, Hans-Martin, Hofmann, Friedrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
foxes
incidence
indicators
sentinel system
tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Besides humans, many animals can be infected by the tick-borne encephaltitis virus (TBEV) — with or without developing clinical signs of inflammable neurological disorder — and thus, they may serve as indicators for TBE endemicity. Game animals like deer, wild boar, and the fox are usually strongly infested with ticks. In contrast to other animals, foxes are known to live in habitats with only a small radius (about 7 to 10 km, rarely up to 50 km). In this way, a fox normally represents the place where it is found, and the local rate of anti-TBEV-seropositive foxes may indicate the TBE endemicity in that very region. In order to investigate various geographic regions in view of the possible occurrence of TBE, sera of foxes in different areas were collected and tested for antibodies against TBEV by ELISA. Six regions with different TBE incidences were studied: southwestern Germany (n = 79 foxes, seroprevalence 34.2%), eastern Black Forest Area (n = 153 foxes, seroprevalence 9.8%), Odenwald (n = 50 foxes, seroprevalence 10.0%), Taunus (n = 50 foxes, seroprevalence 2.0%), Brandenburg (n = 86 foxes, seroprevalence 0%), northeastern France (n = 55 foxes, seroprevalence 1.8%). The comparative descriptive analysis showed that the anti-TBEV seroprevalence in foxes reflected well the TBE incidences in different regions. Thus, foxes may be used to screen for TBE endemicity in various geographic areas. As in many districts fox sera are collected for rabies control, longitudinal investigations on TBE endemicity may be based on those samples. Additionally, species which are easier to access (e. g., cows or goats) may be used as sentinel system in areas with pastures and grazing flocks.
ISSN:0934-8840
DOI:10.1016/S0934-8840(99)80017-6