Suitability of moose, elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer as hosts for winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus)

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2300-2305 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Welch ◽  
W. M. Samuel ◽  
C. J. Wilke
Keyword(s):  
Odocoileus Virginianus ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
North American ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Alces Alces ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Dermacentor Albipictus ◽  
Winter Tick

We evaluated the suitability of four species of North American Cervidae as hosts for the winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) by comparing the numbers and weights of engorged female ticks recovered from experimentally infested moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Each host was exposed to approximately equivalent infestations (~1 larva/cm2). A higher percentage of ticks were recovered as engorged females from moose (8.0%) than from elk (0.23%) or mule deer (0.60%). No engorged female ticks were recovered from white-tailed deer. Female ticks engorged on moose were larger (0.533 ± 0.169 (SD) g) than those engorged on elk (0.414 ± 0.136 g) or mule deer (0.418 ± 0.138 g). Alopecia occurred on all infested animals but was extensive only on moose. Our findings support field data suggesting that moose are the most important and the most severely affected hosts of winter ticks.

Sudden Mortality in Captive White-Tailed Deer With Atypical Infestation of Winter Tick

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika T Machtinger ◽  
Hayley R Springer ◽  
Jessica E Brown ◽  
Pia U Olafson
Keyword(s):  
Odocoileus Virginianus ◽  
Physical Condition ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Alces Alces ◽  
Good Physical Condition ◽  
Dermacentor Albipictus ◽  
Central Pennsylvania ◽  
Cervus Canadensis ◽  
Winter Tick

Abstract In October 2020, three captive male white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus [Zimmermann] (artiodactyla: Cervidae), were found dead in central Pennsylvania and a fourth was euthanized due to extreme lethargy. The deer presented with high burdens of Dermacentor albipictus (Packard) (Ixoda: Ixodidae) (winter tick). There were no other clinical symptoms and deer were in otherwise good physical condition with no observed alopecia. Winter tick epizootics have been associated with mortalities of moose, Alces alces [Linnaeus] (artiodactyla: cervidae), and more recently elk, Cervus canadensis [Erxleben] (artiodactyla: cervidae), in Pennsylvania, but have not been reported in white-tailed deer. Mild winters are favorable to winter ticks and deer producers and managers should be aware of possible infestations as a result.

Mortality assessment of moose (Alces alces) calves during successive years of winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) epizootics in New Hampshire and Maine (USA)

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Jones ◽  
P. Pekins ◽  
L. Kantar ◽  
I. Sidor ◽  
D. Ellingwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Alces Alces ◽  
Histologic Examination ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Winter Mortality ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Dermacentor Albipictus ◽  
Southern Fringe ◽  
Winter Tick

Populations within ecological communities constantly fluctuate due to a multitude of interactions that can be influenced by climate change. Moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) populations in northern New Hampshire and western Maine, subunits of the largest regional moose population in the continental United States, are suspected to be declining due to increasing frequency of winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus Packard, 1869) epizootics that cause >50% late-winter mortality of 9- to 12-month-old calves. To investigate this hypothesis, we collected general health measurements of calves captured at two study sites in January 2014–2016 and subsequently performed field necropsies and histologic examination of tissues of those radio-marked calves that died during winter and spring. At capture, calves (n = 179) were in normal (66%) and thin (32%) physical condition with high infestations of winter ticks. Most (88%) mortalities (n = 125) were associated with moderate to severe infestations of winter ticks. Gross necropsies and histologic examination found high tick infestations, emaciation, anemia, and endoparasitism; lungworm (species of the genus Dictyocaulus Railliet and Henry, 1907) was also found in most (87%) calves. Three consecutive years (2014–2016) of winter tick epizootics is unprecedented in the region, rare in North America, and arguably reflects a host–parasite relationship strongly influenced by climate change at the southern fringe of moose habitat.

Adaptive rumen function in elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Spalinger ◽  
C. T. Robbins ◽  
T. A. Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Diet Quality ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Liquid Volume ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Passage Rate ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
And Function

We tested the hypothesis that rumen function is adaptive to diet quality and intake rate using ruminally fistulated elk and mule deer. In experiment 1 we measured rumen particle-size distribution, rumen fill, and particle and liquid passage rates of animals fed three diets varying in quality (chopped pea, alfalfa, and wheat hays). In experiment 2, similar measurements were obtained on elk fed alfalfa hay ad libitum or at restricted intake levels. Rumen characteristics and passage rates of particles and liquids were similar for animals consuming alfalfa and pea hays. Intake, rumen dry-matter concentration and fill, and liquid passage rate were significantly lower when animals consumed wheat hay. Few significant differences in rumen characteristics or passage rates were found between animals fed alfalfa ad libitum or at restricted levels. Rumen liquid volume and dry-matter fill were related linearly to intake (r2 = 0.98 for both) in deer and elk fed alfalfa and pea hays. However, liquid volume and dry-matter fill of elk fed wheat hay and alfalfa at restricted levels were higher than the deer–elk interspecific regression, indicating an adaptive ruminal response. We concluded that rumen function was adaptive to both diet quality and availability, but that the response likely was subject to the limitations imposed by food characteristics and the inherent limitations of rumen structure and function.

scholarly journals Prion protein in cardiac muscle of elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) infected with chronic wasting disease

2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 3443-3450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean E. Jewell ◽  
Jeremy Brown ◽  
Terry Kreeger ◽  
Elizabeth S. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Western Blot ◽  
Odocoileus Virginianus ◽  
Prion Protein ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Chronic Wasting Disease ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni

To investigate the possible presence of disease-associated prion protein (PrPd) in striated muscle of chronic wasting disease (CWD)-affected cervids, samples of diaphragm, tongue, heart and three appendicular skeletal muscles from mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and moose (Alces alces shirasi) were examined by ELISA, Western immunoblot and immunohistochemistry (IHC). PrPd was detected in samples of heart muscle from seven of 16 CWD-infected white-tailed deer, including one free-ranging deer, and in 12 of 17 CWD-infected elk, but not in any of 13 mule deer samples, nor in the single CWD-infected moose. For white-tailed deer, PrPd was detected by Western blot at multiple sites throughout the heart; IHC results on ventricular sections of both elk and white-tailed deer showed positive staining in cardiac myocytes, but not in conduction tissues or nerve ganglia. Levels of PrPd in cardiac tissues were estimated from Western blot band intensity to be lower than levels found in brain tissue. PrPd was not detected in diaphragm, triceps brachii, semitendinosus, latissiumus dorsi or tongue muscles for any of the study subjects. This is the first report of PrPd in cardiac tissue from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy-infected ruminants in the human food chain and the first demonstration by immunological assays of PrPd in any striated muscle of CWD-infected cervids.

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