Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Outbreak in a Captive Facility Housing White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Bison (Bison bison), Elk (Cervus elaphus), Cattle (Bos taurus), and Goats (Capra hircus) in Colorado, USA

Abstract An ungulate research facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, experienced mortality in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) because of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) infection from 20 August 2007 through 26 September 2007. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) was detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and virus isolation from the spleen and lung tissues of two white-tailed deer. Virus neutralization tests were performed on pre- and postoutbreak sera from other species maintained in the same facility, including bison (Bison bison), elk (Cervus elaphus), domestic cattle (Bos taurus), and domestic goats (Capra hircus), as well as postoutbreak sera from the surviving white-tailed deer. Serum samples that represented all species in the facility neutralized EHDV-1 and EHDV-2 either before or after the outbreak. The animals that neutralized EHDV-1 did not neutralize EHDV-2. No clinical signs attributable to EHDV infection were noted in any of the species other than the deer during the outbreak. Although experimental EHDV infections have been reported in bison and elk, natural exposures have not been previously documented in these species in North America. The roles that elk, bison, cattle, and goats might play in the epidemiology of EHDV in a close-contact multispecies situation remain unknown.