Tick‐borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the causative agent of tick‐borne encephalitis (TBE). TBEV is one of the most important neurological pathogens transmitted by tick bites in Europe. The objectives of this study were to investigate the seroprevalence of TBE antibodies in cervids in Norway and the possible emergence of new foci, and furthermore to evaluate if cervids can function as sentinel animals for the distribution of TBEV in the country. Serum samples from 286 moose, 148 roe deer, 140 red deer and 83 reindeer from all over Norway were collected and screened for TBE immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies with a modified commercial enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmed by TBEV serum neutralisation test (SNT). The overall seroprevalence against the TBEV complex in the cervid specimens from Norway was 4.6%. The highest number of seropositive cervids was found in south‐eastern Norway, but seropositive cervids were also detected in southern‐ and central Norway. Antibodies against TBEV detected by SNT were present in 9.4% of the moose samples, 1.4% in red deer, 0.7% in roe deer, and nil in reindeer. The majority of the positive samples in our study originated from areas where human cases of TBE have been reported in Norway. The study is the first comprehensive screening of cervid species in Norway for antibodies to TBEV, and shows that cervids are useful sentinel animals to indicate TBEV occurrence, as supplement to studies in ticks. Furthermore, the results indicate that TBEV might be spreading northwards in Norway. This information may be of relevance for public health considerations and supports previous findings of TBEV in ticks in Norway.

中文翻译：

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挪威作为tick传脑炎病毒哨兵物种的血清学研究。

ick传脑炎病毒（TBEV）是tick传脑炎（TBE）的病原体。TBEV是欧洲由tick叮咬传播的最重要的神经病原体之一。这项研究的目的是调查在挪威的子宫颈中TBE抗体的血清阳性率以及可能出现的新病灶，此外，还评估了子宫颈是否可以作为在全国传播TBEV的定点动物。收集了来自挪威各地的286头驼鹿，148头鹿，140头红鹿和83头驯鹿的血清样本，并使用改良的商业酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）筛选了TBE免疫球蛋白G（IgG）抗体，并通过TBEV血清中和进行了确认测试（SNT）。来自挪威的宫颈标本中针对TBEV复合物的总体血清阳性率为4.6％。在挪威东南部发现血清阳性的子宫颈数量最多，但在挪威南部和中部也发现了血清阳性的子宫颈。通过SNT检测到的针对TBEV的抗体存在于9.4％的驼鹿样品中，在马鹿中占1.4％，在ro中占0.7％，在驯鹿中占零。在我们的研究中，大多数阳性样本来自挪威已报告人类TBE病例的地区。这项研究是挪威首次针对TBEV抗体对宫颈种进行全面筛选，并显示出宫颈是有用的前哨动物，以指示TBEV的出现，作为tick虫研究的补充。此外，结果表明，TBEV可能在挪威向北扩散。此信息可能与公共卫生方面的考虑有关，并且支持TBEV在挪威的壁虱中的先前发现。