%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of Serodiagnostic Assays for Mycobacterium bovis Infection in Elk, White-Tailed Deer, and Reindeer in the United States
%A Jeffrey T. Nelson
%A Kathleen A. Orloski
%A Audra L. Lloyd
%A Mark Camacho
%A Mark A. Schoenbaum
%A Suelee Robbe-Austerman
%A Bruce V. Thomsen
%A S. Mark Hall
%J Veterinary Medicine International
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/563293
%X In 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture conducted a project in which elk (Cervus elaphus spp.), white-tailed deer (WTD) (Odocoileus virginianus), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) were evaluated by the single cervical tuberculin test (SCT), comparative cervical tuberculin test (CCT), and serologic tests. The rapid antibody detection tests evaluated were the CervidTB Stat-Pak (Stat-Pak), and the Dual Path Platform VetTB (DPP). Blood was collected from presumably uninfected animals prior to tuberculin injection for the SCT. A total of 1,783 animals were enrolled in the project. Of these, 1,752 (98.3%) were classified as presumably uninfected, based on originating from a captive cervid herd with no history of exposure to TB. Stat-Pak specificity estimates were 92.4% in reindeer, 96.7% in WTD, and 98.3% in elk and were not significantly different from SCT specificity estimates. Using the DPP in series on Stat-Pak antibody-positive samples improved specificity in the three species. Thirty one animals were classified as confirmed infected, based on necropsy and laboratory results, and 27/31 were antibody positive on Stat-Pak for an estimated sensitivity of 87.1%. The study findings indicate that rapid serologic tests used in series are comparable to the SCT and CCT and may have a greater ability to detect TB-infected cervids. 1. Introduction Mycobacterium bovis has been detected sporadically in captive cervids in the United States and is enzootic in free-ranging white-tailed deer (WTD) (Odocoileus virginianus) in a small geographic area of Michigan [1, 2]. A multistate outbreak of M. bovis involving 37 captive cervid herds occurred in the United States during 1990¨C1999 [3]. The cervid species involved in this outbreak included elk (Cervus elaphus spp.), red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), and sika deer (Cervus nippon). M. bovis was detected again, beginning in 2009, in elk, red deer, and fallow deer in 4 herds located in Nebraska and Indiana [4, 5]. Testing captive cervids for M. bovis in the United States is conducted as part of an official disease eradication program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The single cervical tuberculin skin test (SCT) was first evaluated for use in elk in the United States in 1991 [6]. Captive cervids were not routinely tested for bovine tuberculosis (TB) until these species were officially brought into the federal tuberculosis program in 1994 [7]. Currently, testing for TB in cervids is performed using tuberculin skin tests. The SCT is the initial test and consists
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2012/563293/