Experimental infection of white-tailed deer with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, etiologic agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis.

ABSTRACT: Serologic and molecular evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum has been demonstrated in white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus), and deer are an important host for the tick vector Ixodes scapularis. In this study, we describe experimental infection of WTD with A. phagocytophilum. We inoculated four WTD with a human isolate of A. phagocytophilum propagated in tick cells. Two additional deer served as negative controls. All inoculated deer developed antibodies (titers, > or =64) to A. phagocytophilum, as determined by an indirect fluorescent antibody test, between 14 and 24 days postinfection [p.i.]), and two deer maintained reciprocal titers of > or =64 through the end of the 66-day study. Although morulae were not observed in granulocytes and A. phagocytophilum was not reisolated vi

SUBMITTER: Tate CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1233969 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature