The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine

Georgia Veterinary Scholars Program

GVSP Summer 2006 Scholars

Georgia Veterinary Scholar	Faculty Mentor

Sabrina McGraw University of Georgia Class of 2009	Dr. Elizabeth Howerth

Genetic Diversity and Hemorrhagic Disease Susceptibility in White-Tailed Deer

*Sabrina McGraw and Elizabeth Howerth
Department of Pathology and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS), College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Hemorrhagic disease (HD), caused by both the epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and bluetongue (BT) viruses, is the most significant infectious disease of white-tailed deer (WTD) in the United States. Previous surveillance data and experimental infections have shown a consistent geographic pattern of resistance and susceptibility to the virus that does not follow climatic or temperature clines. We hypothesize that the susceptibility of white-tailed deer to hemorrhagic disease is dependant on overall genetic and major histocompatability complex (MHC) allelic diversity. This study focuses on WTD populations in Georgia, which have consistent geographic patterns of both resistant and susceptible deer based on 23 years of serologic, virologic, and morbidity and mortality data collected by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study. Tissue and sera were collected from an average of 30 deer from 16 locations (n=460) throughout Georgia for serology for BT and EHD viruses and genetic diversity and heterozygosity evaluation using a panel of 21 microsatellite markers and 2 MHC-DRB gene markers. Serology for EHD and BT viruses on these samples was consistent with previous years, identifying populations of resistant animals. Diversity and population heterozygosity values calculated from PCR results using GENEPOP software are being compared with serologic data to determine if a correlation exists with HD resistance.