BACKGROUND Deer are an important wildlife species in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland having colonised most regions across the island of Ireland. In comparison to cattle and sheep which represent the main farmed ruminant species on the island, there is a lack of data concerning their exposure, as measured by the presence of antibodies, to important viral pathogens of ruminants. A study was therefore undertaken to investigate the seroprevalence of wild deer to four viruses, namely bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1), Schmallenberg virus (SBV) and bluetongue virus (BTV). RESULTS Two panels of sera were assembled; Panel 1 comprised 259 samples (202 collected in the Republic of Ireland and 57 in Northern Ireland) between 2013 and 2015, while Panel 2 comprised 131 samples collected in the Republic of Ireland between 2014 and 2015. Overall sika deer (Cervus nippon) were sampled most commonly (54.8%), followed by fallow deer (Dama dama) (35.3%), with red deer (Cervus elaphus) (4.3%) and hybrid species (0.3%) sampled less frequently, with the species not being recorded for the remaining 5.3% of deer sampled. Age was not recorded for 96 of the 390 deer sampled. 196 of the remainder were adults, while 68 and 30 were yearlings and calves, respectively. Using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, true prevalence and 95% confidence intervals were calculated as 9.9%, (6.8-13.0% CI), SBV; 1.5% (0.1-3.0% CI), BoHV-1; 0.0%, 0-1.7% CI), BVDV; and 0.0%, (0.01-0.10% CI), BTV. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate a very low seroprevalence for both BVDV and BoHV-1 in the wild deer tested within the study and, are consistent with a very low prevalence in Ireland. While serological cross-reaction with cervid herpesviruses cannot be excluded, the results in both cases suggest that the presence of these viruses in deer is not a significant risk to their control and eradication from the cattle population. This is important given the ongoing programme to eradicate BVDV in Ireland and deliberations on a national eradication programme for BoHV-1. The SBV results show consistency with those reported from cattle and sheep on the island of Ireland, while the BTV results are consistent with this virus remaining exotic to Ireland. The results provide a baseline against which future surveys of either wild or farmed/captive deer populations can be compared.

中文翻译：

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在爱尔兰对放养的鹿进行了一项调查，以获取暴露于牛病毒性腹泻病毒，牛疱疹病毒-1，蓝舌病毒和Schmallenberg病毒的血清学证据。

背景技术在爱尔兰共和国和北爱尔兰，鹿都是重要的野生动植物物种，已经在爱尔兰岛的大部分地区定居。与代表岛上主要反刍动物主要品种的牛和羊相比，缺乏关于反刍动物重要病毒病原体（通过抗体的存在）的数据。因此，进行了一项研究以调查野鹿对四种病毒的血清阳性率，这四种病毒分别是牛病毒性腹泻病毒（BVDV），牛疱疹病毒1（BoHV-1），施马伦贝格病毒（SBV）和蓝舌病毒（BTV）。结果组装了两份血清。第1组包括2013年至2015年期间的259个样本（爱尔兰共和国收集了202个样本，北爱尔兰收集了57个样本），第2组包括2014年至2015年在爱尔兰共和国收集的131个样品。总体上，梅花鹿（Cervus nippon）的采样率最高（54.8％），其次是小鹿（Dama dama）（35.3％），其中有红鹿（鹿（4.3％）和杂种（0.3％）的采样频率较低，其余5.3％的鹿没有记录。390头鹿中有96头没有年龄记录。其余196人为成年，一岁和小牛分别为68和30。使用可商购的酶联免疫吸附试验，真实患病率和95％置信区间计算为9.9％（6.8-13.0％CI），SBV；1.5％（0.1-3.0％CI），BoHV-1；0.0％，0-1.7％CI），BVDV；和0.0％（0.01-0.10％CI）BTV。结论结果表明，在研究中测试的野鹿中BVDV和BoHV-1的血清阳性率非常低，这与爱尔兰的血清阳性率很低相符。虽然不能排除与宫颈疱疹病毒的血清学交叉反应，但在两种情况下的结果都表明，鹿中这些病毒的存在对其从牛群中控制和根除的危害不大。考虑到正在进行的在爱尔兰消除BVDV的计划以及对BoHV-1的国家根除计划的审议，这一点很重要。SBV结果显示与爱尔兰岛上的牛和羊报告的结果一致，而BTV结果与该病毒仍对爱尔兰具有异国情调一致。