PREVALENCE OF EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS IN MAINE WILD TURKEYS MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO

Charles Lubelczyk^1*, Susan Elias¹, Leticia Smith¹,², Melanie Renell^1,3, and Kirk J. Shively⁴.

¹Maine Medical Center Research Institute, South Portland, ME

²University of Southern Maine, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Gorham, ME

³Unity College, Dept. of Wildlife Biology, Unity, ME

⁴USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, Augusta, ME

*presenting

LUBELC@mmc.org

ABSTRACT

In winter and spring of 2011, we sampled live-captured and harvested wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) for the presence of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEv) in southern and central Maine. In February, blood was collected from 29 turkeys captured as part of a state translocation project in Franklin County. In May, blood was collected from 61 harvested male turkeys taken as part of Maine’s spring hunt from York, Cumberland, Kennebec, Lincoln, and Waldo counties. Blood was spun and sera placed at -800F until shipment in June to U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Fort Collins, CO. Sera was screened for EEEv and West Nile virus (WNv) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT). None of the samples tested positive by PCR but ten samples (11%) tested positive for EEEv by PRNT. Positive samples were found in ten communities in Cumberland, Kennebec, Lincoln, and Waldo counties. No positives were found in York County despite nearby historical arboviral activity.